... opened a textbook

**... opened a textbook** is the third episode in Season 2 of the Netflix series, *Never Have I Ever*.

## Synopsis

*Making good grades has never been a priority for Paxton—until a mishap urges him to prove he’s more than a campus heartthrob and star swimmer.*

## Plot

Paxton visits the college counselor. She tells him that due to the severity of his injury, he may not get into Stanford. She recommends a community college or, the alternative, to get a tutor and significantly improve his grades — that tutor is Devi. However, he doesn't want Devi as a tutor. Soon after, Paxton realizes he's stuck in a rut, so he tells Devi that he needs her to get into college.

Paxton expects Devi to do the work for him and gets emotional about how she two-timed him. He tells her she trashed his chances at a swimming scholarship, so he expects her help. Gigi Hadid narrates how punishing Devi isn't as thrilling as he thought.

Paxton's sister Rebecca tells him to get some dignity and that he needs to be proud of himself. She doesn't feel Paxton deserves to go to college. At dinner, Paxton realizes that his parents do not believe he can get into college. They have low expectations. Paxton tells his parents he wants an education and a career. His mother tells him that he has to work hard if he wants it.

Paxton tells Devi that he doesn't want her doing his homework anymore, and he wants tutoring for real, without cheating. When the tutoring starts, Paxton asks Devi if she can make it more interesting. So Devi is inspired by *Hamilton* and tries to rap some facts.

During a history test, Paxton has a panic attack and flees the classroom. Devi checks up on him. She thinks it’s good that he had a panic attack because it means he cares about school. Devi tells the teacher that Paxton wants to retake his test. She convinces the teacher by saying he'd be supporting men to be vulnerable.

Paxton gets a "B" in his test and thanks Devi for pushing him. He tells her they are cool about their issues as they would have never worked out as they didn't make sense. Devi half-heartedly agrees. Afterward, Paxton shows his grade B to Rebecca. His sister is proud of him. Gigi Hadid narrates that the lesson is — do not judge a book by its cover.

## Cast

### Starring

* Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar
* Jaren Lewison as Ben Gross
* Darren Barnet as Paxton Hall-Yoshida
* Poorna Jagannathan as Nalini Vishwakumar

### Guest Starring

* Gigi Hadid as The Narrator
* Andy Samberg as Himself (voice only)
* Adam Shapiro as Lyle Shapiro
* Benjamin Norris as Trent Harrison
* Lily D. Moore as Rebecca Hall-Yoshida
* Alexandra Billings as Jennifer Warner
* Ranjita Chakravarty as Nirmala Vishwakumar
* Clyde Kusatsu as Ted Yoshida
* Tohoru Masamune as Kevin Hall-Yoshida
* Kelly Sullivan as June Hall-Yoshida

### Co-Starring

* Hanna Stein as Shira Liedman
* Aitana Rinab as Zoe Maytag
* Dana G. Vaughns II as Marcus Jones
* Carol Mack as Cheryl
* Esteban Dager as Samuel

## Trivia

* This episode is narrated by Gigi Hadid.
	+ Chrissy Teigein was originally supposed to narrate this episode, but she decided to leave the show in June 2021, resulting in Hadid replacing her.
* This is the first episode where Paxton is the main character and the second where Devi is not in the main lead.