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― taylor swift ft. gary lightbody, the last time (taylor’s version)

Hi! Sorry this took a minute, I wanted to be at a computer to write out my thoughts. 

Obviously the character who plays Paxton is attractive, and i’m sure if I were 15, that would draw me to him as far as wanting him to be with Devi. Fortunately, i’m past that age, so hopefully I can offer some other insight. 

First of all, I don’t hate Ben. I think that the enemies to lovers trope is fun and cute, and things he did for Devi were very kind and sweet--i’m a sucker for a guy who brings in the friends-squad when the female protagonist is hurting (that shit is so cute!). But, Ben shouldn’t get Devi just because he was nice to her. That’s not very compelling storytelling for me. 

And while I also did gain a bit of empathy and understanding for him in his Zeppo episode, I felt that the tone was a little deaf? The privilege he has is just absolutely wild, and although neglectful parents is a terrible thing, they do seem to really love him and care about him? So his biggest issue is really that he has to sit curbside at NBA games without his family. They just went a little too hard on the white boy tears, there. 

I also felt like Ben just had too fast of a turn around? I would have preferred if they slowed down that enemies to friends to lovers arc a little, and it didn’t go from 0 to 100 in a single episode or so. I know that in todays climate, you never know if you’re getting a second season but, this is Mindy Kaling so...she’s getting a second season. 

So far i’ve only really told you why I’m NOT big on Team Ben, but not really WHY i’m Team Paxton, so! 

Basically, I just think there’s a lot more they could do with that dynamic, and I find Paxton’s life and character in general much more interesting. I like the whole “popular guy grows up because he realizes how dope the girl is and what a catch he’s letting go” thing. Maybe that’s because i’m a 90′s baby and “She’s All That” was my life back in the day, i’m not sure. 

Not that Devi has to fix Paxton, and that’s not to say Paxton hasn’t been a bit of a jerk when it comes to the whole “i’m cool, you’re not” thing, but I actually do believe he’s been there when it matters--each time she was publicly humiliated Paxton was there for her, cool points deducted or not. And while he was NOT there for her when the whole thing with her mom went down, she never told him about that, so how was he supposed to know? And the times he's gotten mad at her, were honestly pretty legitimate. She spread a rumor about them sleeping together to use him for his name (or so he thought), she basically let her mom rail on him outside of their house, etc (even if he doesn’t blame her for that one, I understand why he wanted to distance himself, don’t you?). And while he used the “see i’m cool, and she isn’t” thing when explaining it to Rebecca, it feels like a total cover up to me--he’s scared to be with someone who challenges him, intellectually and otherwise, who isn't afraid to be exactly who she is and let the world see it--because that’s who Devi is, at her core. 

Plus they really became friends a long the way, you know? Sure, she always had a crush on him, but the story really took it’s time with that dynamic, and they formed this solid friendship without even realizing it. I love that for them. 

I also just think his heritage would be really interesting to dive into and I love Rebecca and love the potential of friendship between her and Devi. Plus the chemistry between Devi and Paxton just feels more palpable to me--not sure if that’s purposeful or not. 

I’d really love to get a Paxton POV in Season 2, because I think it would be fascinating to see how this all went down from his perspective, and you just know there’s a ton going on in that mind that we don’t know.