by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
The high school comedy in television has gone through a lot of different iterations over the years. Depending on what you’re looking for, there’s a show for you to watch. Every decade has its share to check out. A lot of streaming services have their signature high school comedy, and one of Netflix’s best is coming to an end.
Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever concludes with senior year for our favorite Sherman Oaks Crickets. Devi’s (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) quest to go to Princeton enters the stretch run with her best friends Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) and Eleanor (Ramona Young). The U.N., as they were ridiculed with that name back in Season One, enter a chaotic final year of high school filled with choices, heartbreak, and most importantly, so much drama.
High school shows have similar issues when they get to the end of senior year: What do you do after school? And what do you do with the other people who graduated before? Never Have I Ever unfortunately wasn’t immune to this with Paxton (Darren Barnet). He graduates at the end of Season Three, and is a Swiss army knife for the series. He’s a jock, a love interest, an underdog, and everything in between. So when he graduated and went to Arizona State, I saw it as an opportunity to move on from him and let the other students shine. That doesn’t happen, and he feels clunky throughout the season.
The other character that gets the short end of the stick is Kamala (Richa Moorjani). Truth be told, she’s had it since Season Three; however, this was a chance to right the ship. The showrunners don’t take that chance. Her romantic interest from Season Three is M.I.A. in Season Four. He makes one appearance, which is a mistake.
Beyond those two characters, Season Four is a wonderful conclusion to a strong series.
One of the joys of watching Never Have I Ever is seeing Devi grow up. Ramakrishnan has brought Devi to life with such grace and spirit. Not only are we watching her grow up as a character, but a part of me loves that we are also watching Ramakrishnan grow up before our eyes as a performer. Devi is not the easiest character to root for. She has a quick temper and a lot of self-destructive characteristics, and on top of that, she’s a human dealing with a lot of trauma, which causes grief-stricken behavior. This season shows how much Devi has matured since the first one.
Mohan (Sendhil Ramamurthy), Devi’s dad, still has a strong grip on her actions, and he impacts a lot of her decisions. It’s great to see Ramamurthy back, after he spent much of Season Three on the sidelines. I enjoy any tidbit we get to learn about Mohan, but as more time passes, his influence becomes shaky. We see moments where he influences Devi’s college decisions, which is a major part of the final season. These moments of clarity help give context to why Devi wants to go to a particular college, and how writing about Mohan is something she’s been nervous to do since the beginning of the season.
The same could be said about a lot of people in the show, but one other person that sticks out in terms of growth is Devi’s mom, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan). She’s been struggling to figure out how to function after what happens to Mohan, and we watch her through the good and the bad. Like a lot of parents of teenagers, it hasn’t been easy for Nalini to balance an active, overachieving daughter with a career and the other people in her household. Some of the best (and hardest) moments to watch in Never Have I Ever are the fights between Nalini and Devi. There’s added anger and hurt because, like many relationships between parents and teenagers, they both say incredibly hurtful things to one another. This season, though, Nalini has rediscovered some semblance of joy, and contends with being an empty nester. It’s a strong way to end her arc.
The therapy sessions between Dr. Ryan (Niecy Nash) and Devi continue to be some of my favorite parts of the series. Dr. Ryan helps Devi with her trauma and her anger issues, and continues to be Devi’s voice of reason, despite fighting her tooth and nail through four seasons of sessions. Devi finally has some moments during therapy that click for her which give Dr. Ryan some payoff for all the struggles they’ve had. Nash is outstanding, and her chemistry and comedic timing with Ramakrishnan is off the charts.
The series finale provides closure and answers to some of the best storylines of the entire series. When it comes to series finales, I’m looking for the following: stakes, laughs, callbacks, iconic performances and moments, and emotional payoff. Never Have I Ever manages most of these really well. The biggest emotional payoff of the finale involves Devi’s nemesis/friend Ben (Jaren Lewison). They begin the season on the fritz, but the resolution to their story makes the awkwardness at the beginning worth it. They’ve come a long way from the foes they were in Season One.
Never Have I Ever will be missed on Netflix. It’s a wonderful show about finding yourself, overcoming grief, and growing up. The representation and inclusion that the series has is amazing, and the ensemble crushes it season after season. This season isn’t perfect, and there are a lot of repeated storylines with swapped out people, but Kaling has created a show that I’ll be adding to my regular rotation of shows to rewatch when I need to laugh or cry, soon enough. Cheers to Never Have I Ever for graduating!
Score: 7/10
Never Have I Ever is currently streaming on Netflix
You can read more from Mike Hilty, and follow him on Twitter, Letterboxd, and Serializd