Never Have I Ever S4, Netflix
The fourth and final instalment of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever has graced our screens. Over the last 3 years we’ve followed our chaotic fave, Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), navigate grief, growth, and the consequences of her own actions.
Season 4’s Devi is worlds apart from the young woman we were introduced to in 2020. Once embarrassed of her Indian background, the series finale shows Devi fully embracing herself and her heritage before heading off to college.
Set in the Californian sunshine, the show is light-hearted and follows a high school student “coming of age” whilst haphazardly manoeuvring her way through loss, academic work, and self-worth. Along the way, romantically Devi finds herself torn between her academic nemesis Ben and school heartthrob Paxton. The outcome of who she ends up is revealed in the season’s final moments.
Mindy Kaling, the show’s creator, has not shied away from making the protagonist cruel on occasion. But at the same time, Devi is full of love, warmth and care. It’s been incredibly refreshing seeing an Asian character on screen who is desired, textured and complex - a complete contrast to the stereotypical beige, boring and depictions of women of colour that we see so often. Devi is rebellious, messy and an extremely flawed protagonist at times. But despite this, she does appear to be self-aware at times - which is exactly why audiences can resonate with her.
No stranger to self-sabotage, in Season 4 we see Devi’s most daring choice yet as she applies to only top colleges and initially doesn’t get accepted into any of them. To make matters worse, she makes a bad first impression to an admissions officer at the high school college fair. Embarrassed and too mortified to tell the truth, Devi gets caught up in a web of lies that spirals out of control. Since Devi was a child, her dream has been to attend Ivy league university Princeton. From Season 1, it’s a dream Devi and her late father, Mohan, used to frequently chat about before he sadly passed away.
Filled with funny moments and humorous faux pas, the Vishwukamar’s multi-generational household has also been at the centre of emotional turmoil and tear-jerking moments. The loss of Mohan strains the relationship Devi has with her mother, Nalini - but also brings Devi closer to her other female family members in her life.
Sitting comfortably in Netflix’s top 10 trending list, Never Have I Ever gave us a satisfying final chapter filled with laughter, light relief and lovely moments.
