Netflix’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ Had a Perfect Ending – and That’s Not All
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There aren’t a whole lot of comparisons between Netflix’s teen rom-com “Never Have I Ever” and the HBO drama “Succession” (much to Ben Gross’s disappointment, no doubt), but the disparate series wrapped their fourth and final seasons within weeks of each other, both sticking the landing.
Finishing a TV show is an inherently gargantuan/intimidating/daunting task, and very few achieve the holy grail of doing so without disappointing or infuriating even a small faction of their fandom. Shorter seasons and scheduled endings are less rare in the streaming age, but still satisfying for the devoted viewer. Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s “Never Have I Ever” concluded with fulfilling emotional arcs for Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) — especially in her tumultuous relationship with mother Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) — and with a protagonist who evolved palpably in front of the audience.
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Ramakrishnan told IndieWire at a reception for the final season that her favorite part of the ending is Devi’s last conversation with herself — a callback to the Season 1 opener of the chaotic 15-year-old praying in her bedroom. No matter what happens after that, it’s clear evidence of her personal growth and the show’s own maturation.
“It just speaks to the genius that is Mindy, Lang and the entire writer’s room — WGA strong — for taking all of this ensemble cast and giving each character such an incredible, satisfying ending,” costar Richa Moorjani said. “Poorna always says this… it doesn’t feel like and end. It feels like just the beginning of a new chapter for these characters.”
By the end of Season 4, “Never Have I Ever” finds its characters starting college, forging career paths, moving across the country, and finding love after loss. The final episode, “…Said Goodbye,” leaves viewers emotionally content, with faith in the future and a sense of peace that these characters are or will be okay — that they will continue to care for each other no matter what (again, it could not be further from “Succession”).
The climate of representation coalesced around “Never Have I Ever” as the years continued. The Vishwakumars made waves as a South Asian sitcom family (that too one centered on women), now followed by the Khans of “Ms. Marvel,” the Sharmas of “Bridgerton,” the Mehboobs of “Sort Of.” For the cast, fostering South Asian talent, creativity, and community is an experience inextricably linked to the actual day-to-day work of “Never Have I Ever” — crafting a legacy that will live on long after the credits roll.
“The show took a community that’s largely invisible into visibility, and it also mirrored what was happening [in the show],” Jagannathan said. “Devi feels so unseen by us, so unseen in school, and by the end of the last episode, everyone sees everyone. The mother and daughter relationship is one of joy and love, but two people really seeing each other. I always think this is so meta: Not only are the characters seen, the audience feels seen as well.”
“I’ll never forget Utkarsh (Ambudkar) saying ‘I’ve never been on a set with this many brown people before,'” Ramakrishnan said. “I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ Because this was my normal, and that’s such a privilege — it wasn’t his, it wasn’t yours, but it was mine. That’s amazing, and that gives me so much more hope for the future generations.”
For Ramakrishnan, the show is tightly interwoven with her growth as an performer and young woman, after being selected from an open casting call when she was 17. Devi is the heart and soul of “Never Have I Ever” in all her flawed, catastrophic glory, and watching both character and actor mature in tandem is a rare wonder. Devi’s raw emotion taught Ramakrishnan to be generous to herself and others, while the crash course in becoming a TV star gave her a comedy acting education unlike any other. She concludes the show, like the characters and her colleagues, with immense gratitude.
“I learned the valuable lesson that my mom always told me even when I was a kid, but I didn’t understand it fully because I would brush her off,” she recalled. “Don’t dim your light. You deserve to be heard. You deserve your place at the table. You deserve to be respected and valued.”
All four seasons of “Never Have I Ever” are now streaming on Netflix.
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