“Never Have I Ever” effortlessly depicts teens’ lives

Of all the teen drama shows on Netflix, the one that sticks out the most is “Never Have I Ever.” This Netflix original is about a teenage girl of Indian descent named Devi Vishwakumur (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) who goes through high school building and breaking a lot of relationships in the name of love and drama while also coping with her father’s abrupt death.

“Never Have I Ever” came out in 2020 and finished in June 2023 with a total of four seasons that kicked off with a very interesting first episode. This had me on my tippy toes waiting for a new season of this show because, unlike my life, Devi’s life is very interesting and her personality makes it more chaotic. She is smart, kind, fun, and also a risk-taker who charms everyone with her demanding and strong personality.

In most teen shows you can hear a narrator speaking in the back and making funny comments but in this show the narrator and Devi are entirely different. The narrator is John McEnroe which is interesting because his voice is completely different from Devis’ but very satisfying. The narrator is an older white man with no idea what teenage drama is, but his comments fit perfectly for Devi’s problems and add to the humorous parts of the show.

All four seasons show Devi in different stages and how she becomes the person she is in the last episode. Devi has high expectations and makes dumb decisions alongside her two best friends Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez). Her best friends are literally everything to Devi but they don’t stop her from pursuing boys. Come on, who doesn’t love a story where a girl can pull different types of guys: the athlete, the nerd, and the bad boy? The athlete is Paxton, played by Darren Barnet, a year older than Devi in the show but 10 years older than her in real life. (Yeah, he is old to be acting as a teenager). The nerd Ben (Jaren Lewison) also somehow falls in love with her. Lastly, the bad boy, Ethan, is played by Micheal Cimino. As I said before, Devi makes dumb decisions so watching how she meets the boys and who she ends up with shows us that she can change herself (in a good way) to fit with her love interest.

The most important part is that Devi has some of the best character development of any recent teen show I’ve watched. In the show, we can see her doing things that hurt people around her or change how people see her, but she is able to learn from those mistakes really quickly. I would say she became more open-minded and remembers to think before speaking.

The show is called “Never Have I Ever” because Devi’s ego is so preoccupied with the things she hasn’t experienced or done yet, which is in line with her nature. I feel like being able to connect with the main character has changed the view I have on life because just like her, I did not experience many things that I would love to, especially since I have strict parents. She made not being able to experience everything as a teen, not a bad thing, but if you want to experience those things you have to be a risk taker — you only live once. Living in a big family that is old fashioned gives me no privacy so I really enjoyed how she was able to live through that. I recommend this show if you are looking for comedy, drama, and relatable feelings in a show.