Never Have I Ever season 4 review: Mindy Kaling's show ends on an underwhelming note

In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mindy Kaling introduced us to the troubling yet endearing life of Indian-origin teen Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan). Kaling's fresh take on teen dramas, which normalised the mental health of the growing kids and addressed the past traumas, and their typical teenage life dramas, was well received by the fans. After three seasons, that mainly addressed Devi's dream of going to a big college, finding her only true love, and finally having good sex, all three happened with a lot of chaos and melodrama. Now, the final and fourth season of the much-loved Netflix drama has arrived and this time will see the most grown-up side of Devi as she gets ready to enrol in her dream college and bid farewell to her life at Sherman Oaks,

The last time we saw Devi, she lost her virginity to the most unexpected man - Ben Gross. The genius and the first and only competitor of  D's life. The fourth season starts off on the same bed where we left Ben and Devi hooking up, however, things are different as now isn't the sex that Devi is expecting or fantasising about. When compared to the previous three seasons, the S 4 might not tick all the boxes but when we see it as a wrap of the three seasons - it's sweet, melodramatic and a little underwhelming.

What's season 4 all about?

Season 4 starts off with the notorious John McEnroe, a former tennis star, who is back to narrate Devi's life. After giving a jaw-dropping end to season 3, showing Devi hooking up with Gross, season four starts off where the previous one had ended. However, the situation was different as it was the first time for both teens, and the situation they ended up in now is a little odd. Nevertheless, the plot soon shifts and takes our focus to Devi's last year of high school, where the only goal is to get into the college of her dreams, Princeton. As we all know, this is Devi's life, and things do not go as smoothly as they appear at first. On the first day of college the summer gap, Devi ends up having a huge fight with Ben's new girlfriend, Margot (Victoria Moroles) and loses her chances to get a recommendation letter from the best professor in the school.

Like in the other seasons, her BFFs Eleanor Wong (Ramona Young) and Fabiola Torres (Lee Rodriguez) are by her side to manage all the ruckus she creates. The primary focus of the ten-episode series was the future of the high schoolers and where they end up getting in.

The young and charming Paxton-Hall Yoshida (Darren Barnet), left college and is back to school as the new swimming coach. He's a little more serious this time with his goals and finding the meaning of his life. As we can say, the replacement of Paxton in Devi's life is the new bad boy, Ethan (Michael Cimino).

A fitting end?

Expectations were really high for the fourth and final season of this much-loved series, but did it meet the audience's expectations and was it a befitting end? I would rather say no. In order to end the season on a good note, the makers may have forgotten that the charm of the show was showcasing the troubling, chaotic side of the teenagers and their personal lives, and how they get through it together. The fourth season starts off with the feeling that this is the end, and despite the college thing, the fourth season doesn't have anything exciting to offer.

The entire 10-episode series has plenty of flashbacks, connecting today's Devi to the earlier one when she was just a traumatic, struggling child and not-so-famous school topper with a lot of questions in her mind.

The other entertaining part of the show was Devi's family. While everything runs pale in the lives of young teens, the life of Devi's grandmother Pati (Ranjita Chakravarty) is made interesting as she finds a new love, Len (Jeff Garlin). Devi's mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), and her love life are again in discussion, as is whether, like her daughter, she will find someone special or not.

The unnecessary additions

Season four of Never Have I Ever has multiple unnecessary additions, like the catfight between Devi and Margot, the love angle of Devi's grandmother, which was only made to set up an entertaining end for the show, and the new heartthrob Ethan, whom you might think will be the hero of the season, but he's actually not.

When compared to the previous seasons, which kept the audience glued to the screen with twists and turns and Devi's silliness, this one somehow fails to keep you hooked. While the show tries to amp up the audience's interest multiple times in the show, the script and story fall short and leave you with an unfinished feeling.

The cast performance 

Like all the seasons, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi will again win your heart with her energy and enthusiasm. Jaren Lewison again brought all the sweetness to Ben-  this time even more. Eleanor and Fabiola are the two shining balls of the show and win every frame they are in. The other characters of the show, whether it was Nalini as an Indian mother (Poorna Jagannathan), Paxton Darren (Barnet), and Margot, among others, have done a decent job.

What's disappointing?

In order to make the ending happy, the makers forget the charm of the show. The series showed Devi's best and most mature side just like that—she's now controlling her temper, taking decisions in her life, and understanding everything in the most positive way. While it might be the demand of the character, but as an audience, this side of Devi will surely give you odd vibes.

The other miss of the show was that you would not be able to make a connection with the characters, and it felt like the show was very rushed.

The final verdict

All in all, season four is emotional, predictable, serious with unnecessary drama, and exaggerated with things that seem silly. They have tried to salvage the plot with humour and the new story addition, but everything falls flat. In order to give the perfect ending, the show lost its magic.

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