Netflix’s ‘Never Have I Ever’ Is Its Best Teen Comedy To Date

As I continue my quest to watch pretty much anything that makes its way into Netflix’s top 10 list for the week, I started Never Have I Ever yesterday afternoon.

And finished it yesterday night.

My wife was so taken by it she literally would not let me stop watching, and by the end, I had no regrets. It is genuinely one of the best shows I’ve seen in Netflix in a long time, and I’d argue, the best teen-focused comedy on the service.

Never Have I Ever has steep competition in that category. Atypical, Sex Education, The End of the F***ing World, just to name a few stellar series. In terms of overall quality, I’d put it up there with my other two favorite teen comedy series, Derry Girls and Hulu’s PEN15, though Never Have I Ever leans more heavily on emotional weight than those.

The show was created by Lang Fisher and Mindy Kaling of The Office and The Mindy Project fame, though she only wrote two of the ten episodes. Never Have I Ever tells the story of a young Indian girl raised in America, Devi, dealing with the recent death of her father as she also navigates the more traditional perils of high school like finding a boyfriend and upping her popularity.

Never Have I Ever goes out of its way to cultivate an extremely diverse cast, more than any of the other comedies I mentioned. Pretty much every single actor on the show is a character of color from Devi’s best friends Fabiola and Eleanor to her crush, the half-Japanese Paxton Hall-Yoshida. The two white guys with speaking parts are a comically “woke” teacher and Ben, Devi’s academic rival who does end up being one of the most well-developed characters on the show.

The show isn’t good because it’s so diverse necessarily, it’s just a great written and acted series that benefits from being diverse, and the central experience of a young, Americanized Indian girl bridging two cultures is an interesting one we haven’t seen in other series like this.

I cannot speak highly enough of the performance delivered by Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, such a complete newcomer to the industry that this is her only listed acting credit. To go from complete unknown to leading the number one series on Netflix is quite a jump, and not only do I expect big things from her in the future, I am confident that this show will be renewed for a second season within the week, given how well its performing and how great it is.

It’s the perfect length, just ten, thirty minute episodes which is why it was easy to finish in a day. The show effortlessly blends humor with some deeply moving emotional moments, and features love stories and triangles that are genuinely interesting, and not your usual teen fare. There’s really nothing cheesy here, which is something you might not be able to claim about productions like To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. This has more of a Booksmart vibe to it, but I’d say it’s even better than that film by the end.

This is a fantastic production from Kaling, probably her best to date, and her entire team of directors, writers and actors. Ramakrishnan is stunning as Devi, and I cannot wait to see more of her when this show is inevitably picked up for further exploration with future seasons by Netflix. Don’t miss it.

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