It’s rare to see shows about high school students that accurately reflect high school. Typically, either the problems are too far-fetched for teenagers or the people cast as the teenagers look ridiculously old.
Netflix’s new gem Never Have I Ever, created by the brilliant Mindy Kaling, has surpassed all expectations with realistic actors, acting and writing. The show is an all-around treasure and definitely one to binge during the quarantine
The show follows Devi, a sophomore in high school who is desperately trying to reinvent herself after a rough freshman year where her father died during an orchestra concert, and she developed a psychosomatic paralysis where she couldn’t walk. Now, physically recovered but still emotionally raw, Devi is determined to become popular, lose her virginity and survive her conflicting views with her tradition-based Indian family.
The cast is jam-packed with lovable characters. Jaren Lewison brings the perfect immature and spiteful energy of a young male teen as Ben, and Darren Barnet has the poise and slight depth of a teen jock. Poorna Jagannathan plays Devi’s mother, a struggling widow trying to keep her family and her mental health together, and Richa Moorjani portrays this elegant, conflicted woman deciding between pleasing her family or following her heart.
But the glue that holds all the moving pieces of Never Have I Ever together is the firecracker that is Maitreyi Ramakrishnan. The breakout star is the perfect teen heroine and absolutely the most relatable for young women. Her character is definitely flawed but is so easy to root for throughout the entirety of the show. She makes mistakes that people in high school or who have been through high school can empathize with, and Ramakrishnan brings her undeniable power into every scene.
Though narration is typically a tacky way to proceed with exposition, Never Have I Ever brings a new twist on narration with popular former tennis player John McEnroe. Though he seems like an odd option for the narration of a young, female teen coming-of-age story, he was her dad’s favorite tennis player, so it made sense. He even makes a fun cameo at the end of the season.
However, another interesting layer to the show that adds a lot of depth is by shifting perspectives for one episode to follow Ben, Devi’s nemesis. That episode is narrated by Andy Samberg, and it’s hilarious and brings another unique factor to spice up the show.
Another brilliant part of the show is the music. Every memorable coming-of-age show or film provides moving music to set the mood. The show’s music is done by Joseph Stephens and brilliantly underlines every plotline and the twists and turns that follow.
By far the best part about the show is the realistic nature of the problems. First times having sex, abandonment issues with parents, the tradition of arranged marriage and navigating the peer pressures of high school are all relatively normal obstacles people face while going through life. It’s a pleasant change from the normal life and death situations of normal high school teen television.
Though it’s a tale of overly-dramatic highschoolers, there’s a lot of poignancy with the themes of Devi’s father’s death. He is clearly romanticized throughout Devi’s memories of him in the show as graceful, fun-loving and wildly compassionate. It makes the pill of his death even harder to swallow, but the realism of navigating through high school after losing a parent is the exact amount of depth needed to make the show phenomenal.
Without a doubt, Never Have I Ever is one of the most beautifully well-done Netflix shows to date. The first season is easily bingeable and will have you hooked on the fates of the characters within the first episode.
