If you’re not into teen shows – that is, shows for or about young adults – then Never Have I Ever might not be your jam. That said, you’ll be missing out on something special. 

 

I’m hard-pressed to think of a show with better writing, more lovable characters or harder-hitting authenticity than Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever. It nails the perfect sweet spot of edginess and wholesomeness, similar to Ted Lasso.

 

Like most teen shows, NHIE deals with dating, friendships and academic pressures – but it’s so much more than that. This show also tackles grief, the loss of a parent, therapy, working mom life, the realities of being a first generation immigrant family and issues of personal integrity.

 

Main character Devi (pronounced Davey) Vishwakumar is an Indian-American girl who also happens to be a boy-crazy force of nature. She is a straight-A student who spends seasons one through three doing her best to “get railed” – aka lose her virginity. 

 

Season four opens with Devi starting her senior year in HS having lost her V card, but she still has plenty of romantic troubles and pre-college jitters, not to mention friend drama. Drama seems to follow Devi everywhere she goes, partially because she has an affinity for love triangles and making poor choices. 

 

Devi’s a lovable hothead – which is why the show has always benefited from a hilarious voiceover by 80s tennis legend John McEnroe, perhaps the best-known hothead of them all. Part of the pleasure of this show is seeing the pickles Devi gets herself into and then back out of again.

 

As the parent of a teen, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that NHIE freely and openly depicts teens drinking, smoking pot and having sex without many (or any?) negative consequences. That said, I still watched it with my favorite young adult and it gave us lots of opportunities to talk about where Devi and friends could have made different choices.

 

Season four of Never Have I Ever ends the series on a highly satisfying note with many bittersweet and touching moments as well as plenty of the show’s trademark humor. It left me wanting more – and really, what better way is there to end a series than that?