It has been three seasons since we first met the walking chaotic porridge Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan) and with the 4th season, which is also the last in the series. Never I never sidesteps any last-minute twists and turns to offer a rewarding and ultimately unsurprising ending. It’s a little disappointing considering we spent most of the seasons leading up to this finale on a wild ride with Devi only to end up where we always expected.
Season 4 of ‘I’ve Never Been’ Offers a Predictable End for Devi
From dating two boys at the same time, to having one of them unintentionally run over by a car, to having a conversation with a wild coyote she thinks is her father reincarnated, Devi’s road to Never I never never been straight or smooth. She is the very embodiment of chaos, ruled by her whims and temper, even earning the unfortunate nickname Crazy Devi. So as the show’s 4th season kicks off, it feels like another chapter of wild antics leading up to Devi’s senior year of high school.
It’s senior year and not only did Devi lose her virginity to Ben Gross (Jaren Lewisohn), but is preparing to apply to his first (and in fact only) school of choice: Princeton. At such a transitional moment in life, it seems that the future of each person is both carved in stone, but at the same time changing. Eleanor (Ramona Young) is going to enter the conservatory, Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) had her eye on studying robotics at Ivy University, and, of course, Ben had his eye on Columbia University. After years of study and competition, it is finally time for the next step in their lives.
But before the kids at Sherman Oaks can put on their prom dresses, they have yet to finish their senior year. This means that Devi has to deal with the embarrassing consequences of her connection with Ben, a relationship that has now been irrevocably changed. We also meet the new Hot Pocket (literally a bunch of hot guys in Sherman Oaks) and Paxton’s replacement, bad boy Ethan (Michael Cimino). But most importantly, Devi must charm the Princeton representative. From trips to the East Coast to taking up a new sport (yes, a new sport), Devi’s last year is as unconventional as her last three.
Unfortunately, despite all the ups and downs, the end can be seen a mile away. In fact, if you’ve been paying attention, you can probably guess who Devi ends up with. This is not entirely bad, as a good show will be based on its resolution, and the ending should not come from left field, but Never I never was slowly approaching that particular conclusion. But How The problem is that Devi ends up in the last episode of the series. In an attempt to tie the show with a bow, the series seems a little too neat towards the last minutes of the series.
Season 4 - code for “The Story Never Was”
In many ways Season 4 Never I never plays more like a long epilogue than another full chapter in Devi’s life. Her anxieties and fears manifest exactly as you might expect. Maybe it’s because TV has taught us these days to anticipate a more unexpected ending that makes sense in hindsight but still offers a bit of shock, but nothing too unexpected happens by the end of the movie. Never I never. Everyone ends up where you predicted.
The season plays with romantic couples, but eventually everyone (and I mean everyone) comes together to live happily ever after, even if it may not make much sense. Season 4 lacks the depth of previous seasons because, apart from the wildness of the plots, the show has always had a very solid foundation, especially when it comes to Devi’s relationship with her late father Mohan (Sendil Ramamurthy). Flashbacks or hallucinations involving Mohan usually bring together disparate stories over the course of a season to articulate a grand vision or thesis.
This is missing from Season 4, and in trying to give everyone a neat ending, it feels like we’ve lost sight of a lot of the development it takes to get there. Nalini (Purna Jagannathan) and even Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty) get romantic storylines that end up feeling rushed rather than romantic. This suggests that despite Devi having a long, slow-burning they-not-they romance, no one else has really had the same development on the romantic front. There are moments for Devi where we get to see her grow and mature, indeed the lack of wild antics in the final season may be an indicator of that, but the story doesn’t emphasize that this is just the start of a new chapter and not the end of her story.
Final season Never I never very destined to please the crowd. It’s a conclusion that will likely make fans smile, although it lacks the emotional depth and impact that the previous three seasons had. The ending is not bad, but a bit disappointing. This is a testament to how well Never I never leads to this finale; each season hit hard on humor, heart, and strong character development. Unfortunately, this means Season 4 lives in their shadow. Everyone deserves their own happy ending, but the show as a whole feels devoid of the realism that has so often been present in previous seasons.
Rating: C+
All episodes of the final season Never I never available for streaming on Netflix.
Source: Collider
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