If teen dramas are your thing, buckle up because you're going to enjoy watching Devi's dramatic life.
Never Have I Ever is a Netflix teen drama/comedy drama released in the earlier months of 2020. A second season premiered in July this year and it's been renewed for a third season. It stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Poorna Jagannathan, Darren Barnet and Jaren Lewison. An interesting member of the cast is John McEnroe the tennis player. He plays himself as the narrator of the series.
The Plot
Devi is an Indian-American high school student who is trying to climb up the school's social ladder after having a horrible year. She lost her dad and was so traumatized that she couldn't use her legs for a whole year. She became known as the girl that lost her dad and then had paralysis. Unfortunately, this stuck even after she regained the use of her legs.
As school resumes, she's bent on having a boyfriend to look cool and she goes after the most sought after boy in school, Paxton. She does this by propositioning sex to Paxton but it doesn't exactly go as planned.
She struggles with her friendships, situationships and dealing with her unresolved trauma while still maintaining good grades in school. Her relationship with her mom is also one of the shaky areas of her life and her therapist always has a fill after every session.
Her mischievous ways always lands her in compromising situations and she spends most of her time trying to save face.
My Thoughts
I liked the whole setting of this show and what caught my attention was the narrator's voice. You'd wonder, why is an old man narrating a teen drama? You just need to keep on watching to get it.
Devi reminds me of my teenage years filled with randy thoughts and I kept bawling at her attempt of having sex. She's a funny character and does it effortlessly. The fact that she's a know-it-all but doesn't know most of her actions falls back to her still being in deep trauma makes you see her for the kid she is.
I like that this character is different from the stereotype Indian-American most shows portay. Devi is as razz as can be and a selfish asshole most of the time. Her whole life is drama and she seems to always be in one mess or the other.
Every episode is funny and I don't really have a favorite but I like the episode about her mum trying to understand Devi and be a good mum to her. I also liked when her mum kissed Common who played her colleague/romantic interest.
The show explores the lives of other characters too, giving some perspective and making the story add up as a whole.
I don't really expect much from teen dramas but I wasn't disappointed with this. I had some good laughs and I'm definitely going to watch the next season.
I'll rate this show an 8/10 and will recommend.
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