“Never Have I Ever” created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher tells the story of a short-tempered, nerdy Indian-American 15-year old, Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), who is dealing with all the problems of being a teenager and losing her father. 

In 10 short episodes, Devi takes the audience on an emotional and thrilling roller coaster, from bluntly asking the hottest guy in school Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnett) to have sex with her, to calling her Indian mother the b-word and temporarily losing her friends. It takes the word cliché to another level. The storyline feels predictable yet the emotions, the acting, and the fact that it is about a first-generation Indian-American gives it a unique feeling.

After having a horrible freshman year, Devi is understandably avoiding facing the truth and her feelings, as the audience watches her avoid opening up about her dad’s death during her therapy sessions. She makes it clear that her priority for sophomore year is getting a boyfriend and becoming popular. Although her friends do not share the same goals, they entertain Devi’s ideas. 

It was a breath of fresh air to see so much diversity in one show as every character had a different identity. Devi’s best friends, Afro-Latina Fabiola (Lee Rodriquez) and south-east Asian Eleanor (Ramona Young) are nicknamed “The U.N.” by Devi’s nemesis, Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison), due to their diversity. 

Aside from the diversity, Kaling and Fisher also nailed it with the casting of this series. Devi and her friends felt like real high schoolers and they even looked like them as well. The only thing that is bothersome about the casting is the 11-year age difference between Ramakrishnan and her love interest Barnett.

There were plenty of laughs, secondhand embarrassment, and also plenty of unexpected tears, especially in the last episode that leaves the audience wanting a second season ASAP.

Brenda Valenzuela can be reached at [email protected].