Devi Vishmakumar is getting ready to graduate. Seven months after Netflix announced that Never Have I Ever had been renewed for season 3, creator Mindy Kaling revealed in March 2022 that the show had also gotten the green light for its fourth and final installment.
The raunchy teen comedy centers on Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a 15-year-old Indian-American girl mourning the recent death of her father in addition to the usual high school stresses: attempting to seduce Paxton (Darren Barnet), the hottest boy in school, defeating her academic nemesis, Ben (Jaren Lewison), and navigating tensions with her best friends. On top of all that, Devi and her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), are constantly at odds and her beautiful, perfect cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani) has just moved in.
At the start of the first season, Devi is starting her sophomore year of high school and Kaling felt it was fitting to wrap things up around the time that she would graduate.
“Four seasons for a high school show felt like it made sense,” the Office alum told Entertainment Tonight in April 2022 about the decision to end the series. “There are some things are built-in doing a high school show that felt like, ‘OK this is time.’”
She continued: “But the truth is, we got to know the characters. The great thing about doing it on Netflix is that we got to tell stories that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell in traditional network shows and so we feel good. We really told the story of this 15-year-old girl and that felt like the perfect amount of time.”
Kaling and the rest of the writers will likely be able to pack a lot of drama and romance into those remaining seasons. Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger, with Paxton agreeing to officially be Devi’s boyfriend — just as Ben learns that she had feelings for him — which puts the teen in a position she’s never been in before.
“What’s Devi going to be as an actual girlfriend in a real relationship with someone who’s much more experienced than she is?” showrunner Lang Fisher wondered to ET in July 2021. “This has been her dream for the entire series. … And now she has one and he is the most popular boy in the school.”
She continued: “It’s like, ‘What is that going to be like?’ Is it going to be the dream that she had always imagined it would be or will it be more complicated? And probably it will be more complicated than that. There’s still these things like to explore in terms of sex and what do you do if you’re a nerd who’s done very little and you’re dating a much more experienced guy.”
Never Have I Ever’s central love triangle will continue to play a part in season 3, with Lewison interested in exploring how Ben will react to this new information.
“I know that for me and for Ben, I really love when he’s vulnerable, but I also still love some of that Ben Gross-iness where he’s name-dropping and being loud and brash. I never want that to go away,” the University of Southern California grad told ET. “For season 3, if we do get that chance, it would be a lot about this inner conflict between Devi, between Aneesa and that growth and maturity. I have no idea what he’s thinking and feeling. And I’d be really curious to that.”
Keep scrolling to find out what we do know about the final seasons of Never Have I Ever:
Devi Vishmakumar is getting ready to graduate. Seven months after Netflix announced that Never Have I Ever had been renewed for season 3, creator Mindy Kaling revealed in March 2022 that the show had also gotten the green light for its fourth and final installment.
The raunchy teen comedy centers on Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan), a 15-year-old Indian-American girl mourning the recent death of her father in addition to the usual high school stresses: attempting to seduce Paxton (Darren Barnet), the hottest boy in school, defeating her academic nemesis, Ben (Jaren Lewison), and navigating tensions with her best friends. On top of all that, Devi and her mother, Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan), are constantly at odds and her beautiful, perfect cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani) has just moved in.
At the start of the first season, Devi is starting her sophomore year of high school and Kaling felt it was fitting to wrap things up around the time that she would graduate.
“Four seasons for a high school show felt like it made sense,” the Office alum told Entertainment Tonight in April 2022 about the decision to end the series. “There are some things are built-in doing a high school show that felt like, ‘OK this is time.'”
She continued: “But the truth is, we got to know the characters. The great thing about doing it on Netflix is that we got to tell stories that you wouldn’t necessarily be able to tell in traditional network shows and so we feel good. We really told the story of this 15-year-old girl and that felt like the perfect amount of time.”
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Kaling and the rest of the writers will likely be able to pack a lot of drama and romance into those remaining seasons. Season 2 ended on a cliffhanger, with Paxton agreeing to officially be Devi’s boyfriend — just as Ben learns that she had feelings for him — which puts the teen in a position she’s never been in before.
“What’s Devi going to be as an actual girlfriend in a real relationship with someone who’s much more experienced than she is?” showrunner Lang Fisher wondered to ET in July 2021. “This has been her dream for the entire series. … And now she has one and he is the most popular boy in the school.”
She continued: “It’s like, ‘What is that going to be like?’ Is it going to be the dream that she had always imagined it would be or will it be more complicated? And probably it will be more complicated than that. There’s still these things like to explore in terms of sex and what do you do if you’re a nerd who’s done very little and you’re dating a much more experienced guy.”
Never Have I Ever’s central love triangle will continue to play a part in season 3, with Lewison interested in exploring how Ben will react to this new information.
“I know that for me and for Ben, I really love when he’s vulnerable, but I also still love some of that Ben Gross-iness where he’s name-dropping and being loud and brash. I never want that to go away,” the University of Southern California grad told ET. “For season 3, if we do get that chance, it would be a lot about this inner conflict between Devi, between Aneesa and that growth and maturity. I have no idea what he’s thinking and feeling. And I’d be really curious to that.”
Keep scrolling to find out what we do know about the final seasons of Never Have I Ever:
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Credit: Isabella B. Vosmikova/Netflix
When Will Season 3 Premiere?
Kaling and Fisher announced in March 2022 that new episodes would arrive on Netflix in the summer of 2022. In May, Netflix confirmed the official release date: August 12, 2022.
Credit: Isabella B. Vosmikova/Netflix
Why Is It Ending With Season 4?
In addition to feeling like they will have told Devi’s story fully by the end of season 4, Kaling also wants to avoid one of the most famous tropes in teen dramas. “They can’t be in high school forever,” the Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? author told ET in April 2022. “We’ve seen those shows. Like, you’ve been in high school for 12 years. What is going on here? Also, the actors get older and it starts looking insane that a 34-year-old is playing a 15-year-old.”
Credit: Courtesy of Never Have I Ever/Instagram
Who’s the New Guy?
Paxton and Ben may have another potential love interest to compete with in season 3. “Meet Des: he’s the whole frickin’ package,” the show’s official Instagram account announced in January 2022, alongside a photo of actor Anirudh Pisharody. Per Deadline, Des goes to an elite private school, but is just as smart as Devi, which will likely bring out her competitive side.
Credit: Isabella B. Vosmikova/Netflix
What’s Going on With Devi and Paxton?
Devi and Paxton may be in a new relationship, but that doesn’t mean everything will be a fairy tale for them going forward. “It’ll be really cool to see Devi in a proper relationship because we technically never really have,” Ramakrishnan told ET in July 2021. “But I think Paxton realizing what Devi means to him is really nice because he realizes, ‘This is the person that believes in me and doesn’t think I’m stupid.'”
Paxton is also preparing for another big challenge: getting into college. “Paxton is faced with so many new challenges and things are not going easy for them anymore. And you’re going to see him have to try a lot harder,” Barnet in the same interview. “And there’s a lot of question in what he’s really playing. He’s got to bow it down and see what he’s going to be doing with his life. And that’s going to be really interesting to see.”
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
Do Devi and Ben Still Have a Chance?
In the final moments of season 2, Eleanor (Ramona Young) confessed to Ben that Devi once chose him over Paxton. While the pair are still unaware of each other’s feelings — and both are in new relationships — his reaction hints that the Paxton-Devi-Ben love triangle won’t be resolved any time soon.
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
What’s Next for Devi’s Family?
After the introduction of Devi’s paternal grandmother in season 2, Fisher is interested in seeing her develop new relationships with her family. “I want to keep seeing her relationship with her mom grow and evolve and change,” she said. “It’d be nice to see them kind of lean on each other a little more. We introduced her grandmother [Nirmala] this season, who is this amazing actress (Ranjita Chakravarty) and she just brought this whole other dimension and kind of filled a little bit of the void that Mohan left. I’d like to see the new dynamics of her family now.”
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Has ‘Never Have I Ever’ Started Filming Season 4?
Netflix shared the first set photos in May 2022, revealing Devi and her crew have all returned to school for one last hoorah.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
Is the Season 3 Trailer Out?
The July 2022 trailer for season 3 shows Devi dealing with the impact of dating Paxton publicly. While popularity has perks, she isn’t used to being the center of gossip. As people speculate about how Paxton could date her, she starts to question their relationship. “I like you,” Paxton promises.
“Yeah, but why? No one else thinks we make any sense,” she says before Paxton tells her that she’s the one with the problem.
The trailer also came with a warning: “Be careful what you thirst for.”
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
Who Is Deacon Phillippe Playing?
Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe’s son will appear in the eighth episode of season 3 as Parker, but details about the role are being kept under wraps.
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
Has Season 4 Started?
“We got the script the other day and, damn, that’s all I’m going to say. …There’s just so much,” Ramakrishnan told Elle in an interview published in August 2022. “So much happens to these Sherman Oaks kids. They don’t catch a break.”
While an air date for the final season has yet to be announced, it presumably will pick up where season 3 concluded. After eventually breaking up with Des, Devi went to Ben’s house in the final scene, which aired that August. After handing him the “One Free Boink” coupon he had gifted her, the pair went into his bedroom before the door was shut behind them.
“I think the way the writers approached this fourth season has been with such care and with such tenacious and meticulous planning that I think we all feel comforted by the fact that it was a perfect sendoff. This fourth season is perfect,” Lewison told the magazine.
Credit: Courtesy of Netflix
What Did the Cast Tease During TUDUM 2022?
“Damn, Devi! Only the first episode and she already has her work cut out for her,” Ramakrishnan shared in a YouTube clip released during the Netflix panel in September 2022. After reading the script, the Canadian actress further teased Lewison over the prospect of Ben becoming a stud in season 4 and noted that an unexpected wedding ceremony would take place.
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
Is Paxton Coming Back for ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4?
Despite Paxton graduating during Never Have I Ever season 3, Barnet confirmed during TUDUM 2022 that his character would return for the final season.
Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock
Who Is Michael Cimino Playing in ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4?
The Love, Victor alum is joining the Netflix show as Ethan, another potential love interest for Devi. Cimino teased during TUDUM that his character was a “smoldering bad boy.”
Credit: Lara Solanki/Netflix
When Does ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4 Come Back?
Never Have I Ever season 4 is slated to return to Netflix in 2023.
Credit: Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Who Is Jeff Garlin Playing on ‘Never Have I Ever’ Season 4?
The comedian, who was fired from The Goldbergs after misconduct allegations that he has since denied, is set to play a potential love interest for Devi’s grandmother Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty). According to Variety, Garlin will play Len, a sweet man that can make a mean sandwich.
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