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Never Have I Ever and the Lost Potential of a Devi and Paxton Match
Where, oh, where did the potential go?
In the wee hours of the morning, I finished my much-anticipated binge-watch of Never Have I Ever season 4. The story is a tidal wave of adolescent angst for the millennials out there struggling with nostalgia for yesteryears when social media wasn’t the mainstay it is now. These characters still speak to each other and interact as if cell phones haven’t taken over the world: in this way, Never Have I Ever has become a relic of fantasy and wish fulfillment alike.
Season three left on the note that Devi and her frenemy Ben Gross have lost their virginity to each other. Though both share common interests and the like, the distinct lack of chemistry in their intimate interactions leaves much to be desired. At the beginning of this season, Devi ends up bolting before the poor girl and her besotted would-be beau can figure out what the hell just happened between them.
Without getting into too many spoilers, this choice of Devi’s is the one thing that seems to cause a spiral of events over the course of the rest of the ten episodes. Characters walk in and out of being, and the only ones who seem to exist as “real people” are Ben, Devi, and Paxton. The rest seem like sad ghosts who are put on display to enact a morality…
