After four seasons, “Never Have I Ever” fans will have to wave goodbye to “the U.N.” — Devi Vishwakumar, Fabiola Torres, and Eleanor Wong — aka the “Unfuckable Nerds.” (Thanks, Ben Gross.) Season 3 will air this summer, while the coming-of-age comedy’s final season will begin production in 2023, according to Deadline.
Since the premiere of “Never Have I Ever” in April 2020, audiences have fallen in love with Mindy Kaling’s series, which was briefly inspired by the “Office” alum’s upbringing.
The show stars Tamil Canadian Maitreyi Ramakrishnan as Devi Vishwakumar, a first-generation Indian American teen who returns to high school after the traumatic death of her father.
Stricken by grief, young Devi loses her ability to walk for three months following her dad’s death. As she heads into her sophomore year, she is determined to rebrand, shed the title of “Paralyzed Indian Girl Whose Dad Dropped Dead At The School Function” and ascend up the social strata.
However, the dream is fraught with some, err, challenges: an enemies-to-lovers-arc-turned-love-triangle, struggles to balance loyalty versus popularity, and a potential move to India. Lest we forget Devi’s effortlessly cool new Indian classmate, Aneesa (Megan Suri), who proves that “Crazy Devi” could just be unlikable.
Kaling shared the news via an Instagram post, which she and the show’s co-creator Lang Fisher signed: “We can’t wait to reveal all the steamy romance and hilarious adventures we have in store for you. Thanks to all our fans for your support — especially you #Bevi and #Daxton stans. We love you!”
Series heartthrob Darren Barnet, who plays resident himbo Paxton Hall-Yoshida, shared the news in an Instagram Story with the text “One more time, baby!”
Poorna Jagannathan, who plays Devi’s mother, Nalini, reposted the message with the caption “This just happened. Honored to bring this story back for one more time. We belong.”
Hours after the announcement, “Never Have I Ever” star Ramakrishnan posted a throwback video of the moment she received news that she had been cast as the lead, followed by her own personal message: “Dear NHIE fans, Thank you all for everything. ... This is show is so close to my heart. It is my privilege to help create this story, so I promise I’ll give it my all and make you guys proud.”
Bela Bajaria, Netflix’s head of global TV, wrote, “We are thrilled to have two more seasons of ‘Never Have I Ever.’ It’s everything we want in a Netflix comedy series: authentic, specific, funny, and full of heart. I love that a story I relate to so deeply - about a young, Indian-American girl - hits on so many universal truths that resonate with just about everyone.”
Heralded as a groundbreaking moment for South Asian representation on television, “Never Have I Ever” centers a brown girl as a love interest while defying and challenging the tropes about young South Asian American women. It traverses through themes like grief, sexuality, friendship and identity with ease.
For now, we await the fate of Devi’s virginity, relationships and college aspirations, but fans will sorely miss the award-winning series when it’s over.