'Never Have I Ever' Season 4: Bittersweet ending to Mindy Kaling's hit Netflix comedy

It's the end of an era.

Back in 2020, Canadian star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan popped up on our screens in Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher's show Never Have I Ever, and now it's time to say goodbye with the fourth and final season of the Netflix hit.

Kaling has been very open about the fact that this show, which follows its lead character Devi (Ramakrishnan) going through high school after the recent loss of her dad, was very much a story that would stay in high school.

But now that the end is here, this new season of the show is a celebration of those endearing characters we fell in love with over previous seasons. But of course, with added drama as we close out the series.

What happens in 'Never Have I Ever' Season 4?

Never Have I Ever jumps right into the drama for Season 4, starting just moments after Devi loses her virginity, having sex with Ben (Jaren Lewison).

"Well, we did it," Devi says. "We had sex."

"You were inside of me. Ben Gross was inside of me.”

It's awkward, they don't really know how to act, so it results in Ben asking if he can call Devi an Uber, as she scrambles to put on her clothes to get out of Ben's house.

Devi's friends Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola "Fab" (Lee Rodriguez) comfort Devi after her awkward moment, but Devi thinks Ben looked "embarrassed" for her.

"Guys, I think I’m bad at sex," Devi says, freaking out that Ben was expecting "Euphoria sex."

"I had no idea what to do with my legs or arms. I was like the inflatable balloon man at a tire store.”

Simultaneously, Ben is feeling weird about sex with Devi. Working through his feelings at the gym, Ben meets basketball star Dwight Howard, and Ben forces him to hear about his problems. The consensus is that Devi is just not that into him.

Three months later, we reach the beginning of a new, final school year. Devi's mom Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) passed on her old car to her daughter and Devi has two goals: get into Princeton and get Timothée Chalamet to follow her on Instagram.

But not only have Ben and Devi grown apart, Ben and Margot (Victoria Moroles) started dating. Devi's jealously is on fire, with one particular outburst stunting her chances of getting into Princeton.

Trying to get over Ben, another boy catches Devi's eye, Ethan (Michael Cimino), the rebellious bad boy at school and the complete opposite of Ben.

While Devi is navigating her final year of high school, and academic future, Paxton's (Darren Barnet) Arizona State University experience isn't going as planned. That results in him leaving college and going back to his high school, on the coaching staff for the school's swim team.

While Devi has always had Fab and Eleanor on her side, in Season 4, there are a couple moments of tension in this friend group, while Devi is still trying to manage her chaotic romantic life.

What Never Have I Ever has accomplished in every season, but even more so in Season 4, is really tugging at our heartstrings with the way it incorporates Devi's father's death in the story. As Devi gets older, more events and experiences come up that connect her to her late father.

The series closes out staying true to its original commitment to not shying away from how incredibly awkward it is to be a teenager. Season 4 is largely about figuring out what to do when high school comes to an end, which makes things even more difficult.

Some of the best moments of Season 4 of Never Have I Ever are when Devi is at home with her mother, cousin Kamala (Richa Moorjani) and Devi's grandmother Nirmala (Ranjita Chakravarty). There is such great, sarcastic and wickedly funny banter between all these women that consistently make them highlights of the series.

There's always something bittersweet when you know you won't be seeing the future of a character you've loved watching for years, but we appreciate that Never Have I Ever comes to a full conclusion.

Near the end of the final episode, Devi says she's "grateful," and that's basically how we feel. We're grateful that we had the opportunity to go on this journey with Devi for four seasons.