Not many of Netflix’s episodic originals get to bow out on their own terms, with far too many of them being placed on the guillotine long before their time, but Never Have I Ever stands out as one of the few exceptions to the rule.
Being allowed to bring its narrative full circle was a necessity given the acclaim that’s followed the fan favorite dramedy at every turn, with a reputation now secured as one of the streaming service’s best-ever exclusive shows. Relentless acclaim has seen co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher’s coming-of-age story net respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 100, 92, 94, and 95 percent across its individual runs so far, with an average 95 percent putting it right among Netflix’s all-time hall of fame.
The viewership numbers have been there to back it up, too, and that’s continued after the fourth and final season roared out of the blocks to become the platform’s top-viewed TV series worldwide. Per FlixPatrol, Never Have I Ever has signed off in style by debuting at number one in 57 countries around the world, knocking Arnold Schwarzenegger down a peg or two twice over after both action comedy FUBAR and documentary Arnold suffered in its wake.
Rounding out the tale of Maitreyi Ramakrishnan’s Devi in a fashion that’s largely satiated those who’ve followed from the very beginning, it just goes to show that it might actually be in Netflix’s best interests to give its in-house offerings time to breathe and draw a definitive line under their myriad of plot threads.