‘Never Have I Ever’ Star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on Filming the Emotional Series Finale and Whether She Was Team Paxton or Ben
SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers from the series finale of “Never Have I Ever” now streaming on Netflix.
The senior season of Netflix’s “Never Have I Ever” is here and, with it, the social, cultural, familial and sexual education of Devi Vishwakumar has reached its conclusion.
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Maitreyi Ramakrishnan stars as the quirky and ambitious first-generation Indian American high schooler, whose fiery temper has gotten her into some hot water in her relationships and into the point position of a simmering teenage love triangle with studly swimmer Paxton Hall-Yoshida (Darren Barnet) and her equally-nerdy nemesis Ben Gross (Jaren Lewison).
Season 4 of the coming-of-age comedy kicked off with a bang — literally — as Devi and Ben have sex. But awkwardly losing their virginity is just the beginning of a new round of will-they or won’t-they drama.
Over the course of the “Never Have I Ever’s” final 10 episodes, Devi has a brief fling with bad boy Ethan (Michael Cimino) and kisses Paxton (who returns to Sherman Oaks High as the assistant swim coach after floundering at Arizona State University), but there was no escaping her romantic destiny. Ben was the one she really loved and he loved her right back. (Cue the romantic pop anthem!)
In countless interviews — many of which saw her seated between Barnet and Lewison, like this one with Variety — Ramakrishnan has played it politically, never taking sides in the debate over who should win Devi’s heart. (If this was Model U.N., Ramakrishnan would be Switzerland.)
In fact, Ramakrishnan proudly declared herself “Team Devi” from the start, telling Variety in 2020 that before the character “loves any man, she needs to love herself.”
Ramakrishnan explained: “She needs to learn how to approach and accept her grief for her father. Be kinder to her family and her friends and realize she’s not the nicest and she’s not really a goddamn delight like she thinks she is. And also embrace her culture.”
Well, by the “Never Have I Ever” finale episode — titled “…Said Goodbye,” and written by co-creators Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher, with Fisher directing — Devi has accomplished just that, getting a gold star in growth. (As well as achieving her lifelong goal of attending Princeton.)
Focused on the final days of summer following the Sherman Oaks high schoolers’ graduation — including rites of passage like realizing her besties Eleanor (Ramona Young) and Fabiola (Lee Rodriguez) moving to different cities might make it hard to stay in touch, as well as freaking out over packing her whole life into a suitcase and fighting with her mother Nalini (Poorna Jagannathan) — the episode is a 31-minute cap and gown to Devi’s excellent evolution.
Plus, it settles fans’ Team Paxton vs. Team Ben debate once and for all. And now that the world knows that Ben and Devi are endgame, Ramakrishnan is coming clean about who she wanted Devi to end up with.
“Yes, I am Team Devi, but now I can make a decision: I’m Team Paxton,” Ramakrishnan reveals. “Don’t act like you didn’t know this, I told you multiple times on set,” she tells Barnet, who is sitting to her right and (feigning?) surprise.
“Any couple can take time apart. That’s fine. It could still be on the table later. Hear me out,” Ramakrishnan says, speeding through her reasoning. “Yes, Devi idolized him since she was a child and always had a crush on him, but in season 2, she recognized that Paxton is not perfect, and has to deal with his own things. He’s not just a stud; he’s kind of a dork as well. They have that undeniable chemistry where they push each other in more ways than one — like yes, academically [for] Paxton, but as a person, where Devi has to grow and be someone who learns how to control her emotions in a way that still values her emotions. And I think that’s pretty damn great.”
“So yes, I’m still Devi, but I can now say I am Team Paxton,” she concludes, turning to Lewison on her left. “Would you like to brush off your shoulders now for the ending?”
Lewison takes the bait. “The writers made the best decision, obviously,” he says, admitting. “I’m biased for sure. I’m always gonna be Team Ben, but obviously respect [to Maitreyi], she made a lot of great points and, hey, it’s a triangle and that’s why there’s different sides.”
When the cast received the scripts for the final episode while filming episode 408, Lewison was “speechless” at finding out that Ben and Devi were over.
“I read it, and was like, ‘Oh my god, this is the last time that I’ll ever sit and read a new episode of ‘Never Have I Ever,’ and that was like a pretty emotional moment,” he recalls. “Then I was frantically shooting out texts — that’s who I am — frantically asking for what everyone else thought. I just thought it was amazing and so brilliant. It was one of the best things I’ve ever read ever in my life.”
Ramakrishnan was first to learn how this season’s storylines would develop. Fisher and Kaling gave her a heads up because production films all the scenes with Devi’s therapist, Dr. Ryan (Niecy Nash-Betts) in one day.
“I had to have context for the last Dr. Ryan scene when we were filming episode 5, and I was very confused,” Ramakrishnan explains. “Lang and Mindy gave me the rundown of the key points of what was going to happen — subject to change — but that was when I learned [how the show would end].”
Even with the forewarning, the emotions over finishing the series didn’t hit her until the very last second.
“I cried on my last scene,” Ramakrishnan says. “It wasn’t the scene itself, but it was knowing this is the last moment you will breathe life in to this character. It could’ve been Devi taking a dump and I would’ve cried. It truly could have.”
“That visual,” Barnet chimes in, shaking his head at the thought. “You’re welcome,” she replies.
(The actual scene featured Ramakrishnan’s Devi and Ben snuggled up in her dorm room at Princeton, with tennis pro John McEnroe’s signature tart voiceover wrapping up the Devi’s tale.)
“The scene didn’t matter, it was just knowing all of this was done. Wow, sorry dark!” Ramakrishnan says, trailing off to avoid shedding another tear.
Saying goodbye to Devi marks the end of an era. Ramakrishnan made her acting debut on the show, beating out thousands for the role as a 17-year-old unknown from Mississauga, Canada after answering Kaling’s social media casting call. So, when Fisher called cut on the series’ final scene, it also meant that the young actor is heading into the unknown.
“For me, the ending of the show is when Devi is at the altar praying and she is just so grateful for her whole life,” Ramakrishnan adds, with a glint of gratitude for her own good fortune. “Then we see the fade outs and life goes on.”
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