Who Does Devi End Up With In Netflix's Never Have I Ever?

Teen shows are a dime a dozen on Netflix, but few of them are as funny, charming, chaotic, and emotionally grounded as "Never Have I Ever." The Lang Fisher and Mindy Kaling-created series follows the exploits of Devi Vishwakumar (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in her first-ever role), a bold, opinionated Indian-American teenager on a perpetually thwarted quest to kiss boys, get into a good college, and feel okay again after the unexpected passing of her father ("Heroes" alum Sendhil Ramamurthy).

The show starts with precocious, adventurous Devi eager to lose her virginity, with her sights focused on the most popular boy in school. Thankfully, though, the show doesn't get mired in high-school-virgin trope territory, and instead evolves into a surprisingly beautiful (and consistently wacky) take on the complexities of teen relationships, self-esteem, and more. Its final season is a master stroke, and its series finale is so much better than it has any right to be. Frankly, "Never Have I Ever" sometimes feels like the show Kaling's "The Mindy Project" could've been had it ended before it went off the rails. It's a coming-of-age comedy, but it's also got big love for the rom-com genre, and it pulls off its happily ever after perfectly — even if, by virtue of resolving its central love triangle, it no doubt left some shippers feeling slighted.

When "Never Have I Ever" started back in 2020, its romantic angst centered squarely on one major crush: Paxton Hall-Yoshida, the popular heartthrob who Devi propositions in the very first episode. Paxton, played by "Road House" and "Chicago Med" actor Darren Barnet, agrees despite Devi's outcast status, and though the pair don't actually end up dating until much later, the dream of hooking up with the object of her affections drives Devi throughout the series.

Meanwhile, there's Ben ("Tag" actor Jaren Lewison). Once Devi's bitter academic rival, the geek with a secret soft spot ends up catching feelings for his frenemy, and the pair's relationship blossoms — and falls apart — in surprising ways throughout the series. At the end of season 3, Devi brings Ben the "friends with benefits" pass he half-jokingly gave her, and finally loses her virginity with him. Sex doesn't solve everything, though, as she and Ben go through plenty of growing pains and spend the majority of season 4 seeing other people and focusing on their college plans.

Ben and Paxton are the show's two major love interests, but Devi gets to explore her sexuality, experience early heartbreak, and figure out what she wants out of a relationship with a few other boys as well. In season 3, she dates Des ("9-1-1" actor Anirudh Pisharody), who she's surprised to find herself into despite the fact that he's the son of her mom's close friend. When Des ghosts Devi, assuming she's still into Paxton, she kisses an awkward but musically inclined guy named Alejandro (Matias Salas Silva) to get her groove back, but they don't end up dating and she and Des later make up.

Ultimately, Des and Devi break up when she finds out his mother pressured him to break up with her because she thinks Devi is "crazy." It's genuinely sad, but the moment strengthens Devi's relationship with her mom, Nalini ("The Night Of" star Poorna Jagannathan), who cuts ties with Des's mom. In season 4, Devi also gets with a bad boy named Ethan (Michael Cimino from "Love, Victor"), who she's pretty hot and heavy with until it turns out he's, well, too bad. She dumps him when he steals her Ivy League contact's wallet.

Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who beat out thousands of other young actors for the role of Devi, was diplomatic about the "Team Paxton or Team Ben" question throughout the series' run, but she finally spilled to Variety when the show came to a close. "Yes, I am Team Devi, but now I can make a decision: I'm Team Paxton," Ramakrishnan revealed, explaining that she thinks the pair counter each other in interesting ways and could still end up together down the line. "It could still be on the table later. Hear me out," she told the outlet, noting that the pair "have that undeniable chemistry where they push each other in more ways than one."

Lewison, meanwhile, is (as expected) Team Ben. "I'm biased for sure. I'm always gonna be Team Ben," he told Variety in the same interview, while admitting that Ramakrishnan made great points for Team Paxton. In an interview with GQ, he said that he loved the enemies-to-lovers trope that "Never Have I Ever" employed so skillfully when it came to Devi and Ben. "If you look back at this series, Ben and Devi have always had this magnetism to them," he reasoned. "They've always found each other in times of strife and great triumph. And I don't know if that makes them soulmates, but I think that it says something."

Barnet, meanwhile, told Tudum that he gave Team Paxton the edge, but that Devi's happiness mattered most. "I never want the message of the show to be that you need someone to make you happy," he explained. "So I think part of the journey of the show is Devi finding happiness in herself."

Devi does find that happiness, and the show's final episode does a brilliant job focusing on all the pieces of her story that matter — from her family life to her friendships to her academic future to her grief over the loss of her father — before tying a bow on things with a romantic epilogue. After several seasons of longing glances, awkward encounters, and chaotic missed connections, Devi and Ben finally make it work when he flies back from his internship in New York to tell Devi how he feels about her before she leaves for Princeton.

The pair end up sleeping together that night, making up for their less-than-stellar first time at the beginning of the season. They also decide to date, though the show is pretty clear about the fact that love and dating doesn't have to be as serious as Devi expected it to be in her younger days, so there's no telling whether or not they'll be together forever. Instead, we get to see them a few months in the future, watching a movie together in Devi's dorm. The whole episode is sweet and surprisingly swoon-worthy, proving once again that "Never Have I Ever" isn't just a teen comedy, but one of the best TV rom-coms in recent years.

Even though Devi doesn't end up with Paxton, he still finds plenty of happiness — and remains friends with the weird girl who changed his life when she inexplicably asked him to have sex with her a few years earlier. In season 4, Paxton struggles to find his place at Arizona State University, with one of the show's more realistic and relatable plots showing him going from a super-popular kid in high school to someone who doesn't immediately charm his classmates and teachers in college.

Paxton leaves college and ends up working as an assistant swim coach at his old high school, where he reconnects with Devi and the pair share one last kiss and a heart-to-heart conversation. By the show's end, he's established a new relationship with substitute teacher Lindsay (Genneya Walton, "Black AF"), and has decided to return to ASU. This time around, though, he's pursuing teaching — a sweet full-circle moment for a character who used to struggle with academics himself.