Women of the Week

Although a lot of network television shows have already wrapped up or about to wrap up due to COVID-19 shutdowns, streaming and cable networks have us covered with new content. So it’s no surprise that our latest Women of the Week picks are courtesy of Netflix. Read on for the reveal!

Nominated by Ange: The Women of Never Have I Ever on Netflix

This week my picks are the women of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, both in front of and behind the camera. The teen comedy created by Mindy Kaling and Lang Fisher is not only a charming and entertaining escape during these uncertain times, but also a wonderful display of representation in all different ways, including culturally. As much as I’m about to praise the leading ladies of the series, credit must also go to these two women behind the scenes as well.

The heroine of the series Devi Vishwakumar played by newcomer Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who infuses so much sass, flair and also vulnerability to the character that you forget that this is her first major role. This girl is going to go places! Poorna Jagnnathan plays Devi’s more traditional and no-nonsense mother Nalini. It’d be easy to write Nalini off as a stereotypical cultural parent, but the character is also witty and sharp with vulnerable moments that makes her more of a relatable character. Rounding out the Vishwakumar women is Devi’s cousin Kamala played by Richa Moorjani. Yes she’s a lot more traditional than Devi, having come over to America from India, but she’s not just a pretty face. She is also a grad student and experiencing love complications of her own – does she follow through with her parents’ plans of an arranged marriage or defy tradition and continue to pursue a relationship with her secret non-Indian boyfriend?

Rounding out the leading ladies of the show are Ramona Young and Lee Rodriguez, who play Devi’s best friends Eleanor and Fabiola respectively. At first it’s easy to right them off as typical teen show nerdy misfits – Eleanor is the flamboyant and dramatic yin to Fabiola’s more conservative and robotics focused yang, but as the series goes on, you see that they are just as fascinating and flawed characters as Devi. Eleanor has mother abandonment issues that eventually sends her into a crisis and Fabiola is struggling with her sexuality and how to share her feelings with her seemingly perfect parents.

There are no weak links on the show and also no way to single out certain cast members over others, so I stand by my decision to nominate the women of this show, both in front of and behind the camera.

RELATED ITEMS:

NEVER HAVE I EVER… First Take
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