Never Have I Ever season 4 fixes one big coming-of-age trope

If there is one thing Netflix’s Never Have I ever has always done well, it’s balance the dramatic with the realistic. Even though Devi, her friends, and the overachiever in them might find themselves in ridiculous situations, their world still works very realistically. This is especially true when it comes to school.

This might sound boring, but if you adhere to the reality of the situation, it will be much more interesting. Never Have I ever becomes more relatable — and can actually dig into drama that few high school shows and movies get to. Nowhere is this truer than in this season’s college admissions arc, a plot point that so many coming-of-age stories have flubbed in the same exhausting ways.

[Ed. note: This post contains some slight spoilers for the last season of Never Have I Ever.]

Image: Netflix

What makes a difference? Never Have I ever From a Lottery Tickets of other high school shows: Devi knows where she wants to go to college You can also find out more about the following: she’s known where she wants to go to college since she was a little girl, and she is not about to let anyone persuade her that she’s better off following her friends or a boy.

The problem with coming-of age stories in high school is that they often stick to tired stereotypes about college applications. It’s not uncommon for the character to be torn by whether they should follow their dream or attend school with their beloved. More egregiously, this means that the main character waits until the last possible minute, because they’re so torn on their dreams and the possibilities for the future, and then they improbably get into a school they should’ve been planning to get into four years ago. (This one’s specifically a callout for the High School Musical 3.(Plot where Troy Bolton will go to Berkeley for his graduation.

But that’s never a problem in Never Have I everThe typical tired (and, honestly, just plain wrong for the process itself) tropes are cleverly subverted. For one, while robotics aficionado Fabiola is unsure of what college she wants to attend, it’s not because she’s magically gotten into all of them and now needs to make a decision before graduation. It happens very early on into the process, and she’s more concerned with finding a program that’s right for her ambitions. It’s also especially refreshing that these are ambitions she’s always had, not ones that popped up two scenes before a college admissions arc in order to add some struggle.

Image: Netflix

The friendship drama It is a good idea to use pop up, there’s a twist. Usually in these sorts of situations, two best friend characters will share dreams of going to the same school — only for one of them to find another calling, or not be able to afford it, or leave their friend behind for a love interest. This time, though, tension is created by the possibility of them applying to a similar college. And while teen shows don’t You can also use realism, I Never Have Been able to Say That Before’s fourth season feels better and grounded for it. As the characters say, it’s unlikely that two students from the same high school will be accepted into the prestigious Ivy League. Devi shouldn’t be upset at Fabiola for following a dream, but she certainly has cause for anxiety of her own.

What is it? Never Have I ever does the best is follow a remarkably realistic timeline for all the college admissions drama — which means that the big questions of who is applying where get settled halfway through the season. They know that college applications are stressful in their real-life counterparts. Why drag it out? Early decision dates, deferments, waitlists, and everything in between already provide enough tension — especially with people as dramatic and over-the-top as Devi and her friends. The drama is enough wherever they are.