That’s…. pretty much how I feel, right now.
After dangling Danny and Mindy in front of us, The Mindy Project has cruelly snatched that possibility away. That’s right, Danny broke up with Mindy, on the most bullshit of bullshit rationales. My Facebook feed is a tragedy right now, as is my Tumblr dash. If the writers were trying to break our hearts, they succeeded, spectacularly.
Episode 2×17: “Be Cool”
The episode starts like a dream. Mindy and Danny are “straight-up dating,” which means they get to wake up in bed together, and they get to be domestic cuties on our television screens.
Things take a weird turn when Danny tells Mindy he wants to keep things quiet around the office, for now. Mindy is confused, but she goes along with it, because it’s a simple enough request, right? I mean, it’s not like Danny’s embarrassed to be with Mindy, is he? (Because she’s, like, “smart, and successful, and hot, but like, I don’t even know it, which makes me even hotter.”) And besides, Mindy likes being open and honest about things with her friends. Morgan even knows what day of her menstrual cycle she’s on. (She finds it super useful.) But she’s reassured when Danny makes it clear how important she is to him.
They’re sneaking around in the office, and they are having fun.
Of course, since Mindy’s been away from her apartment for so long (and, okay, because she thought it was cool to leave her apartment door open because she “lives in a gay neighborhood.” Which, what?), her apartment has been robbed. Upon informing the practice of this development, Morgan (of course) takes it upon himself to appoint himself Mindy’s guard and protector (and roommate! fun!), in case the burglars come back.
Through a series of wacky misunderstandings (all resulting from Danny’s inability to tell the practice that Mindy and Danny are going out), Mindy ends up throwing a party at her place. Danny, stupid Danny, can’t figure out to tell an attractive pharmacy rep that he has a girlfriend, and inadvertently ends up inviting her to the party, making her think he’s asking her out on a date. Mindy is less than amused when said attractive pharma rep shows up to her house and starts hitting on her boyfriend in front of her.
Mindy, in typical Mindy fashion, decides to deal with her problems by stealing a bottle of wine and getting drunk in her room.
Peter, who is being a total sweetheart these days, joins her in her bedroom, and commiserates with Mindy. Men can be idiots, he says. They hatch a not-idiotic-at-all plan to get Danny to stop being a jerk to Mindy, by fake-flirting with each other.
After the party, Mindy and Danny have a talk with each other. Mindy, taking some truly terrible advice she got from a magazine, lays down an ultimatum: she tells Danny that either they make their relationship public, or they break up. Unfortunately for Mindy, Danny agrees with her, and tells her that it’s clear it’s not working out. Danny thinks there are too many factors standing in the way of their happiness, and that they’re eventually going to make each other miserable, and that Mindy and Danny simply won’t work out.
Episode 2X18: “Girl Crush”
Break-ups don’t work well for Mindy. She now has to deal with the aftermath of her break-up with Danny, and it’s going to be harder than ever to deal with, seeing as how they work together, and are such good friends.
But, she’s got a big distraction to keep her going. In the hospital locker room, searching for her missing deodorant (“it’s a military-grade men’s roll-on”), Mindy stumbles upon Sheila Hamilton, of Hamilton Health Partners.
Sheila is an OBGYN to the stars. She delivered North West (“Kim’s canal is spectacular, and Kanye’s tender birthing rap just did the rest”), and has been profiled by Vanity Fair (“I cannot believe Annie Liebowitz got me to wear nothing but bubbles for that shoot, but you know Annie”). Sheila is impressed by Mindy’s delivery technique and asks her to come in for a chat about Mindy’s future.
The thing is, Mindy has been feeling a little unappreciated around the office. The guys don’t believe in complimenting someone for good work, if it’s a job that they’re already supposed to be doing. (“That’s why I refuse to clap when an airplane lands,” says Danny.) To be honest, the only person around the office who really seems to appreciate Mindy is Pepe, the horny raccoon.
It is much nicer at Hamilton Health Partners. There are fair trade raw silk blouses, there’s a nail bar, and this adorable ghost-like old lady even hands out warm cookies to visitors.
The healthcare Mindy receives also seems superior to the care that they dole out at Schulmann & Associates, though a tad bit over-the-top.
Mindy jumps at the opportunity to jump ship and join Hamilton, but after discovering that her patients won’t be able to afford the new practice, has to withdraw her offer. It isn’t a huge loss, because as Mindy later finds out, Hamilton was only interested in hiring Mindy because they needed a brown face to put on their billboard.
When Mindy accuses Sheila of just wanting to tokenize a person of color, Sheila tells Mindy that that’s what she is at Schulmann & Associates — a token woman of color in a sea of white men. It is a barb that has a grain of truth to it, but Mindy ignores her, when she sees first hand how her identity helps her practice gain a new patient.
Things I liked about the episodes:
1. Is it just me, or do you guys also feel like tearing up whenever Danny says something genuinely affectionate to Mindy? He’s spent so long bottling it up inside, not really being allowed to say what he thinks, covering it up with criticism, or denials. And now he’s free to tell Mindy how amazing she is. And it’s just… so wonderful to see. And heartbreaking, now that we know he has to go back to holding it all back in.
I almost cried when he told her that she was his best friend.
2. I like it when my shows reference the websites I read! Apparently, Mindy wrote an article for Jezebel about how Jeremy “raped her weekend,” when he wouldn’t give her a day off. You know that’s totally something Mindy would do, too.
3. More Morgan with puppies, please!
Things I didn’t like about the episodes:
1. I didn’t like the break-up, obviously. But we all know that Danny and Mindy are endgame. And I hope the writers know what they’re doing, with this: according to this Buzzfeed article, Mindy Kaling and Ike Barinholtz have been planning this story-arc from the very beginning.
Guess we just have to pray things are going to work out, eventually.
2. I didn’t like the running gag of Betsy declaring her love for Danny to the entire office, and everyone ignoring her. For those who remember, Betsy first realized how attractive Danny was in Episode 5 (“Weiner Man”), when Danny’s nudes were publicly displayed in an art show. But you know who Betsy got along with great before she even thought about Danny in any real, serious way? Jeremy, that’s who. Betsy and Jeremy had a great relationship, last season. Remember that holiday episode when Betsy introduced him to her American family, and taught Jeremy the real meaning of Christmas? (Or was it New Years? I don’t know, and I’m too lazy to look it up.)
What can I say, I think Betsy and Jeremy should be together. I think that makes a lot more sense than Betsy having a crush on Danny.
3. The second episode of the night just wasn’t sad enough. Mindy just dealt with a heart-rending break-up, and her main focus, this episode, is her girl crush on a new doctor? Where’s the wailing and crying and pizza box cuddling of previous relationship break-ups? This is the Mindy break-up that messed up her fans the most — it’s a little weird that Mindy seems so unaffected by it.
And don’t even get me started on Danny moving on to Peter’s sister so fast. I know rebounds are a thing, but that, that just borders on inappropriate. No one, after being in love for so long, would jump to the next warm body that fast. (At least, I hope they wouldn’t.)
Until next week, folks!
JAYA RAJAMANI (previously published as Jaya Sundaresh) lives in Chandigarh, India. She grew up in various parts of the Northeast in the U.S. before deciding to study political science at McGill University. Follow her on Twitter at @timeforjaya and read her thoughts on her personal substack.
