THE MINDY PROJECT: “The Departed” recap

Another new episode of The Mindy Project and another episode of Danny Castellano. We’re not the only ones severely missing his presence either…

I am Beyoncé Pad Thai: Mindy is quite proud that she’s balancing the working single mom act quite well and is doing everything that she needs to be doing, which a still absent Danny interprets as she’s finally put her apartment up for sale. (She hasn’t.) Although finding it hard to let go, Mindy being Mindy then decides she wants the new owners to be someone classy and goes to an exclusive social club to distribute flyers about her open house. The club won’t allow just anyone to hang up flyers though, it’s for members only. Cue Mindy ranting about her fiancé being gone for three months and she’s struggling to cope, which a stranger named James (played by Steven Weber, who seems to be popping up everywhere these last couple of months – Chasing Life, iZombie) overhears and takes pity on her and offers to hang her flyer up because he is a fellow widow. Yep, unbeknownst to Mindy, James assumes that Danny has died (which all fairness any other person would assume too). Later at the open house, James arrives with his fellow widow friend Loretta. Peter, who is still in town, realises the miscommunication and alerts Mindy. She’s about to clarify the truth when Loretta offers to buy Mindy’s place for 10% more than the asking price, so the ruse continues. Mindy is also invited to a meeting for their bereavement group that night and Peter accompanies her. Yet, after discovering that James is the Executive Creative Director of Nike and co-hosting a party with NBA players, Peter blurts out that he too is a widow. Eventually the truth comes out when James tries to make on Mindy at the party. Needless to say, James and Loretta are less than impressed with Mindy’s deception.

Mischief With Morgan: Morgan and Colette discover that Tamra is performing at a singer-songwriter showcase and even after she tells them they’re not invited, they decide to go anyway. (Side note, totally digging Morgan and Colette’s friendship. They’re pretty similar – the “Jinx! You owe a coke.” was pretty on point – and yet have differences that balance each other out.) There is a reason why Tamra didn’t want them to come – she’s been performing songs about her and Morgan’s relationship. By listening to the lyrics, one would conclude that she is not over Morgan, but really she’s just trying to channel her inner Taylor Swift and being relatable by writing about her her ex. Poor Morgan.

The Gang’s All Here: This episode’s office meeting is about swabs. Prices have gone up so the staff have been advised to swab responsibly. It’s also Tamra’s turn to meet with Gordon, who is in charge of collecting the medical waste and she once again ditches her duties. (Colette has been covering for her the last couple of times.) So that she can go to her showcase, Tamra leaves a note for Gordon that no one will be there and for him to do his thing. When Jeremy arrives the next morning, he is not happy to find that all the computers have been stolen. While he’s reprimanding Morgan and Colette, Tamra fesses up, which leads Colette to believe that she still cares for him.

The Ballad of Mindy and Danny: Danny is still away and hopes to ne back by Christmas, which upsets Mindy because she’d prefer to have him home by Thanksgiving. It’s not an ideal situation and Danny has even changed his ringtone to “Fat Bottomed Girls”  to feel closer to Mindy. In this ep, we discover that Peter thinks that Mindy and Danny have a bad relationship – he calls it chaotic and likens it to “a storm that sucks everybody in that’s around it”. Mindy is hurt that her friend thinks that way and he tells her it’s because she lets Danny call the shots in the relationship (which is a valid point when you start to think about it) – she moved into Danny’s apartment, she’s the one who has to sell her home, they’re raising Leo as a Catholic. While Peter needs to be in a relationship where someone else takes control, that’s not Mindy. With those truths revealed, Peter leaves and Mindy decides it’s time to talk to Danny. She texts him and when he texts back that it’s not a good time, she calls him. Then a funny thing happens, “Fat Bottomed Girls” can be heard from outside the apartment. Do we dare to hope? Yep, Danny is FINALLY home! The episode ends with Mindy dropping her phone at that realisation and all I have to say is that we better not be cheated out of a reunion next episode!

Say It Again!:

• “It’s hard being on your own, balancing family while also finding time to stay slutty anime character level hot.” – Mindy’s first world problems.
• “Christmas? That’s three whole Holiday Reese Pieces Peanut Butter Cup shapes from now. Can’t you make it home by Turkey-shaped?” – Mindy wishes Danny was home sooner rather than later.
• “Mindy, you’re joining a bereavement group to help sell your apartment. This is worse than when you pretended to help with Hurricane Katrina to get on the cover of your alumni magazine.” – Who would have thought Peter would be the voice of reason?
• “Who would Danny be a stunt double for? Anna Kendrick?” – Peter shedding some reality on Mindy’s lie that Danny was a stunt double who died on set.
• “I still smell your grandmother’s house sometimes when I’m walking by wet cardboard.” – A snippet of relatable lyrics by Tamra
• “Taylor Swift’s a genius. She’s a rich white model and even your poor ass feels bad for her because she sings about getting dumped and that’s what I have to do.” – Tamra explaining her #lifegoals to Morgan
• “It’s fine when Taylor Swift does what you’re doing because the guys she dates are monsters who deserve to be taken down a peg, but Morgan doesn’t have any pegs.” – Colette tries to make Tamra see the error of her ways, but all Tamra sees is an idea for a new song.
• “One time Julianne Moore ran me over with her skateboard. Highlight of my 2012.” – Mindy swapping celebrity stories with James
• “I’m as serious as the motorcycle accent that claimed by wife’s life on the set of The Intern.” – Peter is sticking to his story no matter how ridiculous it sounds.
• “They’re just jealous that Danny and I are couple of the year on the cover of Scientific America and Hustler.” – Mindy’s retort when Peter basically tells her that she and Danny have a bad relationship.

New episodes of The Mindy Project are released on Hulu every Tuesday.