The Mindy Project has quietly become one of the best comedies currently airing. If you told me when I was watching the alright but far from great pilot episode, I would have told you you were crazy but just about every character has grown by leaps and bounds since that shaky first season. Of course there is one exception and she goes by the name of Beverly whose one liners (“I always speak my mind. You look bad today!”) made her perfect from the get go. The show’s real strength is how versatile of a show it can be from scene to scene, for instance in this episode we have Danny screaming at Mindy that Charlton Heston told him to get to higher ground and ends with a tough conversation with Mindy about the big decision that they are facing.
This episode more than any other thus far this season feels like a big game changer, honestly if I didn’t know better I would have thought this was the season finale (especially after the final phone call between the wise Dr. Prentice, farewell Adam Pally, and Mindy). A lot of pieces are being moved, we have Peter Prentice leaving the practice, Danny buying a dilapidated, rat-infested palace to settle down with Mindy, and the bi-polar Dr. Gurglar offering a big opportunity for Mindy that would require Danny and Mindy to move to….San Francisco (I love how surreally liberal San Francisco is on TMP, like the idea of a methadone clinic for dogs, simply inspired). Unlike most sitcoms all of these actions have weight and genuine emotion behind them. Rather than feel like the usual will-they won’t they sitcom dynamic, the aforementioned conversation between Danny and Mindy feels like something an actual couple would go through when one partner figures out what they want and how much things could actually be changing (Pally, were you getting meta when you told Mindy people are allowed to change?).
With such a heavy emotional overtone you would think this episode was light in the laugh’s department, but you would dead wrong. Everyone is firing on all cylinders but I think it was Morgan who had some the best gags, giving Peter a touch on the face to say goodbye, speaking up about moving……to his grandmother’s attic. Though it really is one of the best ensemble casts that’s been on television in years, it reminds me of The Office in its best years. Which is really the highest praise I can give to a sitcom. The Mindy Project you are hitting all the right notes, please keep up the good work!
Grade: A+