The Mindy Project this week was all about Danny’s wedding and Mindy’s reaction to it. “Concord” sees Dr. Lahari suffering through her baby daddy’s marriage ceremony.Mindy opted not to attend, as she felt it would make Sarah and Danny feel awkward.
Leo is taken by his grandmother to be the ring bearer at his father’s wedding.
Mindy decides to spend her time drinking wine. Jeremy calls to see how she is doing and also updates her on the ceremony. When pictures of Danny begin talking to her, Mindy abandons ship.
She jumps into her car to avoid talking Danny. Mindy does not bother to change so she drives around in her pjs.
To keep herself distracted from Danny’s picture talking to her, Mindy sings the entire soundtrack to “Les Miserables.” (instigated by her declaration that she is “lame and miserable.” As she sings the last song, her car bumps the curb in front of her parent’s house in Concord, Massachusetts.
When Mindy goes into the house, her mother smacks her in the head with a griddle. (This results in the best line of the episode : “I get full-on Tom and Jerry’d. Just brilliant.)
Mindy explains that she is having a hard time. The next morning, she expects breakfast in bed. She learns that her mother cannot look after her and her father is away. Mindy does not spend the day in bed, but plays board games like Pictionary with Rishi instead.
Another brilliant moment occurs as Sonu tells Mindy she cannot look after her. Mindy gasps, “But that’s your job!”
Rishi tries to make his sister feel better and declares that she could do a “Ted Talks” if her voice were not so annoying. The siblings raid the fridge and find only leftover Indian food.
Mindy calls her mother to complain only to discover that she lied about what she was doing that day. They check Sonu’s laptop and find an email from someone named Conrad.
Sonu is meeting with Conrad at a local restaurant and her children go there to confront her. Mindy gets a call from Morgan, who is attending the wedding, and he tells her that Danny could possibly back out and not marry Sarah if Mindy were to show up.
She wants to go back to New York immediately but Rishi talks her out of it. Mindy and Rishi confront Sonu at the restaurant. She and Conrad are eating and talking about a stage role.
Mindy’s mother, explains that she was not there to have sex with Conrad, but to flirt and talk about a part in the play. Later Dr. Lahiri drives over to Conrad’s apartment to apologize.
Once she gets inside his flat, he takes a herbal viagra tablet thinking he is going to have sex with Mindy. After fleeing Conrad’s apartment, she decides to head back home and stop Danny’s wedding.
As she drives back, Danny nags her about taking too long and Ben calls her. Her newest boyfriend professes that he “kind of loves” her. Danny asks if Ben knows that she is kind of crazy. Ben tells Mindy he knew that when she erased all his female contacts on his cell phone.
Mindy goes back home and is bashed on the head with a griddle again. Her mother explains that Danny has not been talking to her, via the pictures, and that she herself was providing the voice and the skewed logic of “picture Danny.”
The show ends with Sonu reading her memoirs to her kids. Danny rings Mindy who opts not to answer. She texts back to Ben that she loves him too.
This was a brilliant episode, all the more so because Sakina Jeffery did a bang up job as Mindy’s mum, Sonu. (It was a nice change from her grim character in Timeless, Agent Denise Christopher.) It was also nice to see Utkarsh Ambudkar as Rishi again.
It will be interesting to see how long Dr. Lahari can stay with Ben. Will Danny’s marriage to Sarah allow her the freedom to start a long term relationship?
The Mindy Project airs Tuesdays on Hulu. Stop by for a giggle or two.
Cast:
- Mindy Kaling – Mindy Lahiri
- Chris Messina – Danny Costellano
- Ed Weeks – Jeremy Reed
- Ike Barinholtz – Morgan Tookers
- Beth Grant – Beverly
- Osha Roquemore – Tamra
- Fortune Feimster – Colette Kimball-Kinney
- Garret Dillahunt – Jody Kimball-Kinney
- Bryan Greenberg as Ben
- Rebecca Rittenhouse – Anna Ziev
Guest starring Bruce Katzman as Conrad, Sakina Jaffrey as Sonu Lahiri and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Rishi Lahari.
