GIF Source: TheHastiProject Tumblr
I’ve started calling this episode the Be Cool of season 4. As we all remember, Be Cool tore our hearts out of our chests and gave way to the backend of season 2, which had some of the best episodes of the series to date. The Parent Trap has the same type of feel, it starts out great with Danny and Mindy having sex (thank you Hulu) but ends with Danny wanting to postpone the wedding. By likening it to Be Cool, I’m hoping that things can only get better from here, Danny & Mindy stylez.
The cold open treats us to all the kinds of sex people in committed relationships have. From romantic kind where they feed each other strawberries and pizza bagels to the passionate kind in back alleys of restaurants to the kind where Danny starts praying for a baby while he’s still inside Mindy. She mentions wanting to focus on her fertility clinic (which I’m glad she remembers exists) and Danny really just wants to knock her up again.
The next day, at the fertility clinic, Mindy is confiding in Morgan who suggests she either go on birth control or let him and Cousin Lou give Danny a vasectomy in his sleep. I’m concerned about Morgan not knowing what that is and wondering how many other penises he’s cut off. We also meet Mindy’s first fertility patient!
Later, Danny suggests that they go on a real date & Mindy lights up after he promises this isn’t just a ploy to use a coupon. Their date ends with a carriage ride that features Danny saying all the perfect things & them getting it on under the giant blanket, like a fairy-tale! (what kind of fairy tales are these guys showing Leo?)
The next day at the office, Mindy sees that Danny is tracking her ovulation (OML) and trying to trick her into getting pregnant, like Prince Harry tried to do with Tamra. Cut to more footage of the date, including Danny taunting Mindy (and the whole fandom) with his tight little butt and getting them both drunk so that she would be “a drunk hornball” and “slut it up.” Mindy immediately goes to Jody to get birth control pills and counteract Danny’s evil plan. At the hospital, in the middle of her appointment with Dianna, Danny asks Mindy out on another date, to see Tom Hanks (oh, honey) in When Harry Met Sally, even though he compared it to “a fantasy that undermines the dignity of men.”
Elsewhere, Jody is super excited to see Danny come in with flowers, which makes my feel for his sad lonely heart. But obviously the flowers are for Mindy to butter her up for the date night. Danny talks about how he and Mindy are trying for a baby, which confuses Jody who just prescribed her birth control. He goes to find her and rudely throws away her ice cream cone. Honestly I’ve never been more offended at anything Jody has done. They also talk about the disagreements D&M have been having and, shockingly, Jody is insightful, saying “I shouldn’t know more about your relationship than your fiancé.”
Apparently, the world is upside down now because next it’s Morgans turn to be insightful – urging Danny to notice that Mindy has changed and her priorities have changed, and telling him he needs to reevaluate what he wants. In a final twist, because there isn’t enough going wrong in this ‘ship, Danny and Mindy have once agains worn each others lab coats, so when Danny reaches into his pocket, he finds Mindy’s birth control.
Date night again, we learn that Mindy looks flawless in a beanie and are introduced to the concept of #previewpopcorn. Danny is so mad about the contraceptive pills that he’s very late to the movie and starts making a scene, scaring the poor adorable blonde man on a first date behind them. Danny whines about how its a betrayal that she’s taking birth control so she comes back with “how about you trying to get me pregnant behind my back!” At this point, I want to throw popcorn at Danny along with all the other movie-goers.
They go back home and really get into it. This fight is so real and so scary at the same time. Everything that’s been building up on Mindy’s end comes out as she defends herself as Danny calls her selfish and flighty. Mindy says she doesn’t want to give up anymore to have more kids, that she’s a good doctor and a good mother because the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Danny thinks it’s ok for him to make all the decisions because he makes the right ones, but Mindy thought she made good decisions too. At this point I’m basically crying again and can’t see through my tears. When she says “I just wish that you didn’t have a list of my flaws right there ready at the tip of your tongue” my heart breaks for Mindy Lahiri and I just want to hug her.
At this point, Mindy gets paged because Dianna is going into labour, sorry labor, and has to go deliver the baby, despite Danny asking her to have someone cover for her. In what is my favourite moment of the episode, we get a callback when MIA’s Bad Girls starts playing and Mindy goes into badass Dr. L mode. The delivery is a success and after an almost offensive celebratory toast with Morgan & Jody (to the right kind of immigrant) she heads back home where Danny is waiting for her. In the most devastating moment of the whole episode, he asks how her delivery went and you can see her face light up with excitement at the chance to tell him all about it and stop fighting. But Danny pulls the rug out from under all of us when he says he wants to put the wedding on hold. In an inspiring sign of growth, Mindy just says okay and plops down on the couch, looking at a picture of the baby she just delivered and smiling.
GIF Source: TheHastiProject Tumblr
Because I personally don’t think there’s a world in which Danny & Mindy actually break up, I loved this episode for the growth it showed. Season 1 Mindy Lahiri would never have left in the middle of a fight to deliver a baby, or just said okay if her fiancé postponed their wedding. It’s great to see The MINDY Project showing us how far Mindy has come. It’s also very interesting to see what it’s actually like dating and living with the handsome jerk character. As two adults that love each other, and because this is a rom-com, I’m convinced they’ll work it out and both be happy; and as a fan, I’m 100% here for the ride Kween Kaling wants to take me on!
Be sure to watch the midseason finale Tuesday at Midnight eastern on Hulu & livetweet with us again at 9:30EST.
Lines I loved
Ok Jeffrey Dahmer, I don’t think so. -Mindy
No one likes Leo anyway! -Morgan
You guys really are perfect for each other, just like me and *thinks*…oh god
– Jeremy
It’ll be nice to have a night out without the little rug muncher -Danny, re Leo
That’s not what you think it is -Mindy
Tonight, I want to focus on you -Danny
That’s my favourite thing to focus on -Mindy
Oh my god, is there a saying I don’t know? Am I old? OINK MY LIFE! -Mindy
I’ve seen so many pictures of you but none of your face -Dianna to Danny
I only took this job as part of a long con – Morgan
Did you know a woman wrote this movie?! -Mindy
You’re the judge, the jury, which just leaves me to be the sexecutioner; sorry not the right time but I had to. -Mindy
