5.01 "Decision 2016"
(Directed by Michael Spiller, written by Mindy Kaling)
Rating: 8/10 (B+)
The new season of The Mindy Project picks up right where Season 4 left us with Mindy coming home from hooking up with Danny to Jody who has taken the liberty of buying her the apartment upstairs as his grand romantic gesture to profess his love to her. And just like that, a new love triangle was born. But just as quickly as it emerged, the love triangle will be put to rest by episode’s end. As someone who is generally opposed to love triangles, I couldn’t be happier about this development. The season premiere follows Mindy navigating her options trying to figure out whom to pick between Jody and Danny and to everyone’s surprise, Beverly is the one to give her some sound advice and help her make a decision.
One of the things that bother me the most about the show though and something that can be observed throughout the episode is how little the other characters get to do unless it somehow involves Mindy and her romantic endeavors. Pretty much everything the others do in this episode is connected to the love triangle. Don’t get me wrong, it’s entertaining to watch since this episode is all about various characters trying to keep something hidden and failing miserably but I really hope Season 5 will make use of its ensemble instead of focusing entirely on Mindy’s love life alone.
As already mentioned, Mindy will make a decision by the end of the episode. She will have a conversation with both of her suitors and one will be emotionally grounded while the other is.. emotionally charged, I suppose. There’s food being thrown around, that’s all I’m gonna say for now. Her choice perfectly sets up the new season and given the title "Decision 2016", I hope it’s a choice she’s going to stick with as I think it would make for a potentially compelling season.
