The second episode of “The Mindy Project” ventured into a pretty new territory with the second episode of its fifth season — actually giving some focus to the other characters! For starters, though, we still feel the tension between Mindy and Jody from the fallout after she decided not to date him.
In "Nurses' Strike," Jody decides to rent the apartment he bought for Mindy and Leo because his wooing did not work. He tells her that if she still wants the place, she has to apply like other people are doing. The problem? Dr. L doesn’t have the $25000 she needs. Plus, Leo seems to have an ear infection so Mindy takes her to celebrity pediatrician Dr. Yasmin Maloof (Nasim Pedrad) and meets new nurse Ben (“One Tree Hill” cutie Bryan Greenberg).
When she reaches work, you know, after she bumped into a hot dog cart while trying to catch a Pokemon, she finds Brendan Deslaurier making a pitch to the group — the midwife practice needs an on-call doctor to make patients feel more comfortable on the off-chance that something goes wrong. All he receives in return is Mindy’s snappy one-liners in the form of a refusal.
As for the nurses, they realized just how under-appreciated and underpaid they are and want to join a union. However, Jeremy and Jody are against this move because that means the money will go out of their pocket — something Mindy doesn’t realize and therefore supports the nurses for like a minute. To retaliate, Tamra, Morgan, and co. go on strike and even sibling duo Jody and Colette butt heads over this issue.
After the doctors have to do scut work themselves, they realize just how gross it is. Plus the new "nurses" aren't working out either. They deduce that they can maybe worm their way into Morgan’s heart and they invite him to lunch. They almost succeed until Ben, who is also Morgan’s friend, interrupts their plan and tells Morgan what’s truly happening, so the two leave.
When Leo’s ear infection acts up again, Mindy tries to reach Maloof but fails and so she goes into the hospital but the nurses are on strike, causing a slow progress on checking patients. Ben, however, happens to come across her and sneakily helps her out without letting Morgan and Tamra know.
As the two bond, we learn that Ben has a 13-year-old daughter (side note for OTH fans, can they name her Jenny?) and he’s taken up work as a bouncer at Dave & Buster’s to cope with low pay. Before leaving, he imparts this wisdom to Mindy that a parent will do anything for their child. Keeping his advice in mind, Mindy accepts the position with the Deslaurier brothers and manages to score the apartment.
The episode has its high and low moments. I loved that we saw Sakina Jaffrey as Mindy’s mother when the latter calls her up to ask for money. Pedrad and Greenberg seem to be a great addition to the cast. Ben will obviously be a love interest for Dr. L sooner or later but I do wish they expand on the decision she made in the premiere of just being by herself for now.
The nurses got their few minutes in the spotlight but I do believe they need some more scenes that aren’t work related. Who wouldn’t want to see what Tamra does when she’s not in those scrubs?
I adore Greenberg so I loved seeing him on my screen again and I definitely want to see Pedrad again. What did you think of this episode? Did you like the attention given to other characters? Thoughts on Dr. L apparently supporting Trump so Leo doesn't grow up in an America that discriminates against white people? Are you missing Chris Messina?
