“The Mindy Project” took Mindy and Ben from casually dating to pretty darn serious in the span of its last two episodes.
In the fourth episode, “Mindy Lahiri Is a Misogynist,” we see the show address a subject that has been one of its criticisms — why is Mindy the only female doctor in the practice? As Jeremy is rendered not as capable thanks to his heart attack from the previous episode, they decide to hire a new doctor. Mindy automatically assumes it’s going to be a male and is excited about the prospects for a hot calendar.
That is why, when informed that they wish to hire a woman, she is quite bummed. She even brings in a really random (non-doctor) OB-GYN she comes across on monster.com for an interview and obviously, his resume doesn’t read Grey-Sloan Memorial or anything.
Meanwhile, I am slowly beginning to really, really love Bryan Greenberg as Nurse Ben. First, he bonds with little Leo. Second, he even gets Lahiri to make a trip to New Jersey, a place she didn’t care for. She even goes to him for advice on what to do about her female doctor situation when the rest of the practice offends her by letting her know she’s a misogynist.
Piggybacking on Ben’s idea to pick and bring in a female doctor herself — someone she knows the firm will reject — she brings in Dr. Anna Ziev (Rebecca Rittenhouse). Anna is very straight-forward, almost robot-like, and an excellent doctor. Of course, Jody instantly likes her because she’s hot. When they realize she was fired from her previous job for slapping a male co-worker who was hitting on her, Mindy tries telling her they cannot hire her. Jeremy and Jody, however, do not care. Therefore, Dr. Anna is officially on board.
We also finally meet Lindsay, Ben’s mature teenager, who ends up giving Mindy solid advice on her work and personal life. I like that they bonded and didn’t have a rebellious moment, something I had expected pretty much from the moment Ben announced he has a 13-year-old.
In the midst of all this, as she is returning to Manhattan from New Jersey after spending the night at Ben’s, she catches the wrong train to Philadelphia instead. This causes her to reach work late, which in turn leads her favorite patient Robin to turn to Anna. Couple this with all her colleagues loving the new doctor and Dr. Lahiri is too damn irked.
She removes her frustration on Ben, who came by to drop her stuff.When Mindy realizes her errors, she goes back to his house to apologize. This is when I realize, Ben is actually one of the more normal, grown up boyfriends Mindy has had. He’s a suburban dad, a nice fellow, a hardworking nurse, and definitely willing to handle Mindy’s goofiness. Even acknowledging it, actually, as he recites Mindy’s staple “JK JK JK” line with her. You guys, he might just be the one. As much as I miss Danny Castellano, I think if Mindy were to end up with someone else, I wouldn’t mind Ben. I also enjoyed Dr. Anna and the icy contrast she is to Mindy. I’m excited to see the dynamic shift she will bring to the show.
Here are some funny one-liners from the episode.
Mindy: When I get stressed out, I don't come to work for a couple of days and the doctor’s don’t even notice.
Jody: We notice. It’s a break for all of us.
Mindy: I didn't know people actually lived in New Jersey. I thought that’s where people went to dump bodies.
Anna: I find it incredible how much work you can get done when you only need two hours of sleep a night and take no pleasure from food.
Mindy: As Gandhi said, you can be mad but you ain’t got no right to slap no one.
Jeremy: You slapped Morgan this morning
Mindy: I live in Manhattan, Tribeca specifically.
Train Conductor: Nice to meet you, Melania, but this is an express train to Philadelphia.
Mindy: Who the hell do you think you are?
Anna: The youngest non-Asian to get an MD from Harvard
As we continue on to episode 5, “Leland Breakfast Is the Miracle Worker,” we see Mindy and Jeremy attend a play starring the latter’s old buddy, Leland Breakfast aka the best name for a character in recent times, played by Jack Davenport. Mindy is so unamused that she’s on her phone the whole time.
Leland embarrasses her in front of the audience and even throws her phone away. His annoyance evaporated when they meet backstage after the play, and he even asks her out. She says no because she has a Ben, you know, the cute boyfriend. Jeremy, or Princess Wanker as he was known, insists she go out with him anyway.
The next day at work, the gang finds out a bunch of things. One, Jeremy is throwing a party in Leland’s honor. Two, he asked out Mindy, who said no. Three, he’s not just a play guy. He also plays superhero Doctor Universe in the Marvel film. And four, Ben has another girlfriend! Gotta say, didn’t see the fourth one coming.
When Lisa, Ben’s other sidepiece, reveals who she is, the group is shocked. I loved how Tamra and Morgan took Mindy’s side on this and basically kicked her out (for no fault of her own). Ben, when confronted, uses the excuse that they never had the “we’re exclusive” talk. Mindy doesn’t care, especially because she almost read a book of poetry he gifted her! How dare he? Ben is uninvited from the party, too, so he cannot meet Doctor Universe. This is important because Ben is a huge fan — dressed up twice a year as the superhero and everything.
As she mourns with sour twists, she agrees to go as Leland’s date to the party after Jeremy and Tamra insist. Morgan reveals the same to Ben when he inquires about his ex.
Meanwhile, Jody is still super sad that Mindy declined to go out with him because she wanted to be alone. Obviously, that isn’t the case now that she’s with Ben. He is finding it difficult to move on so he decided to join another practice and even goes in for an interview. When Colette finds out, she is more angry than hurt because Jody never told her about it.
Luckily for her, her brother doesn’t get the job thanks to all the drama he will bring. Guess he won’t be alone for too long anyhow because, in order to get him over his depression, Anna gives him a pretty hot kiss, which definitely perks him up by the end.
Mindy and Ben also reunite when he shows up at the party anyway. He tells her the only reason he was also seeing Lisa is because he wasn’t sure she wanted to commit to him. After all, she’s a glamorous, successful doctor while he’s a nurse. Things get heated when Leland comes in and demands Ben leave so he can be alone with Mindy. Instead, they argue and Leland ends up punching him and leaving Princess Wanker’s party, taking the guests with him.
I’m so glad Tamra, Colette, and the rest stood up for Jeremy and they’re the only ones left standing as Jeremy plays his own piano tunes in the end.
While the episode was no standout, I liked the baby steps Mindy and Ben made to commit to one another, further cementing his place in my heart, too. Let’s see where this relationship goes. I also can’t wait for the slow burn (or not) that will be Jody and Anna.
Here are my favorite quotes from “Leland Breakfast Is a Miracle Worker”
Mindy: A play was a sensation? Do they not have TV there [in London]?
Jeremy: Like Helen Keller, I, too, was blinded by tears and deafened by my own applause.
Leland: It’s a British number so it will cost you $15 per text but trust me, I am worth it.
Mindy: I didn’t know he knew Cobie Smulders. I like him now. He’s cool.
Tamra (to Jody): You’re more put together than normal. Were you arguing against evolution in court again?
Mindy (to Jeremy): If you’re so good with computers, how come I had to teach you how to use the dog filter on Snapchat?
Jody: Everyday I have to watch Mindy as she butters her donut while she microwaves her bacon, I can’t take it.
Leland: You should come see my place in England. You probably know it as Downton Abbey.
What did you think of episodes 4 and 5 of season 5? Let me know.
