Welcome back, “The Mindy Project.” In a twist that everyone expected, when the sixth and final season premieres, Mindy’s love life is still a little bit of a hot mess. “Is That All There Is?” takes us through the monotony of Mindy and Ben’s relationship after marriage. What does happen after you get a happy ending? No rom-com ever taught her that.
As witnessed from her solemn look in the season five finale after she and Ben got hitched, Mindy was definitely rethinking her quick decision to get married. And that’s only expanded upon in this premiere. Mindy and Ben are living the typical life of a husband and wife: they wake up, eat breakfast, spend time with their kids, go to work, get back home and sleep on their respective sides of the bed. The only thing missing is the actual spark in their wedded bliss.
Any chance she gets to go out with her friends, she grasps onto, especially if it means she won’t be home with Ben. Clearly, the mundane married life is not for Dr. L, who’s always wanted her life and relationships to be a little bit out of the ordinary. I mean, that shouldn’t even come as a surprise to us. Let me explain by doing a deep dive into Mindy’s topsy turvy love life.
Mindy may have always loved the idea of a romantic-comedy style happy ending but in reality, her life always takes her down a different path than she expected. Of the several men she’s dated, something she recounts in this episode, she’s only had three serious relationships that mattered before Ben came along: Casey, Cliff, and Danny.
When she was engaged to Casey in season 1, she didn’t think she would actually go down to Haiti with him. She couldn’t walk down the aisle because, in the end, she realized they were different people. If only she knew he would turn into a DJ/wacky shoe designer.
Her next serious relationship with Cliff, another extreme opposite of her personality, didn’t last too long because she got together with Danny Castellano. Ah, Danny and Mindy, where do I even begin?
We had been shipping these two since the show began. Could there be any more different? Nope. Yet, there was something authentic about both of them together. She helped him let loose and bring out his inner Diamond Dan. He helped her to genuinely become a better person in some ways. This was until, of course, season 4. Chris Messina, Danny’s portrayer, turned into a recurring character and for Mindy, a recurring nightmare.
To mask his soon to come exit, the show turned Danny from a red-glasses wearing, adoring Mindy all the time, so much so that he went to India to ask her parents her hand in marriage into a machismo caricature. Once she got pregnant and they were to be married, he basically told her to be a stay-at-home mom. Mindy having to give up her career was too much to take for her. So, yes, as Messina left the show, so did our love for Danny.
Was it a fair goodbye for Danny, just mutilating a character we grew to love over three seasons? No. But once again, it did open up room for Mindy to approach her love life with a fresh outlook, especially now that she had little Leo. After some more mishaps there, enter Ben.
Ben and Mindy might be an ideal couple on paper. They, too, bring some level of stability to each other but let’s be real: there was always something missing from their pairing. It was a great step-up for Mindy to let herself be a part of a relationship with a mature, understanding and settled man but the truth is that’s not who she is. To be fair, Ben is a great guy who deserves someone who wants the same simple joys of life he wants. But that’s not our Dr. Lahiri.
That’s why, in this episode, when she ditches Ben and chooses to spend her evening with Jeremy to go drink champagne and give him advice on his relationship with Anna (more on that in a minute), it’s no surprise. For two nights in a row, she doesn’t realize Ben isn’t home and she’s been saying goodnight to a set of pillows. Ben has been in his New Jersey home the whole time! He forgives her but makes her promise that she’ll actually spend time with him. She does. But, after a late delivery at the hospital, she falls asleep on the couch at work….despite texting her husband that she can’t wait to see him.
Obviously, we have yet to see how this story unfolds but we already know that Mindy will go through a divorce and we also know that Chris Messina will return as Danny for multiple episodes. Here’s hoping he gets the redemption he deserves, in whatever form that may be. Kudos to "The Mindy Project" though for showing us what happens when you think you've married the man or woman of your dreams. It's one of the more realistic relationships Mindy's ever had and I'm excited to see it play out.
Getting back to Jeremy and Anna, the two have been happily dating for eight months now, needling and stitching and everything. Jeremy is ready to take the next step and ask her to move in with him. Anna, a little dumbfounded by his proposal, asks Mindy for advice. After talking to her, she realizes she wants to go out and explore other prospects and refuses Jeremy’s offer. Ed Weeks was absolutely amazing in this episode, the true MVP in my opinion. His dialogue delivery reeks the perfect amount of pitiful but funny, especially in his scene with Jody when he talks about his failed relationship.
Meanwhile, Tamra decides to take on motherhood. Yes! Nurse Tamra wants to be a single mom. She goes to Mindy for help, who tells her the process begins with her having to inject hormones. Tamra can’t do it on her own so she attends the Later, Baby class on it and the teacher is none other than Morgan! He’s surprised she’s not having his baby, something he always thought would happen, but helps her inject those hormones, anyway. Those two are totally getting back together, right?
Also, Jody and Colette prove once again they’re a crazy brother-sister duo because he fires Karen, Colette’s ex whom she walked out on after asking her to get married. Schulman & Associates falls apart without Karen’s administration skills, so Jody has to rehire her. Colette and Karen decide to be friends!
Here are some standout one-liners from the episode:
Mindy: "I don't do cloning. If I did, there'd be eight Chris Pine's in here."
Morgan: "It is crazy that a work place romance is devastating this office and you have nothing to do with it, Dr. L."
Anna: "Oh, you've packed up all your stolen toilet paper, you must be headed out."
Mindy: "You've only had three boyfriends? I've had like a million. The key is to have no standards."
Jeremy: "Anna said she doesn't want to move in with me. She wants to see what else is out there and maybe make some mistakes. I kept on telling her that mother always called me a mistake."
What did you think of “The Mindy Project” season six opener? What are your hopes for the final season?
