Where Is Mindy's POV? On Tonight's Episode Of The Mindy Project
I love The Mindy Project, with absolutely no qualifying statements attached. All of the characters are interesting, hilarious in their own right, and the plot and character development have obviously been planned out over time rather than haphazardly thrown together a la New Girl (don’t even get me started on how sad I am about how much that show has failed to follow up on its glorious first two seasons). Mindy Lahiri is all at once intelligent, self-doubting, self-confident, totally unapologetic for any of her beliefs and questionable pattern matching, and a major feminist role model, and I adore her.
(Aren't we all, Mindy, aren't we all. image source: http://bit.ly/1FMPQGR)
You can brace yourself for the spoilers now.
When Mindy finally got together with Danny at the end of Season Two, it was the moment all of us fans had been waiting for. It wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t drawn out; it was the rare Goldilocks sweet spot so often over or under shot by the romantic comedy writers of television who are too afraid to jump the gun or miss the boat.
Remember when Mindy thought she found the perfect guy for her in Jaime (played by Mindy Kaling’s real-life bestie BJ Novak) in Season One’s “Harry & Sally?” The episode was a beautifully executed homage to classic romantic comedies like its namesake while denying our favorite main character from being the starring role in her own romantic comedy. She determinedly marches Jaime to the Empire State Building, her dream location for finding her one true love like Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks in Sleepless In Seattle, only for him to finally realize he is in love with his best friend.
And where does Danny run like the wind to meet Mindy after realizing she’s the love of his life at the end of Season Two, and to Bruce Springsteen’s epic “Dancing In The Dark” no less? The Empire State Building. Way to bring it full circle after like 48 episodes, Mindy Kaling. You’re The Boss in my book (sorrynotsorry Bruce).
When we entered Season Three, I was cautiously optimistic and placed my faith in Kaling’s previously exemplified ability to think through character development far in advance. I’m still on that page. But I’m starting to worry just a wee bit.
At the end of Season Two, for the first time we heard another narrator’s voice other than Mindy’s when Danny’s voice broke through. I thought that was a bold and fitting choice.
After tonight’s episode, though, I am realizing that most of this season has been more heavily weighted towards Danny’s perspective. We don’t see Mindy freaking out about the relationship behind closed doors – we see Danny.
Mindy comes off like we all wished we could come off when we’re actually emotionally vulnerable – blasé, cool and collected. That’s great. But we all know Mindy, and we all know that can’t be the full story. I’m hoping as this season progresses, we get back into her brain and get to know what’s really going on for her.