film / tv / substack / social media / lists / web / celeb / pajiba love / misc / about / cbr
film / tv / substack / web / celeb

Screen Shot 2014-01-22 at 7.11.04 AM.png

Mindy And Danny: The Question Isn't "Will They, Won't They?" It's "Should They?"

By Joanna Robinson | TV | January 22, 2014 |

By Joanna Robinson | TV | January 22, 2014 |


What follows are spoilers for and frank discussion of and *gasp* gifs about last night’s episode of The Mindy Project. If you’re not caught up, please skeedaddle and we’ll see you later.

Are they gone? Okay. So that happened. Last night on The Mindy Project, Danny and Mindy took the step past flirtatious/antagonistic banter into “They Definitely Will” territory with a knee-melting, tonic-water-shaking kiss. You knew it was coming, didn’t you? When did you know? Was it here? At the turbulence call back?

tumblr_mzsd2xpMLN1tpujrro3_250.giftumblr_mzsd2xpMLN1tpujrro8_250.gif
tumblr_mzsd2xpMLN1tpujrro5_250.giftumblr_mzsd2xpMLN1tpujrro7_250.gif

Messina demonstrating some classic resolve face there. What followed, of course, was a pretty phenomenal kiss, as far as sitcom kisses go. I’d rank it just under Nick and Jess but well above the more tepid chemistry of the Ben and Leslies (sorry) and Ross and Rachels of this world. It went a little something like this:

tumblr_mzrtkhLqiz1r9a32bo2_400.gif
tumblr_mzrtkhLqiz1r9a32bo3_400.gif

So the question isn’t “will they/won’t they,” because we always knew they would. The question is, should they right now? The mild threat of cancellation is swinging over The Mindy Project, so it’s possible that the show’s looking to give us some closure before the series ends. (That’s why Ben and Leslie got married mid-season last year, they were uncertain about cancellation.) In addition, midway through Season 2 is a pretty classic time for First Kisses. (See the aforementioned New Girl and Friends.) However, The Mindy Project has had a bumpy go of it and the only two things we know work for sure are a) the chemistry between Mindy and Danny and b) the parade of Mindy’s guest star boyfriends. The rest of the cast is still gelling and I have every hope that they’ll get there. Morgan and Peter were pretty great in that mini-bathroom bottle episode this week.

But where would the show be without flirtations and Olyphants? Longing looks and Mark Duplass? I don’t know. Surely there will be some wrench thrown in the works between Mindy and Danny to keep them apart for another few episodes. That email Mindy sent to Cliff will likely entrap her in a make-up scenario she’s too immature to talk herself out of. What follows will be more longing and misunderstandings, but will some of the fizz go out of the Mindy/Danny tonic water in a post-kiss world? And if Mindy isn’t dating anyone else, will we have an excuse for watching Glenn Howerton sing Jewel? I don’t want to live in a world without teary Jewel medleys. I just don’t.

You’re Singing A Lot Of Jewel, Man from Joanna Robinson on Vimeo.