Mindy becomes convinced that she must get Leo into the best pre-school in Manhattan. With Danny still out of town, she must enlist the help of her work nemesis, Jody, to impress the admissions committee.
Chris Messina's absence these past three weeks on The Mindy Project has really started to take a toll on the show. The trade off of a completely Danny-centric episode to three episodes without Danny in them at all hasn't been that great. That's mostly because the last time Danny was seen it was in a horrible episode. That wasn't because he couldn't handle an episode all by himself. It was just a horrible story. He remains a great character. But since the show has focused so much on Mindy and Danny's relationship over the past two seasons, it's startling when Danny is taken out of the show for an extended period of time. It's all to accommodate Messina filming a movie. But frankly, the sooner he returns the better.In order to deal without Danny for a little bit, the show has significantly propped up Garret Dillahunt as Jody. That's a pretty good decision. He and Fortune Feimster have added a wonderful new dynamic to the show this season. It's better to focus on Mindy's relationship with these new people than to try to make something happen between her and her co-workers who have been here for seasons now. Morgan can only be well-utilized in small doses (which was another thing that didn't work in the Danny road trip episode). Jeremy and Tamra can barely handle their own subplots. So they couldn't reasonably move up to co-leads for a few weeks. Even Peter's return last week was suppose to distract from the void currently on the show. Because Jody is a new character, the show can forge a new dynamic that isn't bogged down by past actions.
However, Mindy's new bond with Jody can only do so much when given a rather weak main story. The two decide to pose as a couple in order to better improve their current circumstances. With Mindy, that means showing off a husband to the elite private school that she wants Leo to go to. With Jody, that means using Mindy in order to stop himself from sleeping with his sister-in-law, Ann Marie, when she comes to town. Neither of these stories are all that great. In fact, the Mindy one is so grating because it's a sitcom story trope that has nothing original or funny about it. Yes, there are people out there who get their children into preschool before they are even born. But how is that something that is suppose to make Mindy worried? She still has plenty of time to figure things out. Also, the Jody story only makes him out to be a lothario who isn't able to control himself around women. How is that suppose to make him endearing to not only Mindy but to the audience?
The show definitely jumps over a couple of important plot points in order to get Mindy and Jody into some outrageous situations. In doing so, the show actually insults the intelligence of those characters. Mindy only wants to get into this school because the other moms in her baby class were judging her about it - even though they named their children Gratitude and Sriracha (something that's horrifyingly closer to reality than anyone wants to admit). Proving them wrong is the only reason why she commits so much to this school. It is a ridiculous and funny prospect learning just how elite this preschool actually is. It's the only one in the city that has a study abroad option. And to them, it's actually a good thing to have one parent be an alcoholic. But it never really felt like a real option for Mindy. It was only a couple of weeks ago when Mindy ended an interview with a nanny because she wanted to be paid $20,000. How in the world did money not come up during this entire process until the end? Mindy overlooking that issue was too nonsensical - as was her not removing any pictures of Danny from her apartment for the big home visit. She was only able to get caught up in the appeal of this school because Danny is gone. This is a decision they will have to make together. In the end, it's still just a choice between public or Catholic school. Mindy literally made no headway at all with this decision. So, it was ultimately a story about hijinks that had nothing to do with forward momentum for this family unit. That's lame.
This episode is entirely about connecting Mindy and Jody in a way that they both can understand and sympathize with. They are both going after something because the idea of it excites them much more than the reality of their current situations. Jody wants his brother's wife because he idolizes his older brother. He wants to be just like him. And yet, that has made him a pervert who is only interested in woman for sex. Yes, he is still a gentlemen by holding Mindy's hand as they enter the open house for the preschool. But he's still a man rendered incompetent when Ann Marie tells him that she won't betray her husband for him ever again. He becomes a drunk mess afterwards that forces Mindy to spray him with cold water to snap him out of it. It shows that Mindy cares enough to do that to him. But it also makes it worrisome over just how important Jody should be - considering he is Mindy's new business partner after all. This episode just intensifies all of those concerns. Danny, please return from California soon!
Some more thoughts:
- "Jody Kimball-Kinney Is My Husband" was written by Chris Schleicher and directed by Marco Fargnoli.
- The dinner with Ann Marie also took an amusing turn when Jody and Mindy's charade was exposed and Ann Marie thought Mindy was just an escort Jody hired.
- All the jokes about Jeremy's own private school experience were also pretty funny. All of the various slogans were incredibly funny and depressing.
- In contrast though, the joke about Beverly going to public school and not knowing how to work a computer - even though that's really her only job - didn't work at all. That's mostly because Beverly remains a character who makes no sense on this show.
- Morgan inserting himself into Mindy's life since Danny is in California has really started to become grating. It was so frustrating when he showed up at the open house - though that really didn't amount to anything fortunately.
- Mindy's excitement for Colette's bowling team making it into the finals was infectious. Now, I wish the show would explore their dynamic even more in the future.
- Leo was quite the scene-stealer in those nerd glasses.
