TV and Film | The Mindy Project - Series 2, Episode 15 | Review

Episode 14 of The Mindy Project, "The Desert", left us with an almighty cliff-hanger. After weeks of near misses and thinly veiled flirtations, Danny and Mindy finally locked lips in the middle of flight back from LA. I know in the US Season 3 is about to air (or has already aired ... my knowledge of world clocks leaves something to be desired), meaning this episode has probably already had the stuffing blogged out of it. But here in the UK we are as behind as ever, so I'm going to go ahead and add my thoughts to the mix anyway. I'm only, what, five months behind?

 

With a title like "French Me, You Idiot", it was clear from the outset there would be a fair bit of frenching. Which there was. And who knew counting to four could cause such lust-filled tension. The scene in the plane bathroom was full of the type of physical comedy that really sets the show apart and literally showcased a number of my nightmares. I'm a terribly flier, I feel awfully claustrophobic on planes so to have either my hair stuck in the loo or my hand stuck in the trash whilst on an airborne plane would, I have no doubt, cause me to pass out cold. But top marks for humour!  Then in typical sitcom form, the budding new relationship is off to a rocky start when Mindy fails to break up with Cliff, who up until the flight home from LA, she had been trying to win back. A few hours later, Cliff's grandmother dies and the break up is put temporarily on hold. In a bid to reaffirm his Catholicism, Danny refuses to engage with Mindy until she's fully separated from Cliff which unsurprisingly fails (cue more frenching), but with added religious based banter between the two.

It was actually a pretty funny episode, which I think was kind of necessary following on from last week. "The Desert" was quite emotionally heavy, what with the reunion between Danny and his estranged father and the culmination of the long building chemistry between the two lead characters. Adam Pally as Peter Prentice is great comic relief in "French Me, You Idiot"; his desperation for the ballet rehearsal to end was genius (but also, I must admit as a dancer and ballet teacher, mildly offensive. Ballet's not that bad, yo.) To be fair, all the ballet bits were brilliantly scripted and I am never averse to watching some pros en pointe. How anyone makes pointework look that effortless remains one of life's biggest questions.

Although the episode was quite death heavy (what with the previous attendee to the ballet company and Gram both leaving for pastures new), it was weirdly romantic too. Cliff's Spanish band was kind of cute (if you like being serenaded, which I can confirm I do not. At all. It makes me want to shave off my eyebrows) and of course prior to the fire-causing kiss, the holding of hands during the funeral was touching. It does worry me slightly that a qualified OB-GYN would use a word such as "sadliness" in an eulogy but I love the show too much to really mind (even though made up words go against my innermost instincts as an English graduate). I have to say I thought the actual bona-fide break up was written really well though. It gave Mindy Lahiri back her respect after the whole eulogy escapade and the way she words it bids well for hers and Danny's future. Which of course really means the opposite. It's TV, when is anything ever that smooth?