The Mindy Project: “French Me, You Idiot/Indian BBW”

Two-and-a-half months ago, The Mindy Project went on a short hiatus to reconfigure the show a bit for its last eight episodes, which seemed very possibly like they could be the show’s final ones. However The Mindy Project was at an all-time high in quality, with the constant teasing of a relationship between Mindy and Danny finally culminating in a kiss, before going off the air. Now with the show’s future guaranteed up until a third season and a budding new relationship, The Mindy Project is back with a strong start to the final eight episodes of this season.

The first of the two new episodes “French Me, You Idiot,” starts up right after the Danny-Mindy kiss. Immediately, the show smartly dispenses with the question of whether or not this was a mistake by saying yes, they are now both very much interested in each other. However, when Mindy lands, she still has Cliff to deal with, who she got back together with moments before kissing Danny. The first episode basically cleans house for the Danny and Mindy relationship to flourish from here on out. Danny refuses to do anything with Mindy until she ends things with Cliff. He assumes that she’s kidding when Mindy says she wants to break up, and due to Cliff’s grandmother dying, Mindy delays the breakup until after the funeral. Cliff doesn’t take it well, even wishing that his grandmother’s ghost will haunt the two of them, but at the very least they’re free to see each other.

Yet even though they’re now able to date, they still don’t want the office to know, nor does Mindy want to take things too fast. Both of these problems come together quite well in “Indian BBW,” as Peter finds a sex tape online that Mindy made with Tom—a returning Bill Hader—years ago. This leads Mindy on a quest to get the Internet to erase something, clearly a hard task, while also eventually trying to explain to Peter why it’s so important to her that Danny doesn’t see the video. Through a series of typical sitcom situations, Danny does see the tape, and Peter puts two and two together. Everyone makes it clear that Mindy likes Danny so much more than she ever liked Tom and hell, she was engaged to him, so the two continue on their path as a couple.

Right out the gates, The Mindy Project knows that they’ve teased this relationship for long enough and doesn’t much bother with a will-they-or-won’t-they scenario. Rather, they jump right in, barely able to keep their hands off each other. There’s also very little focus on B-stories, probably for the best for fans who want to see more of this couple they’ve shipped for so long. In the first episode, Peter and Brendan try to work together to nail down a new client, the New York Metropolitan Ballet. Beyond that, the rest of the cast is thrown in occasionally in these two episodes only to further the story of Mindy and Danny. It makes plenty of sense to start off this way, but odds are the focus won’t stay this strong on these two for too long.

The Mindy Project’s first episodes back bring a certain amount of clarity and focus that is too often lacking on this show and basically gives the audience exactly what it wants, which is sort of exactly what the show needed to do anyways. We’re off to a great start with The Mindy Project’s return, let’s hope the quality can stick around through the rest of the season.

Ross Bonaime is a D.C.-based freelance writer and regular contributor to Paste. You can follow him on Twitter.