Sunday, November 4, 2012

What I’m Watching: The Mindy Project (Halloween Episode #7)


The Mindy Project: Season 1, Episode 4 “Halloween” (B)

After a two-week hiatus, this show is back with a decent installment with a good opening and a good ending, and a somewhat less secure middle section. The main problem is that the show has clear roles for Mindy, Danny, and Jeremy, but has no concept of how to use the rest of the supporting cast. Shauna, Betsy, and Morgan all have characteristics which, when highlighted, become too much to take, namely the accent, clinginess, and creepiness, respectively. Having them fawn over Mindy and obsess over her problems isn’t productive, and I’d much rather that Anna Camp’s more level-headed Gwen get some screen time, something more than just passing the phone to her daughter so that Mindy can mock her immaturity. Fortunately, the rest of the episode was great, particularly Mindy’s run-in with Tom, which was spotlighted just enough, and the development of Josh, who, unsurprisingly, emphasized the cost of his Inigo Montoya costume when he hadn’t even seen the movie. Danny’s trip to the DMV was extremely but also a lot of fun, and Jeremy is the perfect foil for him. Their conversations about how they were jealous of each other were terrific, and juxtaposing Danny’s dedicated, passionate guy with Jeremy’s laidback, carefree gentleman makes for a great comedic team that should definitely appear together in the future. Mindy’s interaction with and dismissal of Danny continues to be excellent, and I love how quickly Mindy jumped to look up Tom’s profile, ignoring the fact that Morgan talked about picturing her having sex.

No comments: