Sunday, May 12, 2013

The Mindy Project

The Mindy Project
Episode 23: Frat Party
By: Carlos Uribe

The Mindy Project is about an OB/GYN named Mindy.

Spoilers Ahoy?

The Mindy plot this week involved two different parts. The first is where she acts as a mentor to a young college student who largely doesn't do anything. There is really no reason for her to be in this episode other than to act as the reason to why Mindy would attend a frat party. The second party is really what drives the episode and that's romantic drama. She's dating Casey only she's shocked when she finds out that he wants to go to Haiti for a year on a volunteer trip. She breaks up with him because she doesn't want to be in a long-distance relationship. She's not young so she can't just wait a year before moving on with her life. She goes to the frat party because her mentee thinks that's the best way to get Mindy over the break-up. Mindy is puzzled over the party's no-cup policy but this quickly gives way when she sees Tom. You know, the guy who broke up with her in the pilot to get married and was expecting to be a father? That didn't work out so well for him as his wife left him to go back to Serbia and the son looked like her ex-boyfriend. He's miserable now as he's gone back to frat parties in an attempt to recapture his youth or something. He's not in a good place. He does invite Mindy back over to his place but she turns him down. This is supposed to be a sign of character development but I'm not entirely sure. I get that Mindy used to have casual sex with Jeremy and that she got over him but it's hard to buy the whole “a year ago I would have spiel” when her character was never that defined in the first place. She does want to check out his face because his eyebrow-ring is bleeding but this leads into a big brawl between Casey and Tom. Why? I guess brawls are funny rather than the overused plot device this show has resorted to. In the end, Casey convinces Mindy he wants to go to Haiti now before he marries Mindy or gets her pregnant so that he can be there for her. The two get back together but their relationship is obviously doomed since he's leaving.


The frat party is also used by Jeremy and Danny to convince Morgan to go back to work for them. This is after they offer him a significant financial offer and try to tempt him by going to his favorite restaurant. They even try to bribe him by allowing him a puppy at the practice but he turns them down. He's not interested in any of that but in trying to work at a place where he feels like a family. So they decide to act like their brothers by going to a frat house. Morgan agrees to come back when Danny calls him a brother before punching a random character. I guess the plot works if you think Morgan is funny. If you think he's annoying like me then having an entire episode spent around trying to get him back is downright infuriating. I honestly wouldn't have cared if Morgan had never appeared on this show again after he was fired. It doesn't help matters that the reasons Morgan gives for not coming back don't make any sense. He claims that the practice never does anything together but almost every episode has them hanging out outside the office. They treat each other like family and they care for each other. The suggestion that Morgan doesn't feel like he's a family member is ludicrous when every episode basically proves him wrong. The Mindy Project still hasn't figured out what it's about but half of it has become a hangout show. The other half is whoever Mindy is dating or just pairing her with Danny.

Frat Party is an average episode of television. Morgan's motives for not coming back make no sense whatsoever but the plot structure behind the whole episode is otherwise solid. Mindy's relationship with Casey is obviously doomed so it remains difficult to care about it as a stake. The whole mentee feels like a plot device to get her to the frat party and she never really develops a personality of her own. The other part of the show was downright frustrating at it concentrated so much focus on a character who brings down any scenes he's in. The penu-ultimate episode of the season is a clear sign that this show clearly hasn't learned what works nor do the writers seem like they're trying to fix any of the problems. The half-hour isn't very funny. See you in the season finale-I can't wait for this season to already be over.

Other Notes:

I did like Casey and Mindy attempting to have a sexy shower together only to find it's difficult for them to do so. That was funny.

I won't be coming back for the second season. I'm so checked out of this show.

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