Danny brings back his dancing moves for the hilarious season three premiere of The Mindy Project.
Danny (Chris Messina) opens the premiere with a surprising voiceover. He can’t believe he’s with Mindy; he says that in the insulting yet kind of sweet tone we’ve come to love. As the two hookup, it switches back to Mindy, who is so happy to be with Danny despite having to compromise some of the things she likes and trying to deal with some of the stuff he likes. The two have a found a rhythm, one that gives us a laugh-out-loud scene of Danny dancing in his underwear. Who knew that would act as foreshadowing for this episode?
We aren’t the only ones with a front row seat to Mindy’s relationship with Danny. The office knows all the details of what’s going on, due to Mindy’s open and talkative nature. Danny isn’t quite aware of it until Peter (Adam Pally) asks Danny for advice on oral. Poor Peter has yet to make a woman orgasm, and after learning from Mindy that Danny is very talented in that department, he had to ask. Danny is shocked by Peter’s question and the fact that the whole office knows about his skills.
He takes Mindy aside to tell her not to tell people their private stuff. It’s just who she is; Mindy has this need to tell people about her life and get their input. But she decides to compromise and promises not to share private details about their relationship with the whole office.
Rob McElhenney (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) guest stars as Morgan’s convict cousin, who Mindy hires to be the office’s IT guy. He hits on Mindy, despite Danny being in the room. All the while, Jeremy (Ed Weeks) and Peter’s girlfriend, Lauren (Tracey Wigfield), are planning a fundraiser together. Peter is insanely proud of his girlfriend, and this is the first real relationship he seems to care about. It’s sad because Danny sees Jeremy and Lauren are spending a ton of time together which makes him suspect there’s something going on.
Danny tells Mindy what he saw and tells her not to tell anyone. She feels bad for Peter but once again promises she won’t say anything. As she’s looking through Danny’s dresser, she finds a hot pink thong that says DIAMOND in rhinestones. Danny immediately freaks out, saying it’s nothing. He won’t tell Mindy what it’s about, and she seems to let it go for the moment.
But you know she won’t let it go! The next day she approaches Peter, who is busying buying some expensive jewelry for Lauren. She tries to convince him to get something cheaper and ends up suggesting a tiara, which would be even more money. Nice job, there. She initially went to see Peter to sneakily ask him about the pink thong she found in Danny’s drawer. But she backs out of it, remembering her promise to Danny. Peter sees the thong in her hands anyway and asks her why she’s holding a stripper thong. It has the buttons on the side that snap off. A part of the mystery is solved.
Mindy starts researching strippers named “Diamond” in Manhattan to see why Danny would keep a stripper’s underwear. Obviously, a ton of entries pop up, and Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) comes in to talk about his own weird problems, but then asks her why she’s looking up strippers. Mindy breaks down and tells him about Danny and what she discovered in his drawer. While she’s at it, she also spills about what Danny saw between Jeremy and Lauren. Morgan takes a look at the thong and say it’s a male one. She looks up male strippers with the name Diamond. Danny’s picture pops up. Whatttt?
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At the fundraiser, all the simmering drama goes down. Morgan has managed to spread around all of the gossip that Mindy dropped. It quickly gets to Danny, who sees Mindy walking in and demands to speak with her. She’s her own kind of mad too; they have trust issues. She spilled, but he’s too secretive. They part ways angry.
The rest of the party goes to hell, as Morgan’s cousin spills to Peter—not knowing it’s Peter—about what’s going on between Lauren and Jeremy. Peter is crushed and decides to confront Lauren about it, who happens to be wearing a nice, new tiara. She denies sleeping with Jeremy, but admits to the massage and a kiss. Peter is upset, and it doesn’t help that Tamara is filming the whole thing on her phone.
Peter storms through the party and punches Jeremy, damaging his teeth at a dental fundraiser of all places. The two go outside to talk it out. Jeremy apologizes, admits to liking and wanting to pursue a relationship with Lauren. Get ready for a Peter vs. Jeremy showdown to win Lauren’s affections.
Of all the songs, Danny is playing “Let It Go” on his piano. (I died.) Morgan yells at him to stop playing Frozen and let them in. Morgan’s cousin ends up telling Danny this semi-pointless story about how he and Morgan were convicted and jailed for stealing cars. The moral of the story? Every good relationship begins with trust and honesty.
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Danny heads to Mindy’s place with a list of “secrets” he wants to tell. They’re all embarrassing and revealing, and Mindy finds it reassuring that Danny is finally opening himself up to her about his past and feelings. One of those secrets is that Danny used to strip to make money to pay for school.
The touching moment cuts to Mindy in bed, and DANNY DANCING TO “AMERICAN WOMAN!” Actually, he’s stripping, showing off the moves that paid his med school tuition. It’s hot, romantic, and hilarious, and I’m glad this show is putting Chris Messina’s dance background to good use.
Season three is off to a solid start. It’s hard to see where we can go now that Mindy and Danny are together and happy. Their relationship was the ultimate goal for last season. Now that they’re together, I’m worried to see where they take us. Guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Rating: 8/10
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Chris Messina’s Dance Skills: 10/10
The Mindy Project airs Tuesday nights at 9:30p ET on FOX.
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