The Mindy Project: Season 3 Episode 1 

We left Mindy and Danny on the top of the Empire building making out and finally getting together. The season 3 premiere starts off some time later, with Manny, Dindy—whatever couple nickname Mindy will eventually give them—now a full fledged couple

Throughout the episode we see that their relationship is going to be tested this season by the issues that bug them about each other such as Mindy, sharing most of the details of their relationship with their coworkers at the hospital. There are tense moments, sweet moments, of course funny moments, and that final scene that everyone is talking about.

First, let’s talk about how Tamra continues to steal scenes. Her obsession with her phone made for some great comic relief. Like when she recorded Peter, aka Dr. Prentice, and Lauren’s confrontation when Lauren admits she kissed Jeremy. If you don’t remember. Lauren is Peter’s girlfriend who went to school with Jeremy, aka Dr. Reed. Tamra showed up a lot in the season premiere,  hopefully they won’t overuse her to the point where it gets gimmicky.

Then there was Cousin Lou. Rob McElhenney guest starred as Morgan’s ex-con cousin who Jeremy hired to do IT work. McElhenney plays Mac on “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” with Glenn Howerton, who plays Mindy’s ex-boyfriend Cliff Gilbert. His guest starring role has been talked about since season two ended, and his casting as Morgan’s cousin seemed near perfect. They even sort of look related.  McElhenney was used sparingly, but mostly effectively. He was the one that unintentionally broke the news to Peter that Jeremy and Lauren had hooked up.

Lou turns to Peter, at a charity event, and asks if he “heard about Lauren and Jeremy doing it behind Peter’s back.” A slight awkward pause later, Peter tells Lou that he is Peter. “The Peter we’re discussing right now, oh man that’s so embarrassing for me,” Lou responds. But then he proceeds to let Peter know that everyone is talking about it.

While the subplots about the Peter, Jeremy, and Lauren love triangle, and Cousin Lou, were entertaining. The plot that was the meat of the episode was Mindy trying to figure out why Danny had a pink thong tucked in the back of his dresser drawer.

Mindy found the pink thong with “DIAMOND” bedazzled on it while trying to find something to wear. Danny got defensive about it, which only made Mindy more curious. Her first clue on the mystery trail was when Peter asked “what’s with the pink stripper thong.” She hadn’t known it was a stripper thong until he showed her the snaps on the side. Mindy was visibly shocked, and the plot thickened.

The next clue came when Mindy, now even more curious, decided to Google strippers named Diamond in New York, before going to the charity event. Obviously, there would be hundreds of strippers with that name. Morgan walks into her office and knows she is looking up strippers from the reflection in her eyes. What? Does Morgan have super human sight? “Yeah you got the body, but can you dance, I don’t think so,” he says. It’s great that Morgan is always giving her positive comments about her body.

She decides to let Morgan in on all the stuff she had been holding back from sharing. So she lasted about thirty six hours, not too bad. Morgan comments on the back rub first, “I only give a shoulder rub when I’m expecting a you know what rub afterwards.” He reiterates “a sex rub” cause Mindy talked over him. Oh, Morgan. After showing his dislike for Jeremy potentially trying to take Lauren from Peter, he reveals that the pink thong is actually a male thong because of the pouch in the front. Then Mindy does a quick search, and it turns out Danny is Diamond, Diamond is Danny (Ace Ventura reference, sort of). The plot thickens some more.

Danny and Mindy confront each other at the charity event and Danny storms out because Mindy told Morgan about him being a stripper. After the break, Danny is sitting at his piano playing “Let It Go.” Perfect, just perfect. Morgan shows up with Lou, because Lou took Danny’s wallet. And Lou reveals that he had a mission “to lock down that rich Indian spinster, so [he’d] never have to fix another printer.” He tells Danny “you have to be open with the people you love.”

Danny decides to prove to her that he’s committed to the relationship by telling Mindy his secrets. Including, he was a stripper named Diamond Dan to pay for medical school, and that the savings paid off his mother’s mortgage. He also revealed that his middle name is Allen, but he didn’t want to admit it because it’s his father’s name. Danny’s gesture sparks Mindy into telling him a secret of her own. That she tells everyone about their relationship because she “wants it to be real, the more real it seems, the less likely it can all be taken away.” Danny reassures her that “it’s real.” This sweet moment between the newly cemented couple is a sign of how much they are both willing to work to make this happen, and how much they have riding on their relationship.

The serious moment was quickly cut by Danny admitting that he had to carry a purse to school because his mother couldn’t afford a book bag. As adorable as their making up was, nobody who has seen the episode is talking about anything other than the final scene.

Danny tells Mindy not to go to bed yet, that he has something to show her. Cue music. Lenny Kravitz’s “American Woman” starts playing and Danny steps out and into a stance slash dance move similar to the time he danced for Mindy as her Secret Santa gift. Millions of people probably said “oh snap” at this moment. Danny runs his hand down his chest, body rolls, then rips his shirt open. Danny is stripping for Mindy! All her and our wishes have come true! He shows off his moves, including some pelvic thrusting and tie work, then has Mindy pull his belt off. The whole time Mindy looks like she will never recover from this, she will truly melt into her duvet. He crawls on the bed toward her, and stands up for some Thunder Down Under moves. She pulls him down by his tie, and they start going at it. The episode ends with her hand on his butt, and then Mindy saying “whoa, Nelly.”

Plenty of people were problem fanning themselves during and after that scene. It was a solid start to the season, with a definite water cooler moment.

*Recap by Comely Wordsmith