What’s Worth Watching: ‘The Mindy Project’ on Hulu for Tuesday, December 8

THE MINDY PROJECT
Jordan Althaus/NBC
THE MINDY PROJECT -- "When Mindy Met Danny" Episode 413 -- Pictured: (l-r) -- (Photo by: Jordan Althaus/NBC)

The Mindy Project, “How Mindy Met Danny” (Tuesday, Dec. 8, Hulu)

One piece of personal intel gleaned from this week’s episode of The Mindy Project (now streaming weekly on Hulu): Never invite Dr. Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) to see Wicked. “Back stories are stupid,” barks Mindy-as-Mindy at her most meta. “We don’t always need to know how everybody met each other.”

She’s just kidding. Probably. Not always easy to tell with our flighty Mindy. But what devoted rom-com fan doesn’t love learning what brought our favorite couples together? That list would have to include Mindy and fellow OB/GYN doc-now-baby daddy Danny Castellano (Chris Messina), who as Mindy‘s Christmas-set midseason finale begins are hitting a bit of a rough patch over Danny’s insistent desire for them to keep growing their family. As they bicker over the balance of parenting and work while watching A Charlie Brown Christmas, it’s time to cue the flashback episode we didn’t know we’d been waiting for.

It’s 2007, and Mindy’s first day of work, where it’s hate at first sight after her meet-cute with Danny in an elevator where the gruff misanthrope refuses to hold the door for the newbie: “It rewards lateness,” he growls. From that inauspicious start, it’s a replay of the farcical complications that would lead to a grudging respect and, much later, romance. All framed by Mindy finding herself at another emotional crossroads in her current love story, one of the most appealing rom-coms you’ll find anywhere. This life-after-cancellation fourth season has turned out to be one of Hulu’s best investments.