It’s almost scary how easy it has been to accept that Danny Castellano is no longer a major player in The Mindy Project. Although it has always been rather fun to see Mindy and Danny bouncing off of one another (sometimes literally), it’s refreshing to see other characters shine once in a while.

While, unfortunately, this episode isn’t heavy in the Morgan/Colette department, we finally get a few precious moments with notorious office Lothario, Jeremy. But that’s not all–we also get a plot centered around his old girlfriend Whitney. It turns out that she is working for a hedge fund that is (nosily and destructively) being constructed above Shulman and Associates. With the former couple being in such close proximity to each other, it’s only a matter of time before they collide and explode. Or at least, that’s what I thought was going to happen. The Mindy Project ended up going left instead of right. I wholeheartedly approve.

Apparently, Jody Kimball-Kinney is the only person in the world who doesn’t know that Mindy is terrible with her finances.  After finding un-deposited checks on her desk he expresses his concerns on her ability to take care of herself or Leo in the future. Mindy tries to reassure him that her retirement plan is in place (she plans to sing on a cruise ship someday) but he still worries. The writers really are going down the Mindy/Jody rabbit hole aren’t they? I suppose that Jody’s going to be butting into all kinds of Mindy business from here on out. I’m trying to mentally prepare myself.

Jody (and the rest of the office) manage to talk Mindy into taking her future seriously. From Colette the trust fund baby to Tamra and her mutual funds, it’s pretty obvious that Mindy is the worst of the lot when it comes to money. She tries to read a Suze Orman book but finds it to read like a foreign language. There’s only one thing to do–get Whitney to be her money guy.

After a hilarious bit of physical humor where Mindy walks into a glass wall, we find the women sizing each other up to see if they can work together. Whitney scoffs at Mindy’s need for her services (she works with billionaires, after all) but realizes that there’s something that Mindy can give her that she really needs–distraction from doing drugs. She has quite literally handcuffed herself to her desk to keep herself from going down the dark path. In a sad manner she let’s Mindy know that she doesn’t have any friends to help her and, of course, Mindy offers to be a friend.

Mindy blows off a planned grandfather clock shopping expedition with Jody by telling him that she has a date. I can’t tell if this is a ruse to keep him in the dark about her friendship with Whitney or if she’s using the new friendship with Whitney to keep Jody at arm’s length. He is instantly crushed and forlorn when he realizes he won’t spending any time with her. Someone has got it pretty bad.

Meanwhile, Jeremy introduces his new girlfriend, Julia, to his co-workers and Jody is beside himself with worry over what Jeremy has gotten himself into. Juliet is much older than Jeremy and he believes the whole relationship to be “weird.” He thinks that there is no possible way the relationship can be legit. Tamra takes Jeremy’s side and takes offense to the double standard of it being okay for older men to date younger women but not the other way around. Jody’s not having it. This guy just loves being up in everyone’s business. I don’t think the character of Jody Kimball-Kinney is going anywhere anytime soon.

Mindy and Whitney end up hanging out at Mindy’s apartment every night of the week: playing Connect Four, putting together puzzles, flying hovercraft…and Mindy is finding it very difficult to get any rest. After several days in a row, she finally tells Whitney she can’t hang out for the night and Whitney is crushed. Mindy feels guilty but sticks to her guns and has her night alone.

The next day, Mindy and Jody are getting ready for surgery (hooray to being in the hospital again!) when he confronts her about her lack of commitment (a week later and the guy is still pissed about the grandfather clock thing). She sticks to her “date” story and embellishes it further by making the guy a heterosexual flight attendant for Zoom Airlines. Way to think on your feet, Mindy. Jody believes her and begins to get even more agitated. Mindy lets him know that if her life bothers him so much he should probably stop paying so much attention to it!

In another part of the hospital, Tamra catches Jeremy canoodling a nurse in a closet. She suspects that he is just using Juliet to repair his tarnished reputation. Tamra calls him out for being a jerk to such an old lady and he confesses that he’s just paying Juliet to play his girlfriend. It’s true that he would do anything to fix his reputation.

Later, Jody is riding the subway when he runs into Juliet. He boldly goes up to her to let her know that he doesn’t believe the relationship between her and Jeremy. She surprises him by turning the questions back on him. Is he dating anyone? Why not? Maybe he’s denying affections for someone who he has feelings for…maybe someone who is the opposite of who he might expect to be attracted to…

Jody goes to his office and writes an apologetic letter to Mindy and finishes with a request for a date. He seals the letter and puts it in the outgoing mailbox. The next day, after telling Jeremy that he met Juliet on the subway, Tamra lets him know that Jeremy is paying Juliet to be his girlfriend. Jody is horrified. Why did he send that letter? And why does this have to the be the one time that Morgan gets his job done correctly and on time?The letter has been sent and there’s no going back. Memories of Morgan sending Dr. Castellano’s ex-wife Christina a forbidden letter back in the first season are suddenly flowing through me.

Mindy tries to reconnect with Whitney and finds out that she has gone out with her co-workers. Instantly worried, Mindy rushes out to get her the hell out of there. Turns out there’s no need to worry because Whitney is hiding in the restroom just to make it look like she’s doing drugs (she doesn’t want anyone to think she’s lost her edge) and Mindy convinces her that she needs to get out and set the record straight. No more handcuffs or hiding in bathrooms! It looks like it’s going to be a friendship for the ages.

We should all rejoice that Mindy is finally going to have friends outside of the office again and that Jeremy is not going to suddenly disappear from the show like several others before him. It’s reassuring and exciting at the same time. Also, it’s really glad to see Mindy stand on her own two feet financially. We know she has the brains–she just needed the confidence. While not the fastest paced show of late, this episode was pretty good at bringing in some newer blood.

Favorite quotes this week:

Jody: “Mindy. I think our office needs a makeover. It’s too feminine.” Mindy: “Our furniture is RuPaul for Crate and Barrel. She’s a man.”

Morgan: “I have enough money to last the rest of my life–which my doctor says could be up to three years.”

Jody: “Well, once again I can see that I’m the only one brave enough to speak the truth. This relationship is weird…and if Donald Drumpf is president it could be fun. There. I said it.”

Mindy: “She doesn’t do drugs anymore ’cause she’s addicted to hanging out with me. Which, like, who isn’t? But I need a break.”  Morgan: “Yeah, boundaries are important. That’s why I stopped tickling patients.”

Juliet: “Hi. You’re Jeremy’s co-worker.” Jody: “Yes.” Juliet: “Are you the one who eats trash?” Jody: “No, that’s Morgan…and Beverly…and Mindy…actually, that’s quite troubling.”

Jeremy: “Fine, I hated my reputation. I would have done anything to change it. Except modify my behavior.”

Mindy: “You know, I realized that bear claws are not my real problem. I spend most of my money on…” Mindy/Whitney: “Pay per view pornography.” Mindy: “Yes. I obviously can’t curb that habit, so I’m just going to give less to charity.”

So, Mindy lovers, another week has gone by without Danny and the Mindy/Jody story line seems to be chugging ahead. Are you happy with the way the show is heading or do you have concerns? Let me know in the comments below.  See you next week!