overnights

The Mindy Project Recap: Pork It!

The Mindy Project

Mindy Lahiri Is DTF
Season 4 Episode 17
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Ike Barinholtz as Morgan.

The Mindy Project

Mindy Lahiri Is DTF
Season 4 Episode 17
Editor’s Rating 4 stars
Ike Barinholtz as Morgan. Photo: Hulu

We begin with an unexpected seduction: Morgan is lying shirtless in Mindy’s bed, and never have I been so relieved that a scene was a dream sequence. (Though I’m glad that it didn’t end before revealing that, at least in the dream’s version of reality, Blake Shelton once had to step on Mindy’s neck to stop her from singing Adele’s “Hello.” If that ever becomes a full-length episode of Mindy, I am watching.) The upshot here is that Mindy realizes she needs to have sex, as she’s been stuck in a dry spell since breaking things off with Danny. It’s been six months!

She still doesn’t realize, however, that Jody is an option for filling that void. He sent her a (sort of) love letter in the last episode, but she has yet to receive it. So we are treated to one of The Mindy Project’s truly unique gags, the sexually tense gynecological examination. The last time this happened, Danny was serving as her doctor as things started to heat up between them in the first season. Now it’s Jody, even though Mindy doesn’t realize there’s any sexual tension yet. (I guess that makes it … slightly less weird?) She’s blathering on about how she tried to shave the Tory Burch symbol into her pubic hair, while he ends up accidentally inviting her to a viewing party for Elementary, taking his cue from the TV Guide she’s reading: “The sexy drama,” he parrots from the cover, “is having its most sizzling season yet!” Relieved to intuit that Mindy has not received his letter, Jody asks Morgan to sneak into her apartment to retrieve it. Morgan initially resists, but agrees when promised “500 cents” for the task.

Meanwhile, Mindy asks her self-described slutty, single-mom neighbor for advice on getting hooked up with a hookup. Pork It is obviously the hookup app of choice, but there’s also CuddleSpot, “for adults who feel their best years have passed them by.” Mindy opts for the latter. Through it she meets Toby from The Office, who probably has another name on this show, but he is always going to be Toby from The Office to me. (He is also known as Paul Lieberstein, late-season showrunner of The Office.) In any case, their sexual chemistry is at exactly the level you’d expect for Kelly Kapoor and Toby. Mindy tries to sleep with him anyway, but he wants to get to know her better first. This prompts her to leave. As she later explains, “A man has not been that uninterested in having sex with me since I threw myself in front of Jon Hamm’s car.” During the date, Morgan sneaks into Mindy’s apartment, but finds no letter.

Mindy switches to Pork It and immediately gets a thumbs up, which basically means she has to meet the guy at a bar that very instant. This requires skipping Jody’s Elementary party, which has become an extravaganza since Tamra decided to come with five guests and make her one-layer dip (the layer is “ranch”) and Jeremy, a huge Sherlock Holmes fan complete with costume, would not miss it. Jody actually had to buy a TV for the occasion, and once they watch the show, he is enchanted. He loves Elementary! This is partially because he realizes the parallels between the central relationship on the show — Asian woman and smooth white guy working together — and his relationship with Mindy. Aww.

Back at the bar, Mindy consults with the affable bartender about whether to meet her mustachioed date in the restroom for sex. The bartender, who’s clearly the proper target for her flirtation, does not think it’s a good idea. As she dithers over her whiskey, the Pork It guy “orders somebody else up” on the app, and Mindy’s off the hook. Of course, as she says, “Now my Pork It rating is zero penises,” but on the plus side, Jody asks Mindy out for coffee. We think we’re finally getting somewhere when — whoa! — Danny bursts into Jody’s office in a rage, holding the lost letter. Of course! Jody sent it to Mindy’s old mailing address, the one she used when she lived with Danny. “I don’t care what Mindy wants anymore,” Danny says, understating everything that’s happened this season. “This is about what I want.” And what he wants is for Jody not to date her. He redeems himself, though only slightly, when he hugs Mindy and whispers, “Make good decisions.”

Unfortunately, Jody is scared off by Danny’s rage. He bails on the coffee date, once again looking to TV Guide for answers: He has to go home and watch Chicago Fire, which is “burning up Tuesday nights.” There’s some extra-tight plot work happening in this episode — nice work, Mindy Project! But maybe I’m just a sucker for TV Guide gags.

Mindy returns to the bar from her Pork It date to properly flirt with the bartender. “Your Pork It date is waiting in the bathroom,” he teases. “It’s Anthony Weiner.” Mindy asks him over, and they achieve a TV rarity: the sweet, light, happy hookup. Let’s hope this means Mindy won’t have to try Skankfindr.

The Mindy Project Recap: Pork It!