Up until this week, the newest doctor on The Mindy Project, Anna Ziev, seemed like a gorgeous robot. She supposedly never sleeps, eats celery for dessert (WHAT?!) and goes on runs during her lunch breaks. She’s basically the opposite of our beloved Dr. Mindy Lahiri. I’ll be honest, I was indifferent to Anna when she first arrived on the show. She wasn’t as charismatic as Tamra or Colette and didn’t seem to fit in with the OB/GYN crew. With her perfectly bobbed hair and cold demeanor, Anna seemed hard to relate to. We’ve watched Mindy get her heart broken, cut off all of her hair and fall down more times than we can count—that’s something we can relate to! Dr. Anna… not so much.
However, this week the show revealed something about Anna: she’s actually a human being. After discovering her husband’s infidelities, Anna decides to leave him and accepts Mindy’s offer to stay with her for a while. This week’s episode focuses on Anna’s new lifestyle, starting with being Mindy’s house guest. Mindy, of course, has dressed Anna in a set of matching pajamas and already called out sick for her at work. Mindy helps her take her mind off of the divorce. The first step? Watching porn, according to Mindy. After a little egging, Anna reveals the first thing that chips away at her perfect persona: her kink is men with hairy backs. Hey, no judgment!
Throughout the episode, Jeremy and Jody race to see who can woo the newly single Anna first, with no regard for her feelings, of course. To get the leg up on Jody, Jeremy suprises Anna at Mindy’s house, ambushing her with wine and clotted cream (SO British). In the midst of his obvious and awkward flirting, Anna has a breakdown. It turns out, she had been filling out her divorce papers when Jeremy barged in. Anna’s sobbing throws Jeremy, and viewers, off guard. This hot mess is a completely different Anna than the cold and unfeeling one from before. We can finally see that she does have feelings and problems, just like the rest of us.
After Jeremy spends the night consoling her, Anna rejects Jody—who seems to want to annoy Jeremy more than flirt with Anna—so Jeremy thinks he has finally won her over. Sorry, Jer, think again. Anna rejects Jeremy’s totes inappropriate work kiss and makes a huge scene about how she’s not interested in dating anyone at work. She even admits that talking about love is difficult for her, due to her “WASP-y” nature. Anna has come full circle in this episode. She’s no longer cold and distant; she’s emotional and complicated.
Although Anna publicly rejected Jeremy, this week’s episode leaves us with a “will they or won’t they” vibe. In the final scene, Anna is alone in her office, working on the puzzle that Jeremy brought her as a gift. With a subtle smile, Anna hints that her feelings for Jeremy may be more complicated than she’s let on. This seems fitting for the doctor, who has proven herself to be a much more complex and dimensional character than we ever could have expected. Who knows what’s in the future for Anna, but it definitely seems like a steamy office romance is coming her way.