*FYI: this article contains spoilers!
Let’s face it: we’re all celebrating the return of The Mindy Project (and if you’re not part of this fabulous fandom, be sure to catch up on Hulu and start watching season three on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Fox)! When we left off what feels like oh-so-long ago, Mindy and Danny were mid-kiss…and wasn’t it about time?! Kaling told E! that “it was a really good kiss” and advised readers to “rewind it a bunch or make a GIF of it” (which of course, many fans did). She reminds us that, “Danny and Mindy want to kill each other at least once an episode, but they’re also so impulsive that this kiss felt like a totally believable thing for them to do in the back of an airplane. Neither one of them is really great at thinking before he/she acts,” which we see is typical of their relationship on the show. Sooo…will they fall in love or was the big kiss simply a result of airplane ambiance?
Luckily, many fans have been rooting for Mindy and Danny since the beginning, and the way they constantly poke fun at each other and argue. Kaling recently told Us magazine that “the good thing about [a kiss is that it] can go so many ways. Because [the finale kiss] was more of like a frantic makeout, because it was more of an expression of lust than romance, those are the kind of things that people often regret. So I feel like that left it open in a lot of ways for us. But in the first episode back, it deals with it in such a funny way that I’m just excited for you guys to see it.” The first episode since the hiatus is titled “French Me, You Idiot,” which gives a pretty good indication that the two will be dealing with the aftermath of their airplane endeavor in a pretty typical Mindy-Danny style.
Together, the lead actress and producer of the show, Mindy Kaling, and her television personality, Mindy Lahiri, are essentially the epitome of the twenty-first century woman. Why, you ask? Let me break it down by the fabulous things that Mindy (Kaling and Lahiri) does:
- Enjoys food. Eating is a big part of life and Mindy talks openly about her love for food.
- Embraces her body. In her book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), Kaling says that on the list of things she wants to do during her lifetime, “looking like Gisele Bündchen is right above ‘Learn to drive a vespa’ but several notches below ‘Film a chase scene for a movie’”—meaning that maintaining an unrealistic weight is not on her to-do list. Lahiri also talks about her body in a positive light and flaunts her fabulousness frequently.
- Appreciates the comforts of twenty-first century technology. As a business woman and social butterfly, Mindy understands that the Wifi must be on it’s game at all times in order for her to maintain her level of super womanliness.
- Knows the value of friendship. Kaling’s book also includes an entire “Best Friend Rights and Responsibilities” contract, which lays out all of the “givens” of being in a BFF relationship. It’s everything that you never realized you already knew about the unspoken, but sacred, agreement between you and your bestie (similar to girl code). Lahiri emphasizes that it’s okay to have multiple “best friends” because people have different skills and qualities that make them a particular “go-to” depending on the situation you find yourself in.
- Enjoys a cozy night in. Sure, she reminds us that “sometimes you just have to put on lip gloss and pretend to be psyched,” but FOMO (fear of missing out) doesn’t keep her from her PJs and a good rom-com when she’s feeling it.
- Dreams big—really big. It’s important to have aspirations that push you to challenge yourself, right?
- …but sets realistic goals and recognizes that not making it to the gym every day of the week is certainly not the end of the world.
- Has killer confidence. She’s the embodiment of the recently trendy phrase, “you do you, girl”…why shouldn’t she be her own role model?!
- Gives herself pep talks. She knows that sometimes you’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do to get through the day.
- Learns from her mistakes. This girl isn’t afraid to fess up to her indiscretions and acknowledge that she has room to grow.
The Mindy Project combines both “characters”, creating the perfect storm—not only do we get insight into Kaling’s hilarious thoughts and writing abilities, but via Lahiri, provides us with one-liners, relatable mishaps, and bits of wisdom for twenty-somethings everywhere.