Ah, the parental-significant other meet-and-greet – something that can be a nightmare for even the most solid of couples. It’s also a classic well of sitcom humour, and that definitely hasn’t slipped past Mindy Kaling and co., as in this week’s episode we finally meet Annette Castellano.
Played by Rhea Perlman, Annette Castellano is a force to be reckoned with. At their first, brief meeting, Annette assumes that Mindy is Danny’s cleaning lady, which Mindy doesn’t immediately pick up on (“What’s your rate?” “I would say an 8…a 10 in Chicago, but a 4 in Los Angeles.”), and Danny tells her that he hasn’t introduced them before because Annette does not approve of Danny’s girlfriends – ever.
Mindy takes it upon herself to make Annette like her, and implements her fool-proof mum program; this includes agreeing with every single thing she says, finding a common TV show to fawn over, and showering her with gifts. Mindy’s plan is working 100%, but when Annette is cruel to Danny over his very extravagant gift of a new stove Mindy can’t bring herself to keep her mouth shut, and after standing up for Danny, she’s on Annette’s list. Danny refuses to call her, because according to him Italians let their anger fester and grow over time (It’s why their wine is so good), and Mindy takes matters into her own hands by going to Staten Island and reasoning with Annette. Annette can see that Mindy is a strong woman in her own right, and that she takes care of Danny, and before you know it they’re all sitting down to dinner at Casa Castellano, with dinner cooking on the new stove.
In a very forgettable sub-plot, Peter is wallowing in self-pity after discovering that Jeremy and Lauren kissed. Morgan is having his own relationship troubles; as Tamra is deathly allergic to dogs, he has to give up all 40 of his foster pets to appease her. Peter, convinced that Tamra is lying, shoves a dog in her face, only to discover that her severe adult on-set allergy is definitely real. Tamra and Morgan come to a compromise, and urge Peter to forgive Lauren for what she did. Morgan also bequeaths his dog Nicole to Peter, as he thinks Peter needs a strong woman in his life. In the end, this episode really was full of strong independent women.
After last week’s stellar series return this week’s episode was a bit of a letdown, although perhaps my expectations were too high. It was great for Mindy to finally meet Annette, but this would have been better done a few episodes in, when Danny and Mindy’s new relationship had been fleshed out a little more. It’s also a shame that Danny’s relationship with his brother Richie, and their relationship with their mother, wasn’t fleshed out more. Furthermore, the subplot was lacklustre and I would have preferred to see more of the conflict between Jeremy, Peter and Lauren play out. While it was nice to finally meet Danny’s mother and get a bit more of his back story, and there were the usual awesome one-liners, this week’s Mindy was a disappointing follow up to last week’s awesome episode.
Review Score: TWO STARS OUT OF FIVE.
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