By Amy Nancarrow
In my review of last week’s episode, “Caramel Princess Time”, I made the case that the best episodes of this season of The Mindy Project are those that have Mindy and Danny working together, and not fighting or facing some sort of relationship trouble. This week’s offering, “We Need to Talk About Annette”, was one of these episodes, and centred around Mindy trying to make her boyfriend and his family happy as opposed to causing conflict.
Mindy and Annette are spending some one-on-one time shopping when Mindy notices Annette shoplifting a bomber jacket, which she later gives to Danny. Mindy tries to keep her mouth shut, but when Tamra loses a bracelet that Annette had been coveting, Mindy accuses Annette of stealing it. Danny is horrified, and Mindy suffers underneath Annette’s Catholic guilt. Eventually Annette admits to the theft, but Mindy and Danny can’t stand by and let her go to jail, so the two work together to help her escape the clutches of Gary the Manager.
Meanwhile, Peter’s enjoying his new relationship with Abby, mostly because she seems to be Peter’s exact double. Or, rather, she’s the old Peter’s double. They spend their days lazing around in bed, day drinking, or getting baked. Peter realises that they’ve never spent time together sober, and that perhaps he needs someone like his ex-girlfriend Lauren, someone who actually wants him to put on pants before he leaves the house.
Mindy and Danny’s storyline was actually quite good this week. Rhea Perlman does a great job as Danny’s mother Annette, and she and Mindy bounce off each other really well. I loved that the conflict this week was not between Danny and Mindy, but came from Mindy trying to avoid conflict at all costs to protect both Danny and Annette, and really trying to keep everyone happy. Furthermore, the Staten Island setting is a great way to show a different side of Danny, and to see Mindy in a family atmosphere. I still maintain that it would have been better to introduce Annette at around this point in the season, as opposed to the second episode, but “We Need to Talk About Annette” really made me love her a lot, and it actually made me hope that we meet Mindy’s parents soon.
Peter’s storyline was a little disappointing, as Abby’s personality didn’t fit with the character that was introduced last week. Abby seemed like a mature, strong woman who had a good head on her shoulders and I would have loved to have seen Peter in a serious relationship with a woman who isn’t the kind of person he normally chases. I would have also loved Allison Tolman to stick around for a few more weeks, but guest stars are just that – guests. I’ve also been enjoying that Jeremy, Tamra and Morgan are consistently in each episode; it’s nice that Mindy is finally utilising their co-stars. Now if they could only do that with Beth Grant’s Beverly, we’d be really up and running.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
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