Meeting the parents is never an easy feat. Especially if your boyfriend is a Catholic mama’s boy from Staten Island.
That’s the major dilemma this week on The Mindy Project, as Danny’s mom, Annette Castellano (guest star Rhea Perlman), unexpectedly drops by Danny’s home. Mindy is pleased with their first meeting, since it seems that Annette likes her. Until Danny tells Mindy that his mom thinks she’s the cleaning lady.
Annette Castellano hates all of Danny’s girlfriends, and Danny just wants to avoid any problems with his mother by not telling her about Mindy. When Annette drops by the office, Danny comes clean about who Mindy really is to him. His mom seemingly takes it well and even invites Mindy to come to her birthday brunch. Mindy apologizes because she can’t make, but she really wants to impress Danny’s mom, so she surprises Danny, Annette, her friend, and Danny’s little brother (guest star Max Minghella) at brunch.
In typical Danny fashion, he freaks out, but what can he do now? The brunch begins very well, as Mindy humors Annette, who plays off Rhea Perlman’s comic moments well. The brunch goes to hell when the birthday gifts are given. Danny gives his mom a brand new stove, and she rejects it because it’s an expensive gift. Danny’s little brother gives her a little stuffed bear from the airport, which she adores. Danny is a bit hurt that his mom kind of rejected his gift, and Mindy decides to politely take Danny’s side. That doesn’t go over well with Annette at all, who throws all of her financial issues and Danny’s help in everyone’s faces.
All the while, Peter, who is pretty bitter about his relationship woes, convinces Morgan that he needs to take a stand in his relationship with Tamra. Peter warns how manipulative women can be, spewing a random (and probably incorrect) statistic to support his statement. Morgan decides to take a stand, but in turn, Tamra makes a demand for Morgan to give away his 40 dogs because she’s allergic. Peter thinks she’s lying, just because owning 40 dogs must be awful.
Danny’s resigned to the fact that his mother will be mad at Mindy and him for a few years. Mindy can’t believe someone can hold a grudge for that long. But that’s the way of Italian mothers everywhere. (Trust me, I know.) Mindy takes initiative by going to Annette’s new job. (Seriously, they take these grudges far.) Mindy finds Annette on the floor with a hip out of place. Annette yells at Mindy not to help and begins yelling out “ELDER RAPE!” Mindy helps her anyway, and they eventually have a heart-to-heart about Danny. Annette realizes that Mindy is right kind of a person to take care of someone like Danny. I never saw an Italian grudge broken so quickly!
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Danny prepares dinner on Annette’s new stove, which she compliments, making Danny very happy. Mindy notices and is very pleased. The two head up to Danny’s childhood bedroom, and not long after, Annette barges in on them at the beginning of an intimate moment. She yells at Mindy for seducing Danny, who is trying to hide it. They start talking and eventually begin arguing about an old sports star that’s before Mindy’s (and my) time. “You guys are SO old!”
Final thoughts on the episode:
- Rhea Perlman is a perfect casting choice for Danny’s mother. The two are so in sync, and Mindy and Rhea balance off each other hilariously.
- Vulture recently published an article about how Danny is one of TV’s best New Yorkers. I love the point they made about Danny’s Catholicism. They write about his devoutness in a way that’s funny and charming, “He donates to the Vatican every time we shower together.” Oddly enough, that’s so refreshing, since whenever Catholics are mentioned in film or TV, it has to do with priests (often abusive ones), nuns and all that.
- Last week, I was wondering where we’d go next with Mindy and Danny. But it seems like they have many funny things in store for the couple.
Rating: 8/10
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The Mindy Project airs Tuesday nights at 9:30p ET on FOX.
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