Top 10 Mindy Project Moments

Top 10 Mindy Project Moments

Oh, Mindy. What has she gotten into now? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’ll be counting down our picks for the top 10 moments from The Mindy Project. For this list, we’re looking at moments from the show that stand out and have Mindy as the central character in the scene. Since we’ll be discussing some of the show’s most pivotal moments, consider this your SPOILER ALERT.

#10: Mindy Gets into the Club's VIP Section

It can take a TV show a few episodes to hit its stride, but this moment from the show’s third episode proves that the writers knew its audience early on. Mindy and the staff go out to the club, and Mindy is asked into the club’s VIP section to chill with some NBA players– or so she thinks. After quipping that black guys love her, she quickly realizes that their dorky attorney is really the one who asked her over. But being Mindy, she strong-arms her way into conversation with ballers like Amar’e Stoudemire, and gets them to talk about their favorite rom-coms and her pashmina. We can’t mention the gang’s time in the club without a shoutout to Morgan’s hilarious and brilliant idea to pose as a bathroom attendant.

#9: Mindy Dreams Joseph Gordon-Levitt Is Her Boyfriend
If there’s one thing Mindy is great at besides her uncanny knowledge of pop culture, then it’s her incredibly vivid imagination. She puts it to good use after Danny brings up his doubts about wanting to get married, and disappears without telling her. Thinking she’s been abandoned, Mindy has the most over-the-top dream that she’s married to Joseph Gordon-Levitt in another version of her life. Their life together is pretty much her dream life with an apartment in Gramercy Park and a husband who’s a producer for “The Real Housewives” franchise. The dream has its dark side though, and ultimately shows her just how important Danny is to her. It’s a fun bit of alternative reality.

#8: Mindy Realizes Her Mom's Dreams Are Important

Mindy can be pretty selfish sometimes, most of the time, but her shining moments are when she puts others before herself. That’s the case in this moment, when Mindy and her brother, Rishi, think their mother is cheating on their dad. They confront her on what looks like a dinner date, but it turns out she’s just trying to get a part in a play. In a confrontation with her kids, Mindy’s mom asks why she’s the only one not allowed to pursue her dreams. It’s those words that strike a chord with Mindy, and she realizes how selfish they’ve all been. Instead of going to Danny’s wedding, she sticks around with her mother and gets some motherly wisdom about being too self-critical.

#7: Mindy Cuts Her Hair

Grand gestures of love are par for the course on a rom-com, but they’re usually performed on Mindy’s behalf. In the season one finale, the show flips gender expectations and has Mindy perform her own big move. After backing out of a yearlong aid-relief trip to Haiti with her then boyfriend, Pastor Casey, Mindy cuts her hair to win him back. In a moment that’s both comical and sweet, Mindy shows up outside of Casey’s building to tell him that she doesn’t want to run away from their relationship. When he doesn’t give in, Mindy shows him her hair as proof of her commitment. Onlookers mistake her for a boy, but Mindy is confident in her decision and we love her for it.

#6: Mindy Tries to Get Her Sex Tape Back

A modern day Lucy Ricardo, Mindy always finds herself in the most ridiculous situations. After Peter accidentally stumbles onto a sex tape of Mindy’s that’s floating around on the Internet, she makes it her mission to get the tape taken down. Mindy drags Peter along to the office of “Sploderzz,” the adult website where her tape is featured. The always-funny Rob Huebel guest stars as one of the site’s owners and they regret to inform her that her tape won’t be taken down since she’s a part of the growing Indian “BBW,” or “big beautiful woman,” porn preference. Mindy being Mindy, momentarily forgets her mission and gripes more about being considered a big woman. It’s pretty perfect.

#5: Danny Dances To "Try Again"

In true Mindy fashion, she plans a Christmas party in order to get the attention of her already taken crush. When that falls apart, she’s heartbroken, and Danny is left to pick up the pieces in the best possible way. Instead of buying Mindy a Secret Santa present, Danny dances to “Try Again” by Aaliyah, a song Mindy used to play non-stop, which was the first thing Danny found annoying about her. It’s moments like this that show just how thoughtful Danny can be when he wants, which is the complete opposite of his typical cranky behavior. Fun fact: to get the dance just right, the show actually hired a choreographer who was a dancer in the original Aaliyah video.

#4: Mindy Gives Birth

At the start of the series, motherhood seemed like the last thing on Mindy’s list, but she was more than ready for it by season four when she found herself pregnant with Danny’s baby. Her water breaks while she’s on the subway, quite possibly the worst setting for a delivery. Mindy is frantic since Danny isn’t with her, and the midwives, played expertly by the Duplass Brothers, try to guide her to give birth naturally, but Mindy isn’t having it. She panics and asks Tamra to smack her to distract her from the pain, but she’s only calmed after Danny fights his way onto the train and tells her how strong she is. The moment is heartfelt and the perfect lead up to the birth.

#3: Danny Kisses Mindy after Plane Turbulence

Like any good rom-com, the show played around with Mindy and Danny as a “will they or won’t they couple” from the very beginning. They finally closed this chapter in the midseason two finale when Mindy and Danny share a plane back to New York, after they both had bad weekends. On the way back, Danny helps Mindy write a reconciliation letter to Cliff, but there’s definitely something in the air between them. When the plane has a nasty bout of turbulence, Danny has the realization that Mindy’s the one he wants so he gets up and kisses her in the kitchen galley. The move is totally unexpected to both Mindy and the audience, which makes it one of the show’s most passionate moments.

#2: Mindy Measures Her Closet

As a diehard romantic, Mindy always follows her heart, even when it’s not the best choice. But the show has given us moments where Mindy makes the harder choice, like when she tells Danny she won’t give up her career to take care of Leo or when she picks herself over getting back with Danny or Jody. But Mindy’s best decision came after she measured her closet by herself, a skill Danny taught her when they first met. In a moment of true self-reliance, she measures the closet at her old apartment and decides that the best thing for her and Leo is to leave Danny. It’s a scene without any dialogue, which makes it that much more powerful and emotional.

Before we unveil our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:

Ben Tells Mindy She's Not Good Enough for Him

Mindy Wears a Wine Bra

Stephen Colbert as Father Michael O’Donnell

#1: Danny Makes a Big Gesture on the Empire State Building

Even though the show seems to have moved past a Mindy and Danny endgame, we can’t forget one of the highest highs of their relationship. Mindy has a correspondence with a mystery man after he leaves an ad in a newspaper describing an encounter they had. When it turns out to be Danny, she’s hurt that he lied to her, but Danny isn’t willing to give up and asks her to meet him on the top of the Empire State Building in a move inspired by movies like “An Affair to Remember.” Both struggle to get to the top of the building but when they finally connect, it’s truly something to see as Danny tells Mindy he wants to “go all in.”


Do you agree with our list? Which moment do you love? For more can’t miss Top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to MsMojo.