Stephen. Freaking. Colbert. With new beard! Playing a priest! He was easily, without a doubt, the best thing about this episode, and his guest spot has got to be one of the best of the whole season. Mostly because of how funny he is, but also because he’s STEPHEN COLBERT.
Here he plays Father Michael O’Donnell who, despite once being the worst kid in Danny’s neighbourhood, frowns upon pre-marital sex and cohabitation before marriage. Danny is desperate for his approval, and makes Mindy lie about that fact that she’s not catholic. Mindy, wanting to appease Danny, invites Father O’Donnell over for dinner to impress him, and does a crash course in Catholicism, with some help from Morgan. She wins Father O’Donnell over, but ends up feeling like Danny’s ashamed of her. Danny tells Father O’Donnell the truth about Mindy and their baby, and Father O’Donnell excommunicates him from the church, but Danny isn’t too phased by it after all.
Recently, all of the celebrity cameos on The Mindy Project have been incredibly fleeting, but Colbert was given an immense amount of screen time; it seems like the writers just wanted to make the most of him while they had him. He is really funny, playing the serious man with the crazy past (ironically, mostly sexually), and he has great chemistry with Mindy Kaling and Chris Messina.
In a weird subplot, Jeremy is acting in a play in the Manhattan Fringe Festival, and asks Morgan to help him learn lines. Unfortunately, Morgan is stretched quite thin, as he’s also been coerced into helping Mindy with her Catholic education. Jeremy’s show goes incredibly well at first, but when Morgan gets his text messages mixed up, he sets off a chain of events that leads the staff of Shulman and Associates to ruin Jeremy’s performance by triggering the sprinklers. The staff feel bad for him, and let him perform for them back in the office.
It was certainly a bizarre and pointless subplot, but at least the rest of the cast were given something to do. This episode was quite similar to those earlier in the season, which featured to distinct storylines: a prominent one, featuring Danny and Mindy, and a lesser one, with the supporting cast. It’s a shame, because the most recent episodes that have featured the main and supporting cast members shared equally amongst both storylines have been far more entertaining than the lacklustre beginning to The Mindy Project’s third season. We’re heading towards the end of the season now, and I hope that the show goes out on a high note, and not a mediocre one.
Review Score: THREE STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
The Mindy Project screens in Australia on Channel 7
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