Do you watch The Mindy Project? I do. I love Mindy Kaling (who is not a Republican) and Chris Messina, and I overlook the show’s flaws for those two reasons. But there’s a big problem, and that problem is Mindy’s on-again-off-again boyfriend, who is very clearly a serial killer.
Email Exchange:
BFF – Do you watch The Mindy Project? I need to talk to someone about it, and a particular beef I have with it.
Ed. – GO ON.
BFF – My thing is with the terrible Christian minister character. Are we MEANT to find him creepy? Because I do.
Ed. – HE IS SO CREEPY.
BFF – But I can’t figure out if that’s the point? She’s clearly meant to end up with the other doctor so I guess we are not meant to be on board with the minister.
Ed. – I totally thought he’d be on two episodes and then they’d discover his terrible secret, but he keeps coming back and his story arc has SPANNED SEASONS.
BFF – I know! Such a weird plot decision to make him a Christian minister. Is it to soothe those with suspicions of brown people and their ability to star in television shows?
Ed. – I am utterly bemused, and am not yet convinced the other shoe will not drop, revealing his cellarful of corpses.
Now, let us examine the evidence:
This is when Rev. Casey is revealed to have imprisoned Chris Messina in his basement on a 24/7 black-and-white video uplink.
This is just after Rev. Casey threw Mindy’s best friend out a window to her death.
This is when Mindy realizes Rev. Casey has stolen her hair and glued it to a dressform in the basement next to Imprisoned Chris Messina.
This is just scary.
The next seven minutes are just the Black Swan ecstasy scene, but both participants are Rev. Casey.
Tags: mindy kaling, television, the mindy project, where is his trove of corpses
Can we PLEASE discuss the plotline in the most recent episode about James Franco and Danny’s ex-wife? Because I am having a hard time giving the show the benefit of the doubt when Character A gets blackout drunk and Character B takes advantage of their drunkenness, and those characters have sex Character A wouldn’t have had sober, especially because then everyone is mad at Character A and Character A gets pushed out of their job? I feel like the show is relying on that James Franco is a dude and his character is a little bit of a jerk to avoid dealing with that THAT SCENARIO IS RAPE.
I don’t have anything to add to this except that I agree x1000. Can he please die already?
I do love this show, and I just recently said the same thing about its flaws! It is flawed, but it makes me laugh, and I like the cast, so I go with it. Not every show needs to be a perfectly executed exalted being from up high.
re: Casey. I have not given him much thought beyond “ugh can you go away now” … he is too much, and now I see why. Thanks for showing me the light.
Seconding the “it has flaws but makes me laugh”. I mean, if we only watched shows without flaws we’d only have parks & rec and adventure time right? Those are the only two I can think of.
Parks and Rec is absolutely without flaws, you are correct. I haven’t watched Adventure Time, should I?
If you like cartoons, pretty weird humor, and can deal with the fact that it is actually made for children but is still wonderful then yes. If not, still yes.
YES. I think Adventure Time might be the funniest show on TV right now? Parks and Rec is second. Oh, but you will cry.
No! I like him. Maybe I just like creepy dudes.
As far as I can tell, it’s supposed to be funny and charming that he’s constantly saying things like “I thought this would probably be just a fling, based on your body type alone” but um, what? The nonstop negging of your fiance = def creepy creepster land for me. (Unless I’m just hopelessly unfun? Aw, feminists and their underdeveloped senses of humor!)
But her first boyfriend, Josh, the sports agent, was EXACTLY the same. It turns me off of the show that Mindy (the writer) and Mindy (the character) don’t think that they’re better than these asshole boyfriends.
Josh was cute, though he was not as cute as Chris Messina. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? I think I tolerate Messina’s dick-ish character stuff because I keep forgetting he is not the ex-military PTSD-having character he played in DAMAGES. So I make allowances.
He’s on Damages?? I need to get cracking, I only finished Season 2! (Through which Timothy Olyphant sustained me.)
Hold up, OLYPHANT is on Damages? Dammit.
Yes! Too true. I think it’s fair to say I hung in for that season of Damages solely for Messina.
He is actually the most hot on Damages.
I guess they’re trying to soften the blow/make it an easier choice for when she inevitably winds up with Danny? But I don’t think she and Danny have very good chemistry either. I wish her romantic life wasn’t in such high focus, because I think it would be way better if Mindy could just do her thing and have a love interest develop organically (like Ben and Leslie on Parks and Rec!) rather than having them be so heavily shoe-horned into the plot.
Agreed!!
CASE CLOSED.
I wanted to liked the Mindy Project because Mindy! but it just isn’t very good. I do like the non-British doctor though – he’s a Hot Short Guy, that kind of fire-hydranty build, and great flarey nostrils.
Yep. Wanted to like this show so badly, but it’s kind of a mess. Hot Short Guy is hot, though. And short.
Chris Messina is my everything! I watched that weird movie about a busking tin man with Pam from the office because he was in it and also sat through all of Ira & Abby. I deserve a medal, or at least a fire-hydranty chest to pin it on.
On topic: Rev. Casey is a creeper of the highest order.
The best part for me is, that guys is also on a show called Workaholics. Which can be quite funny, but his character is pretty awful. And he is basically the same guy! All those weird mannerisms, but he lives with college buddies, works as a telemarketer, drink, drugs, and is the frattiest of the frat dudes who aren’t in actual fraternities. When I first saw him on this show I was like ‘omg, he is the same character, but instead of meeting his dude friends he went and became a minister.’
Surely they will have him do something assholish eventually, so it’s just this waiting for the other shoe to drop.
To be perfectly honest, I know we are supposed to think that she and the angry italian doctor are supposed to end up together, but I’m not really wanting to root for them. He’s been pretty mean to her, it seems like it would be a borderline abusive relationship if it ever happens. Or would her vagina magically turn him happy and nice the way sitcoms often try to tell us is possible?
Are you suggesting that Magically Reformative Vaginas are some sort of folklore? Huh.
Okay, coming at it from a possibly overly-intellectual perspective and giving too much credit –
I read him as being a caricature of the overly-sincere and slightly creepy Christian pastor. The kind you often see in film/tv and who I believe exists in real life (but I don’t knowingly spend a lot of time around Christian pastors, so). And I think also he is emblematic of Mindy’s complete inability to choose the right guy, and her habit of stickomg with guys who might be good in theory but who aren’t actually right for her just because she doesn’t want to be single. I mean, in certain circles the pastor who does all kinds of mission work and is also suave is the dream man, right? But he’s not a good fit for Mindy, but she wants to get married and have her babies, so the religious differences and the general overall mismatch of tastes and hobbies is something she’s willing to overlook. Her sports lawyer boyfriend was ALSO creepy.
That’s actually a great analysis! Even if it is only a network sitcom, haha. Yeah he was also a creep.
I also love that you wrote “stickomg” presumably a typo but very appropriate for Mindy’s character.
Yes, “stickomg” was def a typo, but indeed very appropriate for Mindy.
OMG exactly. Thank you. That’s just it: he doesn’t bother me (too much) because I see him as a parody of a number of people I know in real life.
ETA: oh dear who is the sitcom parody of me?
Yes, I definitely feel like he was written to “look perfect on paper,” giving the Mindy character no reason except her own hopeless self-destructive impulses not to be with him. Which, being the story of most of my own dating history, is pretty much my favourite romantic comedy plot device. Also, I wonder if the writers are deliberately playing with his stereotype, and the reason he doesn’t turn out to be a huge creep is *because* we assumed that the youth-group-leading Christian pastor is a creep. Then again, stereotype-bucking is not really a trend with the rest of the supporting cast. 🙁
“Then again, stereotype-bucking is not really a trend with the rest of the supporting cast. 🙁 ”
This is my number one biggest problem with the show..
I didn’t like him either, BUT then Mindy broke up with him and he got drunk and fought Bill Hader at a frat party in the FUNNIEST disaster-party scene to date, and that revealed him to be not creepy, just enthusiastic! and silly! and liable to make really stupid decisions that I could identity with.
Seriously, who HASN’T fought Bill Hader at a frat party.
Also, personal bias speaking: it’s unfair to compare anyone to Messina, when he is so short and wonderful and perfect and LOUD and MEAN, ugh, that beautiful angry angel who uses sleepy puppies to manipulate his employees.
Yes to all this. I didn’t expect to like Casey, but now I have to admit that I kind of do. I think one of the show’s strengths for me is that even characters who are occasionally douchey are also kind of sweet at other times. I mean, I even liked Josh. Rev. Casey was so funny in the finale when he and Mindy try to have awkward Skype sex from adjoining rooms.
I have a ranking of Mindy love interests, excluding Danny because so far all he’s done is awkwardly remove her glasses and put them back on which is NOT ENOUGH.
1. Seth Rogen, aka childhood friend from summer camp now in the army
2. Rev. Casey
3. Brendan the midwife
4. Jeremy
5. Josh
6. B.J. Novak
7. Ed Helms
8. Bill Hader
9. Seth Meyer (I can’t even remember what the premise was with this guy)
Oh, I love Brendan. I almost forgot! But that’s definitely part due to a deep Duplass love.
But, but…Ders from Workaholics! I mean he’s no Danny, but who could resist this?
WORD. Is this a safe space to admit that I love Anders Holm and Workaholics, and can’t get through a single episode of Mindy Project??? It just doesn’t do it for me.
Anders is the only character on Workaholics I like. When I do watch it, I watch it specifically for him.
I don’t hate Casey! Man, now I am afraid there is something wrong with me.
I saw him (the actor) in Austin this summer on the street. He was really drunk. I was like (quietly) “Hey that’s the guy from Mindy!” And tried to nonchalantly stare at him to confirm it was him. People from TV look a lot like themselves in person!
This show has some really good lines and some really problem lines, kind of like Mindy Kaling’s book.
Ooh, tell me more what you thought of her book. I read it and enjoyed it, but I also have a really short memory so that’s mostly gone now.
My summation: Funny, but disjointed and overly list-dependent. No Bossypants.
Oh yes! Now I remember. It was like stories but there was no overall message or theme.
Bossypants is on its own level.
Can we PLEASE talk about the plotline last week with James Franco and Danny’s ex-wife? (Spoiler for that episode, obvi.) How is Christina taking advantage of the fact that James Franco was blackout drunk to have sex with him not rape? That’s just… what rape is. And the whole show portrayed it as this horrible thing that James Franco had done, to the point that he got pushed out of his job! I am not sure I can keep watching a show that’s so uncritical about such a horrible thing.
Ugh, THANK YOU. It was weird enough that Mindy kissed him (and then it was just…never brought up again), but then Christina swoops in and I was like WHAT IS HAPPENING. This show has always been hit or miss with me, and that miss is too big to ignore.
Also super creeped when Mindy kissed other Dr. L while he was passed out.
He remembered it though, so was he really black out drunk? I think he was just regular drunk at that point, though the line of consent was very questionable. He was also like, “And I am a sex therapist, so of course it was incredible,” sooo like I am not sure.
He was pants-less on the floor and had to be carried into the apartment. If it had been the other way around, and Christina was the one on the floor and Dr. L was the sober one, wouldn’t there be outrage? I’m just annoyed that this trope of “LOL men can’t be raped” still exists in sitcoms.
Wait, so we’re NOT going to talk about how there was essentially a rape in the last episode? Because that’s pretty much the second I gave up on this show.
I just read about that today in Bitch! Completely weird, haven’t seen the ep yet.
Yeah, I turned to my husband and said “So, that’s rape.” He nodded and we both sat there in silence, processing the implications of this.
For a second I confused Chris Messina with Christopher Meloni and I thought that they had hired THE. MOST. INTESNSE. obgyn ever and even though I generally feel weird about having a male obstetrician he can probably deliver babies just by looking at your cervix and fiercely whispering “Open, Sesame.”
Anyways, Chris Messina and Christopher Meloni are two different people, and Rev. Ders is a big ol’ creep.
he can probably deliver babies just by looking at your cervix and fiercely whispering “Open, Sesame.”
ahhhhaaaaaahhhhaaa hilarious and 100% accurate.
Are you sure Mindy Kaling isn’t a Republican?
I say that because I read her book, and I thought it came from a conservative perspective. But I see that she has denied being a Republican publicly.
Yeah, I saw that too. But I think that means she considers herself a Libertarian, rather than a progressive or liberal. I thought her book betrayed a conservative, almost intolerant world view, so it’s a little weird to see her getting all these props in feminist spaces. It’s like we collectively made up this imaginary, awesome version of her, and we’re so invested in the fantasy that we’re ignoring the person she actually is.
That makes sense, thanks. I strongly disliked the person she presented herself as in her book, and it’s colored how I view her other work, too.
I went to high school with that kid. He may have sort of given me a backrub once during rehearsal for a show we did and “accidentally” touched my boobs. The end.
(guilty-feeling oblig follow up: he is a classy adult and his wife is top-notch.)
I’ve always thought Casey’s weird appropriation of Black slang was really strange, and the hella stereotypical Black nurse does not assuage my discomfort. He cute though.
Oh my god, the nurse character makes me so upset! Like, Mindy, WHAT are you doing? Maybe it’s not fair to hold her to a higher standard than other shows, but I don’t even think I am by being pissed off by what a racist caricature that role is.
Oh god yes, what were they thinking?? Once again, a scenario where I think, “Y’know, for $100 I would’ve spent an hour going over this with them and I definitely would have caught that.”
Why is nobody talking about how Ike Barinholtz is the sexiest guy on this show? No? Is it just me?
IT IS JUST YOU.
You’ll get there. You’ll ALL GET THERE.
with you sister
I just googled because I didn’t remember the actor’s name, but is Morgan seriously only 6’2″? Jeez, Mindy really is a tiny bird woman; he looks like a lumberjack relative to the rest of the cast.
Yes, she is a dainty woman and that is her lunch.
Personally I watch this show despite the obvious Mindy/Danny endgame, because I him completely unappealing and they have zero chemistry. Zero. At least Casey is hot and sort of funny. My main issue with him is just that he’s obviously a waste of viewing time, in light of the aforementioned, very obvious endgame.
Oh god yes, what were they thinking?? Once again, a scenario where I think, "Y'know, for $100 I would've spent an hour going over this with them and I definitely would have caught that."
Yeah, I turned to my husband and said "So, that's rape." He nodded and we both sat there in silence, processing the implications of this.
Yes, she is a dainty woman and that is her lunch.
Anders is the only character on Workaholics I like. When I do watch it, I watch it specifically for him.