The Mindy Project Season 4 Episode 4 ‘The Bitch is Back’

It’s been a few more weeks now since we left off Mindy and Danny and their new baby Leo. Mindy had settled into motherhood with relative ease (or what she would deem ease) and Danny is back at the practice. Of course Mindy being Mindy wants to show off Leo to her co-workers and leave the apartment for a change. Dressed to the nines with a fabulous pram to match, Mindy heads off for the office. Whilst on the subway, she has an interesting altercation with an obviously sexist man who rouses the crowd against Mindy over her breast feeding in public.
Suffice to say, it’s pretty obvious what happens next: that stuffy man shaming Mindy to stop breast feeding is the newest addition at Schulman and Associates, Jody Kimball-Kinney (played excellently by Garret Dillahunt best known on Raising Hope). He’s the typical ‘Southern gentlemen’, antiquated notions and all. Of course Mindy takes an instant dislike to him and wonders how any of the others can stand him. He is joined by his nurse sister, Colette (Fortune Feimster). Everyone at Schulman and Associates seems to have taken a liking to the sister and brother team, especially Morgan (who had a vacuum left without Dr L).

Mindy is now left wondering if she even belongs back at the practice. Of course she has other priorities now and it appears that Danny assumes Mindy will take on the role his own mother played, full time carer. He tries to discourage her from returning to work and extols the virtues of being a stay at home mum.
Meanwhile, back at work, Danny is trying to decide on a push present for Mindy as a way of saying thank you. He asks Beverly and Tamra what they think (after trying to show them the dance he was going to ‘get’ Mindy) and of course they hate his idea. Danny is clearly trying to cheap out and Tamra in particular isn’t having it. She says she will help him find the perfect present for Mindy that reflects Danny’s love for her. Of course he mucks up again, after googling “Perfect gifts for Mom” and gets Mindy a ‘cranberry turtle neck sweater’ which she cleverly fobs off onto Morgan.

Mindy’s new goal is to get rid of Jody and hatches a plan, she goes into his office to try and find some dirt on him and finds his sister Colette crying. Of course they end up bonding and becoming friends. Mindy continues to try and find something to get Jody fired and discovers that his most recent patient’s husband was not allowed at the birth of her child. She confronts the entire team and outs Jody as a sexist but of course, it doesn’t go to plan.
The takeaway from this episode, that difficult time after a baby is born and the agonising decision over whether to go back to work or stay at home, is that it’s difficult to go back once priorities in life shift. The episode addressed this in a light hearted way, as it does many societal issues.

In the end, Mindy makes her decision but instantly regrets it when Danny guilts her about his lack of a parental figure when he was growing up. His push present turns out to be Leo’s name over his heart, which only further fuels Mindy’s guilt. The episode leaves us with Mindy hugging Danny and looking panicked over his shoulder, who knows what shenanigans a stay at home Mindy will get up to next week…

Sophie Kempe