Season Analysis: The Mindy Project has defied all conventional wisdom regarding how long a show can remain Promising But Still Trying To Figure Itself Out.

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“The One That Got Away”
It feels a bit counterproductive to pick “The One That Got Away” as the best Mindy episode so far, because it was a mostly self-contained story and thus does not offer much guidance for future episodes.  What this show really needs is a blueprint for Season 2.  But the story of Mindy rekindling the fire with an old childhood flame (played by Seth Rogen) was the most enjoyable half-hour of Season 1.  Some people are turned off by Seth Rogen; I don’t think they’re giving him a fair shake, but I can understand where they are coming from.  But in this appearance, he toned down his persona to something that ought to have been palatable to a general audience.  Also, he is in the Army, which is odd, but it somehow works in the context of the episode.  I guess the moral of this episode is, Mindy really needs her love interest to be played by someone on the same comedy level as herself.