BWW Recap: THE MINDY PROJECT Learns A Boy's Best Friend is His Mother

Yes, I have slowly recovered from last week's Diamond Dan strip tease. I may have watched once or twice or 15 times but let's move on, shall we? It's time for Mindy to meet Danny's mother. And if you've never met the mother of a Catholic, Italian boy well, then, you're in for a treat.

Guest star, Rhea Perlman makes her first appearance as Annette Castellano by unexpectedly showing up to Danny's apartment. Not having ever mentioned Mindy, Annette believes she is the cleaning lady. After some harsh words, Mindy convinces Danny to introduce her as she can always win over boyfriends' moms. Danny isn't convinced but brings her to the office and formally introduces her to Mindy; his girlfriend. Mindy snags an invitation to Annette's birthday brunch and is able to put her four point plan to win over mothers in motion: 1 - compliments, 2 - find common ground, meaning a TV show in common (CASTLE it is), 3 - come bearing gifts, and 4 - agree with everything she says. And it goes swimmingly.

Back at the office, Peter is still embittered by the discovery of his girlfriend's kiss with Dr. Reed. He decides to help Morgan stand up for himself to Tamra. Any time Morgan and Peter are together in a scene it is a recipe for happiness in my book. They are so well-meaning with huge hearts and so damn dopey, I can't get enough! Peter's plan fails as Morgan agrees to get rid of all of his dogs to please Tamra. But when push comes to shove, Morgan cannot say goodbye to his beloved pups. Infuriated, Peter calls Tamra out on her bogus allergy by literally throwing a dog in her face. Her throat closes and she passes out and Morgan stabs her with an epi pen. Maybe not so bogus after all. She agrees to let Morgan keep the dogs and she'll just stay away from his place. Morgan agrees to give one dog up... to Peter; his friend who needs a friend. Good LORD with the swooning on this show.

Mindy's plan comes to a crashing halt when she witnesses the favoritism Annette shows to Ritchie over Danny causing Mindy to defend Danny. In doing so, she mistakenly reveals that she is aware that Danny basically takes care of the family which offends Annette to no end. The bond has been broken and Mindy is NOT liked by Danny's mother. She heads to Staten Island to try and repair the breach. In doing so, she stands up to Annette and calls her out on her guilt trips. Annette claims she gives Danny a hard time because she knows he can take it whereas Ritchie needs a little more encouragement. Mindy points out that everyone likes to be taken care of and Annette relents and appreciates that Danny has found a good, solid, strong woman to take care of him.

MVP - Rhea Perlman as Danny's overbearing, Catholic, Italian mother.

Runner Up - Mindy for standing up for Danny and getting in Annette's face about guilt.

Favorite Lines:

• Mindy - My rate? That's a great question. I think I'm an eight? Ten in Chicago but a four in Los Angeles...

• Mindy - What is ends meat anyway? People are always talking about it. Is that like the last fatty part of a rump roast? It sounds delicious, I'd love to try it.

• Morgan - OK, are you talking about Dr. Reed kissing your girlfriend or is this directly applicable to this situation? Peter - No, the latter, dude. Morgan - What ladder?

• Peter - She's allergic to dogs the way I'm allergic to latex; she's lying to get what she wants. Morgan - Ya know, adult onset allergy is a real thing. She also recently found out she's allergic to all metal that's not gold and she's allergic to all seafood that's not very expensive lobster.

• Tamra - You don't' have to get rid of your dogs. I'll just take allergy medicine and never come to your house again. I hate it there. His grandma's kisses are hella-wet.

It's so nice to see Danny and Mindy settling into a healthy relationship. They are flawed, sure, but still swoon-worthy and more importantly, believable as a couple. It's refreshing to see that on a sitcom instead of just breaking them up for ratings. I enjoy that Mindy is able to compromise in her relationship without compromising herself. Just another reason I idolize Kaling and her writing.

No sign of Dr. Reed this week, I imagine he'd be in hiding after last week's indiscretion. I don't know what's in store for Peter and his girlfriend, but his relationship with Dr. Reed is what will be interesting to watch unfold.

Tamra and Morgan are pretty sweet together too. No sign of Ray-Ron? Are they a bona fide couple now? And let's keep those Beverly/Creed moments coming, they never get tiring.

And just for fun, one more time...

What did you think? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter @eponineq.

Photo Credit: Jordin Althaus | FOX

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