After a months-long hiatus, The Mindy Project returns on Tuesday, April 12 for the second half of its fourth season on Hulu. The comedy ended on a downbeat in December when Mindy returned to her apartment in the West Village and tearfully contemplated leaving Danny.
The first trailer reveals Mindy (Mindy Kaling) has made the decision to move out of Danny’s (Chris Messina) place (at least temporarily), building a nursery in her apartment for her son, Leo. Despite the building conflict between Danny and Mindy, the back half of the season will take a lighter tone.
The Mindy Project executive producer Matt Warburton told The Hollywood Reporter this batch of episodes would be less serialized than the front half.
I feel like we had a very heavily serialized first 13 with tons and tons of really heavy drama, and one of the things I’m really proud of is that we’re really paying off on where that all goes in the back 13, but I think the audience is going to be happy to know it’s also really funny and has a lighter tone. If that was winter, this is springtime.
Here’s everything to know about the Hulu original series’ return.
Mindy and Leo Make a New Start
Leo enters the “fun” apartment when he and Mindy move back to her place. (Tumblr/Hulu)
In the midseason finale, Mindy was seen taking measurements of Leo’s crib and seeing if it would fit in the spare room of her apartment, which she never gave up after moving in full-time with Danny. The crib appears to fit quite nicely and Mindy has already started to baby proof everything. The move also gave the show a new environment to explore with Leo, Warburton told Mashable.
Fans forget what a fun place Mindy’s apartment was. Danny’s apartment was cool and dark, with lots of baseball memorabilia, but Mindy’s place is funny. This season, she is just her giving herself space to be in, and having Leo now in that space was so fun for everybody.
Kaling wasn’t worried to explore her character becoming a mother. The creator wanted to offer another perspective of single motherhood that was a little more “sexy” and “fun,” she told Today.
I think sometimes we are a little unfair about the way that we portray mothers, that they can’t have sexy and fun lives when all my friends who’ve had kids, their lives have only gotten funnier and more interesting. And I think there’s so many moms out there, single moms, they have really interesting, funny dating lives and as TV viewers we want to see that but often we’re not presented with it.
Mindy Is Growing and Danny Is Still the Same Old Curmudgeon
Danny isn’t so keen on Mindy continuing to work instead of staying at home full-time with their son, Leo. (Facebook/The Mindy Project)
Danny’s absence tested Mindy both professionally and as a parent. She built up her fertility clinic with help from Morgan (Ike Barinholtz) and Jody (Garret Dillahunt) and continued seeing her OB/GYN patients. She did it all while taking care of her newborn son Leo and most of the time alone with Danny 3,000 miles away.
When Danny returned, he wasn’t ready for Mindy to be a working mother. Not only that, he wanted her to have more kids and become a stay-at-home mom while he kept his job. It’s major sticking point for the couple, but Warburton enjoyed seeing some many fans supporting their leading lady.
“What was really awesome, I thought, was that so many female fans reached out to us and said, ‘This happened to me,'” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “They were mad at Danny the character and were defending Mindy on the way that Danny was bossing her around and telling her what to do with her life so we were thrilled.”
New Episodes Feature a Lighter Tone and More Laughs
Mindy found a couple of new friends at Mommy and Me earlier this season. (Jordin Althaus/Hulu)
The Mindy Project balanced its building drama between Danny and Mindy with how the doctors first met in funny flashbacks during the midseason finale. The drama between the feuding lovers will continue to simmer throughout the season, but episodes will have a much lighter tone and be “a little less serialized,” Warburton told The Hollywood Reporter.
The new episodes also welcome back Mindy’s female friends, Whitney (Cristin Milioti) and Chelsea (Eliza Coupe), who she met earlier this season. It was the first time Mindy had some female bonding since the early seasons. The Mindy EP describes Whitney as an investment banker trying to wean herself off cocaine and Chelsea is a “sexually adventurous person who pushes Mindy to be as wild as possible.”
Seth Meyers Returns But As Himself
Seth Meyers returns to The Mindy Project, but this time he will cameo as himself. (Facebook/The Mindy Project)
The remaining episodes will welcome back a few fan favorites. Mindy’s former colleague Peter (Adam Pally) will pop back up to New York as will her ex-boyfriend, Pastor Casey (Anders Holm). Her parents, played by Ajay Mehta and Sakina Jaffrey, will also return.
The most surprising cameo will come from Seth Meyers, who will guest star as himself. The Late Night host first appeared in episode two as a guy Mindy dated.
The Mindy Project</em returns on Tuesday, April 12 on Hulu with new episodes premiering weekly.