The Mindy Project: 'C Is For Coward' Review

Courtesy of Hulu
Baby Lahiri/Castellano is here at last! Although, it wasn't a simple road leading up to this point. Not to mention the endless mid-pregnancy battles between Mindy and Danny over a handful of different relationship issues and decisions that we witnessed in the season premiere episode, the two were at it again over two new issues: the name, and the preferred birthing method.

Knowing Mindy's tastes, this baby is probably going to be "stylish as hell." In the beginning of the episode she strongly advocates for a name that pays tribute to a classic movie character, such as "Indiana" or "WALL-E." These were vetoed immediately by Danny, who wants a name "from history," but somehow, Mindy's suggestion of "O.J." was too edgy for his tastes. Go figure. They also bring up a hot topic of controversy, which is gender neutrality. The comment is made by Mindy that a gender-neutral name would suit the child if he happens to be transgender, which Danny renounces. While they don't explore this any further, it reflects the show's continued pursuit to be aware and make light of controversial modern issues without having to go into heavy depths.

The midwives Brendan and Duncan are back in this episode, played expertly by real life brothers Mark and Jay Duplass. While Mindy and Morgan are trying to launch a new business called Later, Baby! that plans to freeze young women's eggs, they are interrupted by the timely commercial launch of the midwives, who are advocating against birthing drugs and egg-freezing and are instead promoting the natural birthing procedure that Mindy detests. In fact, she detests the idea so much that she plans to be so drugged up for her C-section that when she wakes up, "Donald Trump will have started his second term." Again, power to the writers for keeping the show current. When Danny overhears and becomes part of the conversation, Mindy takes him to a luxurious Manhattan birthing suite (massage chair! satellite radio! Dad Cave with a tequila list!) that has seen the births of Bethenny Frankel and Tina Fey. He again refuses to accept Mindy's desire to take an alternative birthing route, as he thinks it's copping out and not taking full advantage of a woman's natural ability to give birth.

Thus, Danny sets out with the help of Brendan to find ways to trick Mindy into giving natural birth early using paleo birthing techniques. This includes: spicy foods, alcohol, massages, and of course, sex. Don't count on Mindy to be fooled, though. It doesn't take long before she smells the stench of foolery. Later, she and Morgan are on the subway, accompanied by Brendan and Duncan (just their luck). Inevitably, mid-conversation, Mindy's water breaks and she is forced to be soothed by the brothers as Danny is absent. To make matters worse, the subway is halted when a man filming a viral video had reportedly fallen onto the tracks ahead. The experience only gets WORSE, as Mindy is forced to hear everyone in her cabin sing "I've Been Working on the Railroad" rather than any Beyoncé song, which she would probably give anything to hear in this stressful moment.

Ultimately, the episode's main conversation strikes on an issue with modern birthing techniques that basically make natural birth an outdated concept because of the pain medication and alternative delivery methods that are so readily available. It brings to light Mindy's fear to endure the pain that comes with natural child birth, something that she refuses to believe Danny could possibly understand, which he can't, just as I can't, and I don't imagine any man ever could. He eventually realizes that it's simply overwhelming fear that Mindy is feeling, and that he needs to be more understanding with her through this. The ending is very touching as Danny reassures Mindy that she's much stronger than she knows, even tougher than "Ma." Man, think about how much it took for Danny to say that Mindy is stronger than the great Annette Castellano! They opt to not show the actual birth, which is somewhat of a refreshing choice, as we tend to always be privy to the exact moment the baby is born in every television show and movie that involves pregnancy. Oh, and of course a name is assigned by the episode's end. Mindy releases control and allows Danny to pick the name, which ends up being the ideal for both of them (for different reasons). And the baby is officially... Leo! As in Leonardo Dicaprio for Mindy's sake, and Leonardo da Vinci for Danny. It's perfect on all fronts.

- - - - -

What did you think of the latest episode? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Share this

Related Posts

Previous
Next Post »