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Before we meet Chris Messina as the stoic Detective Richard Willis in Sharp Objects, and once you need a mini-break from the very dark and intense HBO series, please remind yourself that not only does The Mindy Project exist, but that Messina is even better in it than you remember.
It’s true. If it’s been a minute since you went back and rewatched season 1 episodes, please don’t deny yourself that pleasure much longer. For a show that went through many changes throughout its six seasons, including switching networks from Fox to Hulu and several main cast changes, one thing that remained more than consistent was Danny Castellano. Right away, Messina made this character completely defined and dynamic. Danny was who Danny was going to be from episode one, all the way until the end.
Now, did he surprise us along the way? You know he did. The dancing, the terrible jokes, the flashes of vulnerability only Mindy could bring out of him. But that sense of humor, the grumpiness, the mama’s boy nature, and the love for Bruce Springsteen were all established early on, and much of that is owed to the dedication of Messina.
In Dr. Castellano, we were presented a character that was a love interest, a villain, a pain in the ass, and a secret softie, all in one. Messina gave him just the right amount of calculated charm and to make him an intelligent dumb-dumb know-it-all. When we were frustrated with Danny, it was because Mindy was too — the same goes for when we loved him. Not many other actors could’ve achieved that unique balance of a moody, sexy, hardass New York man, and a true old school character grappling with new school terms, especially when it came to dating, and dating Mindy at that.
All this is to say, when you need a palate cleanser from Sharp Objects (and you will), where he is great in a very different way, give The Mindy Project a rewatch (um, because obviously you’ve seen every episode already, it would simply be ridiculous if that weren’t the case). May I even suggest season 2, episode 5, “Weiner Night” as a truly epic reminder? The writers created such a great grouch in Danny, and Messina executed the perfect amount of humor, vulnerability and total fussiness to bring him to life. Sharp Objects is sure to get a lot of buzz this summer, but when you need more Messina and much lighter TV fare, remember The Mindy Project is there for you.
