Can't Brendon Be Done?

The Mindy Project, S01E12

Mindy decided to take Jeremy's advice and tried having casual sex instead of dating.  She chose Brendon since she was attracted to him, but didn't respect him.  Danny had a first date with the girl with the eye patch, but her wild ideas for the night scared him off to fake a work emergency before the date started.

 There were so many things wrong about Mindy trying to hook up with Brendon.  I mean, this was an idea essentially from Jeremy, who might be the king of casual sex, but not the best general idea guy around.  What works for him definitely isn't for Mindy.  She's too much of a romantic for that to be her cup of tea.  I might have changed my mind if she hadn't picked Brendon of all people.  Ugh.  He's not super good-looking in my opinion, and his personality is so irritating.  There's something so cocky and controlling about him that rubs me the wrong way. I wanted Mindy to have any excuse in the world to not go to his house.

It was just painful to watch Mindy's failed hookup the whole time.  I can't think of one part that was the most embarrassing to see--they were all equally terrible.  However, I did think it was sort of funny in an unlucky way when Mindy got caught in Brendon's automated shower.  She was screaming and trying to break free, while he was just strumming on his guitar without a care in the world.  I felt bad for her, but I also thought her flailing around in the water and glass walls was priceless.  I actually wish she had berated Brendon for her own mistake later, but she just played it cool.  I feel like she had suffered enough at that point and should have gone home way before Morgan and Duncan crashed the "party."  For me, Brendon is so not worth the trouble of all that.

I still wasn't feeling Brendon when he was able to get Morgan's asthma under control by relaxing him.  It was actually one of the first times I felt like what he does is a little like magic as the doctors have been calling it out of spite.  I think I just wasn't impressed by his moves because he kept making Mindy feel like an idiot and unneeded when he was doing his thing.  Yes, she was making the situation worse, but she was sort of his date that night--he didn't have to be a jerk to her.  Like that was one of my main problems--I didn't feel chemistry between them.

Finally, when Mindy threw in the towel to that horrible night of non-sex, I thought she had banned Brendon from her list of possible booty-calls.  Nope, she was still on board with the idea when Brendon declared they would hook up eventually.  What?  No!  Man, just write that up as a failure and never look back.  If only they didn't work in the same building.  I know I'm not going to love the episode where Brendon makes good on that promise.  At least, as of right now.  I'd almost rather her get drunk and sleep with Josh again.

Jillian turned out to a better match for Danny than I thought, mainly because she both exposes Danny's age in comical way and possibly makes him a little cooler.  I was excited to hear Jillian's plan for them that night and was looking forward to Danny wriggling around while he tried to hide his discomfort and lack of hipness.  Instead, Danny turned tail and ran away.  Disappointing, but not really shocking, I guess.  I'm sure that Danny would much rather take the coward's way out than look like a fool in front of a girl he liked.  He also had Mindy to think about because she was all up in Jillian's business.  He wouldn't be able to save face if he had to hide the fact that their date was a disaster.  Although, since Mindy's fling with Brendon was train wreck, she couldn't really rub it in his face.  At any rate, Jillian doesn't look like she's giving up on Danny yet.  I just wonder how old she is now that we know that Danny is 38.  He's a lot older than I thought, and yet his actions make him seem a lot older than he claimed.

I could have liked this episode more if I didn't have to see so much Brendon.  Can't say that I'm a fan of him yet.  I feel like his character is useful because he makes a good antagonist, but as a love interest for Mindy, I still think she could do better.   Maybe he'll show a side of him that really shows me there's more chemistry to them than I've seen, but I'm not counting on it.  Right now the sight of them together makes my stomach churn a little.  Danny and Jillian, on the other hand, seem pretty cute together.  It'll be interesting to see if she can get Danny to cut loose a little.  It's pretty clear that he could stand to loosen his collar once in a while.