The Christmas Mistress

The Mindy Project, S01E09

Mindy hosted the office Christmas party at her apartment with Josh.  Things turned ugly when Mindy found a message from Josh's girlfriend on his phone and when said girlfriend later showed up to ruin the party.

What is up with this whole Josh thing?  It's like when he takes one inch forward, he takes ten feet back by acting a like an asshole.  He has the great ability of being somehow a good boyfriend and a bad one at the same time, so that made me unable to decide if I liked him around Mindy.  Well, this story definitely made me not want to see him again unless he was one his knees begging Mindy for forgiveness.

First of all, Josh had arranged for them to have their own little private skating rink for an hour, but he had actually paid a random person with no control over the hockey team that promptly arrived after they got there.  I could have overlooked him just tossing money around to make things happen, but he really sucked at protecting her from the swarm of players that filled the rink.  It totally reminded me of when he nearly burned down her house and was so useless just standing around.  For me, it's a deal breaker if I feel like a guy couldn't provide me with at least more protection than I could give myself.  I could see Mindy having to save his ass than the other way around.  Ugh.  I was already annoyed with him at that point.

However, I started to like him better when everyone at the party was mesmerized by him.  It was a real compliment to Mindy that everyone seemed to love him.  I was happy to see that after Danny and Jeremy had made Josh sound like he was about as real as Santa Claus.  Mindy is not so pathetic that she would be boasting for months that she was dating an imaginary man.

The second thing, of course, that made me fall over the fence into hating Josh was when Mindy found that message.  It's not the first time that Mindy has suspected that he was looking at other women while she wasn't around.  Now she had proof.  Proof that bothered her so much she was listening to it outside barefoot while pacing.

Third, Mindy turned out not be cheated on, but the person Josh was cheating with.  I can't believe that he was stringing along some woman because of a sick dog and never told Mindy about it.  I don't know if Mindy would have been cool with that situation, but at least she wouldn't have had to deal with a psycho woman crashing her party and wrecking her house.

Heather, the psycho girlfriend, not only trespassed, but assaulted Mindy with a pillow, broke her microwave (oh, hell no!), and crushed the beautiful gingerbread house that Danny had built.  That was nuts!  Good thing Shauna was dating a police officer.  Also, it was sucky that Josh had given Heather and Mindy the same necklace, but Mindy's had less bling.  That can count as a fourth thing.  I'm tempted to say Heather calling her chubby can count as a fifth thing because Heather showing up is Josh's fault after all.

Last, Josh's ass ran out of the apartment just as Mindy was being hit over and over again with that pillow.  I doubt things would have been better if he hadn't ran, but just seeing him run off like Heather acting crazy was none of his business pissed me off.  He shouldn't have left until he had made sure that crazy lady had stopped wrecking the party!  Heather could have injured Mindy--didn't he care??  Josh sure as hell better not get back into Mindy's good graces without some serious compensation.  Because he hurt her and embarrassed her.  He needed to be beaten like that gingerbread house.

Speaking of that house again, I was real surprised that Danny constructed it so meticulously.  I mean, he used inspirations from Hansel and Gretel.  I think that he secretly loves Christmas more than he wants to let on.  I loved how he was trying to talk about the details of it to the party guests, but everyone was focused on Josh, so they paid him no attention.

Also, it was sweet how Danny forgot about his date and looked after Mindy that night.  Aww, he really does like her!  Danny was being pretty reasonable about suggesting that Mindy let the Josh thing go and deal with it after the party, but Mindy just wasn't listening.  He was being a great friend when he took over the speech Mindy was giving because it was too hard for her to say all the nice things about Josh she had written.  And thanks to helping her he ended up getting called a "philandering gay florist."  One of the best things he's been called yet.

Jeremy also surprised me with the way he rallied everyone to help salvage Mindy's party.  It's not like I think he hates Mindy or anything, but he often seems selfish, so I didn't expect him to be the one to stop everyone from leaving. He even repaired Danny's gingerbread house the best he could.  I really appreciated him after that.

This was one of my favorite episodes so far.  I mean, there were a lot more reasons to hate Josh and Mindy got her heart broken like her microwave, but it was an exciting and interesting party.  Plus, Mindy's friends came through for her again during one of her difficult times and made me like them all a little more.  I feel like I can almost forget that Josh is a bit of dirt bag and Mindy might be depressed because I know that she'll get over it with the great support system she has in her friends.

Love Is As Real As Black Santa

New Girl, S02E11

Jess got the others to hang out with her at multiple parties, the last night they would be all together before the holidays started.  She unexpectedly ran into Sam at the first party and tried to avoid him while he tried to convince her to take him back.  Nick had a hard time adjusting to Angie's wild and fearless style.  Schmidt and Cece argued about how they had ended things after Schmidt had told her he loved her.  Winston had trouble hearing after he got a cranberry in his ear.

I was just as surprised as Jess to see Sam at the first party the group went to.  I just never thought we'd see him again.  I was a little hopeful for the two because while Sam isn't Nick, he and Jess did make a cute couple.  Also, I felt bad for Jess who put her heart out on the line and got shot down.  It was nice to see Sam pursuing her to the point it almost seemed like stalking her.

My favorite thing about the drama between Sam and Jess was when Jess pretended to be unavailable by using Winston as her new lover:

[Jess] I'm in love.  

[Sam] What?

[Jess] With Winston.

[Sam] What?

[Jess] We've lain together.

[Winston] No, yeah--I mean, I dunno how it happened.  It just got stuck up there so far so quickly.

[Jess] The relationship.

[Winston] You know, sometimes when we're hanging out it can get a little rough.

[Jess] Oh, boy does it.

[Winston] Yeah.

[Sam] Oh, well, I didn't know that, so...

[Winston] What's going on?  I feel like I'm missing something.

 I liked that Sam actually bought that story and confessed to Winston that he thought Winston was his biggest competition with Jess living with three guys.  Apparently "Metrosexual Jones" and "Sweatshirt Guy" didn't intimidate him in the least.  I love how he not only counted out Schmidt and Nick, but gave them those funny nicknames.  Jess might have gotten away with fooling Sam if Winston hadn't realized what was going and did the least convincing breakup speech ever.  He was way too dramatic, as if he was in some kind of ghetto soap opera, and even called her a honkey.  Really, Winston?  But I knew that if Sam had any kind of brains, Winston's little show would definitely tell him that he and Jess were only pretending.

I have no idea why, but when Jess almost got pulled over and was pouring her guts out to this kindly-looking, bearded old man, it was touching when he said that he believed her.  He just told her that sometimes people tell the truth and let her go off.  That guy wasn't Santa Claus, but he was super nice and made Jess believe again.  I think Jess needed some kindness to restore her faith.

The part when the whole gang went to the hospital was sort of dumb, even with them all singing badly so that they could pretend to be a choir.  However, I did like when Angie showed her boobs and Nick had to pull away Schmidt from looking.  Then Winston casually came back for a look and that really made it funny.

I don't know how much I love Nick and Angie together.  I do agree with Jess that she could be good for him, though, because he is a chicken and Angie's bravery might rub off on him.  I did like when he confessed a lot of his flaws to her like being poor, having written a terrible zombie novel, and being obsessed with karate.  His lap dance after that was just embarrassing!  It was like he was about to take a dump on her or something, the way he was pushing out his butt.  But that scene was made better when Schmidt came over to show Angie how it was done and Nick started slapping Schmidt's dumb ass.  I really think that Schmidt would be a dancer if he ever got fired from his job.

Also, when Nick and Angie got exposed making out in the sleigh, Nick shouted out, "This is my nightmare" for the second time.  The last time was when he was being attacked by all the monsters and ghouls in the haunted house.  He has a lot of holiday-related nightmares.

There was a really good line, too, from Nick in this episode after he had insulted Angie about being a stripper and she had stormed off:

Nick Miller, turning lemonade into lemons since 1981.

I am totally going to steal that phrase as my own.  I just have to change the year because I wasn't even born yet.  Haha.

For all the bickering and cold attitude between Cece and Schmidt, I think that they were a lot more civil than they could have been.  Schmidt was really grumpy and a big Scrooge (which that part probably had nothing to do with Cece, though), but Cece was trying her best to be friendly.  She could have been really angry that he seemed to be unreliable when it was most important for her to know that he was serious.  Still, with all of her good will attempts, I think it's weird she would give him a present to thank him for telling her he loved her.  I don't know.  I just don't think that a gift, no matter how thoughtful, will easily mend Schmidt's heart.  But he accepted it because obviously his love for her is true.  I mean, he wouldn't be so hurt about how things had turned out if he didn't.  I'm glad they ended up getting on friendlier terms again, but I'm dying to know what's going to happen with Cece and her arranged partner.  That hasn't been addressed yet, and I hope that it will when the show returns next month.

With all this other drama going on with the couples, it's interesting to me that Winston was the one who was the funniest to me.  As soon as he got that cranberry in his ear and kept talking so damn loud, he had me laughing every time he opened his mouth.  He really started to sound like some old man who had gone deaf in an ear, especially when he had rolled up a piece of paper or something and put it to his ear to hear better.  Winston is usually kind of quiet, so when he raises his voice, it's hilarious.  Also, he kept ruining things for Jess.  First, he basically screamed out her location when she was trying to hide behind Cece and Schmidt, and then he spoke so loud in the closet (or bathroom?) Jess and he were hiding in and revealed her location again.  I really loved that, especially when he was too deaf to realize that Jess was using him as a fake boyfriend.

This was a great episode, especially for a Christmas story.  They managed to fit in Santa without it being corny or unfunny.  It was really cute how they all believed in Santa at that moment and how it helped bring Jess to her senses about giving Sam another chance.  I think that Sam is a decent stand-in for Nick until Jess or Nick realize they're meant for each other.  I'm anxious to see who Cece is going to date (or marry, I guess) in place of accepting Schmidt's love.  I know it will be funny if Schmidt can come between that arrangement somehow.  Nick will probably become a little less chicken if Angie sticks around, but I'm still not over the moon about him being with her.  Winston, as usual, unexpectedly brought me the most laughs.  That cranberry in his ear is one of the best things that could have happened to him.

Lots Of Love All Around

Parks and Recreation, S05E09

Ron brought Diane and Leslie to an award event where he would be honored for a chair he built.  Leslie was worried that Debbie showing up would cause the couple problems, but Diane was most worried about Leslie's involvement in Ron's life.  Ann refused to let the others in the office attend Jerry's Christmas party because they had intended to spend the night celebrating how much they laughed at Jerry over the past year.  Ben also looked after Chris at the party, making sure that he didn't fall apart emotionally.

I really loved how excited Ron was to attend the woodwork event.  He was giggling at the sight of someone he said was famous, who Leslie and Diane had no idea about.  I actually wasn't too worried about Debbie showing up because I noticed early on that Diane seemed worried about how well Leslie knew Ron.  It doesn't seem odd that she would because no one knows Ron like Leslie does, except maybe his ex-wives?  But it was sweet that Leslie would take on Debbie by herself just so that Diane and Ron could spend the rest of the night alone.  She's such a great friend!  Cuz that Debbie bitch is crazy (but at the end when she was in cuffs, I would have killed to see Lucy Lawless kick her ass like she suggested).

Ron obviously loves Diane because he revealed one of his biggest secrets to her--that he is Duke Silver!  Wow!  I was really impressed that he did that!  It was also funny that one of Ron's fan said she was going to kill Diane!  Damn.  Didn't know he had such dedicated fans!  Great scene.

I didn't expect that Ann would condemn the mean party that the others were having concerning Jerry, but I'm glad she did.  After all, they should be a little nicer to the guy after he had a brush with death.  It was nice that Donna had a change of heart and wanted to include Jerry in the dinner instead of just using it as a time to make fun of him behind his back because they all got to see that Jerry was throwing a big ol' Christmas celebration.  I freaking loved seeing them peeping into the window, dying to get in there.  It was kind of like Scrooge peeking into his nephew's house and seeing how much of an ass he had been to his only family member.  It was nice that they took all the money that they had collected to remember Jerry's fumbling at work to instead donate to his medical bills.  And they learned that Jerry always sent them nice emails congratulating them on their achievements and birthdays.  He's such a sweetheart and it was great they had a moment to remember that behind his Charlie Brown-esq personality, there is a heart of gold.  Way to get into the Christmas spirit.

I was also impressed with Chris's progress.  I didn't think that his 15 times a week with his therapist were really helping, but they were.  He could drink non-fat egg nog, let someone point out his gray hair, and speak to his ex-girlfriend and her fiance without spiraling into his usual dark place (although I think it's hilarious when he gets so negative).  I also loved that Ben was doing his best to support him and make sure that he kept it together.  I sort of forgot until they had this overly long hug that they are such good friends.  I love their bromance, especially on Chris's end because he needs all the love he can get.

I just got this warm, happy feeling from this episode--it was great.  This is one of those stories about Christmas that didn't make me hate the overall spirit of this holiday.  We got to see Leslie be there for Ron and Diane, Diane and Ron become closer, Tom and the rest give Jerry a break, and Ben and Chris reconnect as friends.  I have nothing bad to say about it.