[Toast and Kent love a Time Loop. We love watching them, thinking about them, wishing we were in one...(better that than a zombie apocalypse, amiright?). Ahem. The subgenre has basically exploded over the past decade, so we thought we would take a guided look at as many of them as we can. Maybe by the end of it we'll have deconstructed what it is that actually makes a good Time Toop versus a bad one...? Who knows. Maybe we do. Tomorrow.]
The Mindy Project - Season 5, Episode 8, "Hot Mess Time Machine"
[Toast] Scriiiiiiiitch. Waitasec Kent my "good" man, you do know this is exactly the kind of comedy show I do not like, right ? RIGHT ?
Well, I suppose I should at least thank you for confirming that I will not watch the show.
Wait. Is this an April Fool's thing?
[Kent] *snicker* not intentionally
How did the Loop Begin?
[Kent] At this point we can basically break down a Time Loop cause into one of three categories Technological, Timey-Wimey Sciencey, or Fantastical(or a combination thereof). Toasty, do you agree with these categories?
[Toast] I agree.
[Kent] This one falls squarely in Fantastical/Mystical/Spiritual/Magical realm where there's no discernible reason why this is happening beyond the universe has deemed it so in order to teach the person a specific lesson or achieve a desired result.
[Toast] Because the writers deemed it was time (season 5 ?!?!?) that Mindy learned she is a self-centered, terrible person ? So, she does learn that, but then only applies it to get what she wants. Did I mention, I don't like this show already?
What was the main character's first reaction to the Loop?
[Kent] It's Wednesday, humpday of the work week. Mindy's knocks her phone into a super-gulp cup, her period has just hit its peak flow and is out of tampons, her son is away with her ex, and she's kind of having a bad day (at work she gets made fun of, sneezed on, poked with a knife, has to deal with her worst patients, and runs into her ex). The next morning, her phone is knocked into he same cup, her period cramps are just as bad, the box of tampons is empty again and the news report about single women over 30 being more prone to adult acne is on. She name checks Groundhog Day to her lackey/sidekick/confidant Morgan, so she's totally aware of what's happening but is more confused than anything. It's during the second Loop that she totally freaks out just screaming at everything. Loop three she's just frustrated. Loop four she starts considering why she's Looping but then decides to just enjoy it for quite a few weeks worth of Wednesdays before she decides to fix things.
[Toast] I have to say I laughed out loud (LOL for you kids) at the "AAAARGH !!" and "DAMMIT !!" loops. More loopy episodes need one or more full loops with nothing but those reactions.
So, is Morgan always completely, utterly work-place inappropriate? Also, Mindy's a doctor? Seriously? SHE'S a doctor? Well, I suppose many doctors are self-centered dicks, so that is on point.
[Kent] It's a sitcom so EVERYONE in this show is completely work-place inappropriate. Morgan is a definite oddball among oddballs. He's utterly subordinate to Mindy, happily so, and Mindy totally takes advantage of it. It seems to be a win-win relationship for them both.
WHY did the main character get put into the Loop? Can someone else be brought into the Loop?
[Kent] If you haven't watched The Mindy Project
before, which, I'm
assuming Toasty you haven't (Adj and I were avid watchers, but I've never actually written about it here)... the helpfully concise recap has reminded us Mindy, an OB-GYN, was feeling
self-conscious about her relationship with Ben the Nurse and
"accidentally" kissed an ex, which caused Ben to break up with her. "All
this time you've been wondering if I'm good enough for you... you know
what Mindy? I don't think you're good enough for me."
[Toast] And he was right. She's a dick. Can I just say I love that they used the epitome of the beginning of the loop, the waking up at about 7:30am and a song kicks off your day. The same song, every day. Would Mindy be tired of that ear worm by the end of the loop?
[Kent] I get the sense that Mindy will never tire of "Call Me Maybe"
How long is this time Loop? What resets it? Can you force the reset?
[Kent] It's a 24 hour time loop. We never actually see it reset, though it seems to happen while Mindy is sleeping. Mindy would never miss sleeping no matter how many Loops she goes through. Beyond the first two Loops, she seems to really enjoy waking up every Wednesday. No testing boundaries on forcing the reset with this one.
[Toast] Yeah, this is admittedly a rather fun spin on the trope, in that she just goes with it and goes with it and goes with it. No ennui, no depression, just, "visit every single Starbucks on Manhattan." Also, she really doesn't care about her job, does she, given that this implies she takes every single one of these days off.
How long does the main character stay in the Loop? Does it have any affect on them, their personality, their outlook?
[Kent] Mindy is in the Loop, she discerns with Morgan, because she needs to get back together with Ben the Nurse. "The only thing consistent every day is Ben hates me." In order to get back together with Ben she needs to be less self-involved and more considerate of Ben and pay more attention to him. She needs to be a better partner, but not a better person to end the loop. Basically she learns about Ben's family history, his favourites, but mainly she nerds up for him (watching Star Trek, reading comics, cosplay outfits). By the time the loop ends she says "it's been months".
[Toast] So, she learns the things he loves, but does she actually learn anything? This is kind of creepy, in that she becomes an expert on a topic, not actually appreciating it, only to convince her ex that she actually listened to him. She didn't. She gained enough knowledge to pull the wool over his eyes.
[Kent] I don't know if she winds up appreciating most of this nerd stuff, but she seems to have fun swinging the lightsabre around, and she actually likes Star Trek:TNG, so it's not all an act. She intakes enough to at least have opinions on stuff.
What about the other people in the Loop? Are they aware? Can they become aware? Does anything happen if they become aware?
[Kent] Mindy confides to Morgan (nurse/ex-con/weirdo/dog collector) that she's in a Groundhog Day, every day, and he's basically in immediately, because he odd like that. At one point Morgan is already keenly aware she's in a Groundhog Day..."you finished a crossword puzzle, and I saw you dunk." Morgan, becoming aware, seems to insinuate he's going to do things because he knows the day will reset. Unfortunately when the Loop ends he's done some horrible things, including calling his Grandmother a slut and joining the Navy.
[Toast] That was hilarious. He seemed to know the base of Groundhog Day but didn't pay attention to the cardinal rule (well, neither does anyone, ever, really) which is, "Watch what you do, because any day, the loop could end."
What does the main character think about the other people in the Loop? Are they real? Do they matter?
[Kent] Given it's only a 25 minute comedy, there's not a lot of room for wild deviations. Mindy goes to work every day, I'm sure delivers that same baby to the worst couple every day, and spends a coffee/fro-yo hour with Ben every day. She still treats her colleagues with as much respect as she ever does (and vice versa) though at certain times she does act pretty out of character towards them because she can. But mostly it's all about Ben.
[Toast] She ditches work pretty much every loop !! She binge watches a ton of TV shows, she reads reams of comics, she visits every Starbucks! Are you saying that amount of attention paid to her job is normal? Does she work at my business?
[Kent] Well, as an OB-GYN I guess her day is typically based around appointments. I think this Wednesday she's showing up to the office for the meeting and maybe some paperwork, and then to the hospital to check in on that awful couple. So I get the sense she can push off the paperwork and just do the Star Treks and play basketball etc. She still seems to go into the office every day.
Most memorable event in a Loop? Most surprising event during a Loop?
[Kent] It's a comedy, so yeah, I like the comedy part of the show (see some of my favourite lines at the end of this post). But I obviously liked Mindy's stabs at nerding out. I think Mindy trying to be sexy in a terrible Robin costume was pretty shocking for all the wrong reasons... but Ben says he's more of a Marvel guy (Mindy - "Henh? Who Marvel?") so she turn up the next day in a Halle Berry Storm cosplay and she looks amazing.
[Toast] "The next day..." *cough*
I was disappointed we didn't get a focused loop of her REALLY committing to being a dick, i.e. having fun doing malicious things to all the people who annoy her, which seems to be pretty much everyone. But I do get that she is not truly a malicious person, just incredibly self centered.
I like the ST:tNG reference :)
How does this stack up in the subgenre?
[Kent] Time Loops, fantastical or otherwise, make no sense within the context of a "real world" sitcom set in an OB-GYN office. But examining the meta side of it, The Mindy Project is a sitcom built around romcom tropes, and Groundhog Day has basically established that Time Loops are a romcom trope almost foremost (people probably consider it a romcom trope more than a sci-fi trope), so it does fit well for the show. In terms of the end result though, this sort of fantastical time loop usually sees a character fundamentally changing in order to be appealing to their potential partner, but for a sitcom Mindy can't fundamentally change as a character, so she more just superficially changes to be more appealing to Ben. I mean, they were already dating before this episode so clearly there was already an attraction, so she doesn't need to change too much, just enough for Ben to see her in a new light.
Spoiler Alert, it's kind of all for naught as her and Ben break up after hastily getting married at the end of the season but things getting pretty dicey at the start of the next season. The Mindy Project as noted, started out as a series-long romcom, and she does a lot of dating along the way but her and coworker Danny (Chris Messina) are set up as the will-they/wont-they long game. They get married, have a kid, and get a very, very rocky, divorce, return to their initial antagonistic relationship but with no sexual tension underlining it, and Messina leaves the show only to cameo here and there (the series kind of lost a bit of its purpose when Messina left). Their kid is only sporadically seen after the divorce (they clearly did not want the kid interrupting the romcom-yness of it all). But I guess if looking at the long game, the time loop makes Mindy a better partner for Ben, and when she gets back together with Danny in the series finale, it's maybe because she learned to just be a better partner overall.
Toasty, how was your (assuming first) trip into The Mindy Project?
[Toast] *evil glare*
Seriously, I see the appeal, it is just not for me.
But as an example of the subgenre, I thought it was spot on. I think, as you said this subgenre is almost more romcom than scifi (but that's more to Hollywood's adaptation of the concept given what they believe the "source" is) so this one episode in Mindy's dating life lent itself to looping. It's a weird way for the writers to address her self-centered attitude. Does it ever play into the show later on?
[Kent] Well thank you for making the trip...and sorry.
---
Graig's favourite lines:
- Mindy, looking for a tampon substitute..."Hot dog buns...very absorbent...could I...?"
- Mindy, binge watching Star Trek TNG - "This is show is so good, and it raises a lot of moral questions....like, if Data is a robot, does he have a penis?"
- Beverly, after accidentally pokes Mindy with her knife while cutting an apple, "Relax, this is my fruit knife, not my people knife."
- In the next loop, "Ow! Beverly, keep your fruit knife in your knife drawer!"
"I can't, it's full of bullets."
- Mindy, to the Petersens, her worst patients, "Congratuations...you are the mother of a beautiful 7 lb baby girl."
Mrs Petersen weighing the baby in her arms: "She doesn't feel like 7lbs. I know that trick, that's what they do at the deli."
- Ben, upon learning of Mindy's ruse to get him to go to coffee: "You are...unbelievable! This is classic Mindy."
Mindy, delighted, "Thank you."
"Not a compliment!"
-Morgan, upon easily accepting Mindy's Groundhog Day scenario "You know what, the universe is a crazy place. Do you know in Canada...they drive on the exact same side of the road we do."
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