The Mindy Project Blog: Fortune Feimster on the Mindy-Ben drama
Every week, the cast and crew of Hulu's beloved rom-com, The Mindy Project, are taking EW readers behind the scenes of each episode. This week, Fortune Feimster, who plays Colette, takes us through the seventh episode of season five — and the 100th episode of the series! — "Revenge of the Nurse."
Oh what a glorious, glorious occasion! The 100th episode of The Mindy Project is here and I have the honor of recapping the heck out of it! This is Fortune, by the way…a.k.a. Colette, a.k.a. the world's greatest hair model. Now I will admit, I have not been around for all 100 episodes. This is my second season with the show but, like many of you, I have been a fan for quite some time, so it's as if I've always been there in spirit. So let's do this!
The episode starts with Mindy, clad in an adorable nightgown, creepily staring at her boyfriend Ben (played by the super awesome Bryan Greenberg). She's contemplating how great and normal Ben is compared to a lot of the other guys she's dated in the past, but the most important take away is that we showed you Bryan without a shirt. You're welcome, ladies! And gay guys!
Later that morning, Mindy and Morgan are in the subway talking about Mindy's loser ex-boyfriends, when a blast from the past shows up — Mindy's ex, Jamie. For fans of The Office, it's even more exciting, because it's the return of B.J. Novak! B.J.! B.J.! B.J.! is the chant I ironically heard last night walking past a bar on Sunset Boulevard. We find out that the not-very-humble Jamie is now single and a best-selling author (think The Da Vinci Code meets Nicolas Cage meets Gossip Girl). Mindy and Morgan are quite impressed and pretty stoked that Jamie just invited everyone to his book party that evening. Jamie asks if Mindy is seeing anyone and she says yes, but catches herself when she almost reveals that he's — gasp! —a male nurse.
Back at the office, Mindy and Morgan tell everyone they are invited to Jamie's book party. I deliver a line in an adorable Southern accent, which, by the way, was not created for the show, but is just a reflection of me being too lazy in real life not to use it. Turns out, Jeremy is a huge fan of the book and is super geeked for the party, so much so that he reveals a cape that he randomly keeps in his office. (A little behind-the-scenes fact for you: Ed Weeks, who plays Jeremy, keeps everyone on set laughing every time he has to wear a cape, which is surprisingly often. He's always hitting people or knocking things off of desks, and it finally made it into the final cut.) Tamra's line about Updike was way too smart for me, so I'm currently looking that one up, but the most important thing she does is put doubt in Mindy's head about inviting Ben to the party since he's not as successful as Jamie. We find out that Anna has also been invited because she knows a well-known New York Times book critic that no one else in the office is familiar with.
We cut to the party where Jamie is reading from his book, and I'm already imagining Nicolas Cage in the movie adaptation. Plus, one of my favorite inserts is a cameo from the author of Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn, who throws some serious shade Jamie's way. Having her on set was awesome because she's a fan of the show and we're a fan of hers, so we all just hugged a lot. Then, while Ben and Jamie chat, Anna talks to Mindy about her rich husband and puts Ben and his job down without realizing it. Meanwhile, Jamie asks Ben about being a doctor. Ben corrects him and is surprised Mindy didn't say anything. We then see Colette and Tamra talking to our made-up, but still spot-on, version of a TODAY show reporter, Cameron Winters. He says they are looking for a nurse for a segment on their show. Colette attempts to get the job, but the guy is way more interested in Tamra.
The next day, back in the office, Tamra mentions that Cameron Winters won't stop texting her about the show. A light bulb goes off in Mindy's head that Ben would be perfect for it! So she calls Cameron directly, because Mindy's a badass like that, and she gets Cameron to sign off. The only thing Mindy has to do now is convince Ben, which is not so easy, because he doesn't want to be on TV — which is obviously crazy! But he finally agrees to do it on one condition — Mindy comes with him.
Once Ben has filmed the segment, Mindy is beaming with pride and even gathers her very good-looking co-workers to show them a meme someone made in Ben's honor. Colette is mildly impressed because she doesn't understand why anyone would miss out on the opportunity to yell, "Baba Booey," which is our obligatory Howard Stern shout-out because we love his show.
At dinner, Mindy goes on and on about Ben being on TODAY, while Ben is too exhausted from work to really care. Mindy tells him they want him back, but he’s uninterested. He only agrees because his daughter thought it was cool. Suddenly, there's another blast from the past! It's Mindy's ex, Casey (played by our favorite workaholic, Anders Holm). Mindy brags about Casey's shoe company, and when Casey asks Ben what he does, Mindy inserts that he's a TV personality. Ben is starting to catch on...
The next day, Ben doesn't show up to TODAY, and Cameron Winters freaks out. Mindy calls Ben, but he won't answer his phone. Morgan happened to be sleeping at the hospital because Colette brought a girl home. Yeah she did! So Morgan ended up doing a segment about moisturizing. And in true Morgan fashion, he puts on too much lotion and slams his head on the desk. Mindy gets banned from the show, but Morgan's fall quickly goes viral, so of course that calls for a par-tay! (Another behind the scenes tidbit: When Ike Barinholtz or I do something silly, the other quickly follows. The "please, please, please" line was improvised and after we cut. Ike and I laughed uncontrollably for five minutes. It's one of the many reasons I love working on this show.)
At the party, Morgan tries to recreate his lotion fall while Mindy drinks shots in the kitchen. Jamie shows up, talks some gibberish in Latin, and then kisses Mindy, but Ben had also shown up and witnesses the kiss. No?! Yes. Ben leaves the party in disbelief and Mindy follows. While having a classy fight on the street, they run into yet another of Mindy's ex's. Geez! I didn't realize Mindy dated so many dudes! Once that awkward moment passes, Ben says Mindy is trying to make him into something he's not. And then he says one of the most poignant lines we've heard all season: "All this time, you've been wondering if I'm good enough for you. But you know what, Mindy? I don’t think you're good enough for me." He walks away. Cue sexy, fierce song. Holy crap, what just happened? Stay tuned, folks. Stay tuned.
New episodes of The Mindy Project stream Tuesdays on Hulu.
