‘Mindy Project’: Chris Messina Returning for ‘Multiple Episodes’ in Final Season

Mindy-Danny fans, your happy-ish ending may be nigh.

At the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour on Thursday, Mindy Project star/EP Mindy Kaling announced that Chris Messina will reprise his role as Danny for “multiple episodes” during the comedy’s 10-episode sixth and final season (premiering Tuesday, Sept. 12 on Hulu). But don’t expect the exes to ride off into the sunset, at least not in the traditional sense.

RELATED The Mindy Project to End With Season 6

“We aren’t super interested in [tying everything up in a bow],” Kaling told reporters of the series finale. “We’re trying to avoid [that], while also leaving the audience with the sense that [Mindy] had some growth.” And although Kaling copped to being a romantic at heart, she was quick to note, “‘Happily ever after’ can sometimes be romantic happiness, [but it also] can be a feeling of contentment about your life as a professional person and as a mother.”

Regarding Mindy and Danny specifically, fellow EP Matt Warburton said, “One thing we can promise the audience is a little bit of clarity about where they stand.” Added Kaling: “They’re both married to other people, so we went into the [final] season with that [complication], which is fun and delicious.”

Other notable tidbits dropped at the panel:

* Modern Family‘s Julie Bowen will guest star as a “rival mother” in one of the final episodes.

* Kaling flirted with the idea of following up Mindy Project with a spinoff built around Garret Dillahunt and Fortune Feimster’s sibling characters, but ultimately jettisoned the idea because, “We just have such a good [series] finale.”

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