Jody Faces Drew In The Battle Of Mindy Project Maybe-Mates

With just three more episodes to go this season on The Mindy Project, those of us who've seen TV before may have already figured out that we're heading toward some kind of reckoning for Mindy and Jody...but now Princeton football coach Drew is in the mix -- way in the mix to hear Mindy tell it. Let's compare Mindy love interests -- potential and current -- and figure out which is the better option.

Which has gotten further with Mindy?

Easy one! Since the second day she's known him, Mindy has spent as much time boning Drew as their residence in two different states has allowed. Her solution to the problem that the guide book she's used to plan Drew's first visit to see her in New York is old enough to recommend a trip to the Twin Towers is to suggest that they spend the weekend really lowering the resale value of her apartment. (I'm paraphrasing.)

Winner: Drew.

Which has been more romantic with Mindy?

The moment, a few episodes back, in which Jody bade a quiet farewell to a sleeping Mindy by brushing the hair off her face affected Mindy so deeply that she eagerly seized the opportunity to flee to Austin for a few days. Apparently, Jody's touch was so gentle yet electric that even recreating it for Morgan last week caused such an intense reaction that he...ruined a pair of pants. Jody may have started dating someone new while Mindy was in Texas, but the reverberations of his last romantic gesture are still being felt not just by Mindy but all over their office.

Winner: Jody.

Who's a better dresser?

Jody's whole seersucker style story -- to which he added a boater in the latest episode!!! -- is not one every man could pull off. But if one of his colleagues (Mindy) is going to accuse him of looking like a "Civil War ghost," he might as well steer into the skid and walk around his New York office looking like an entire Brooks Brothers summer collection exploded on him. Plus, when Jody had a girlfriend who wished he dressed hipper, he was willing enough to subject himself to a modern makeover. Jody's found a look that works for him, but he's not afraid to switch it up.

From what we've seen in two episodes, Drew dresses...fine? But he's probably got Old Navy buttondowns in his closet that he's been wearing since he was a senior in high school -- to say nothing of all his black and orange Princeton gear. We've yet to see Drew wear anything objectionable, but he hasn't quite developed his personal style enough to put him anywhere close to an equal footing with Mindy.

Winner: Jody.

Who comes to the relationship with fewer entanglements?

Well, the answer here is definitely not Mindy, who has a toddler son and an occasionally intrusive ex, not to mention two businesses to run. And it's also not Jody, who's running both those businesses with her; if they were to start seeing each other and things went awry, she'd be recreating the nightmare that is extricating her romantic life from that of one of her closest colleagues.

There is, of course, a chance that Drew's going to turn out to be Mindy's answer to 30 Rock's Carol Burnett -- seemingly perfect at first, but roiling with insecurities and neediness. But so far Drew seems like a nice, straightforward, easygoing guy....

Winner: Drew.

Whose temperament is the better match for Mindy's?

...maybe Drew is too easygoing? This week's episode revolves around a softball tournament, which Mindy is drafted into joining after Colette tries to silence Courtney's piercing, distracting cackle by pitching straight at her face and getting herself ejected from the game as a result. Mindy's already had to cancel the first night of Drew's visit because Danny's had an emergency and needed her to take Leo for the night; Drew is excited to spend time with Mindy's son, but when she says she's not ready to introduce Drew to Leo when her relationship with him is still so new, Drew accepts her decision. All of that is not just fine but very mature of them both, given the intricacies of dating for a single parent. But then, the next day, instead of telling Drew the truth about the softball game -- like anyone in real life would do -- Mindy makes the sitcom move of texting lies about what she's doing and how long it's going to take before she can meet him. During a chance encounter at the hospital, Jody tells Drew the truth about the game, and Drew heads down there and busts her. But after only the briefest of confrontations, Drew not only accepts the situation but throws himself into coaching the OB/GYN team to victory.

But here's what we know about Mindy: she likes guys who fight with her ALL THE TIME. From the time Mindy met him, Danny and Mindy clashed -- and exactly the same is true of Mindy and Jody. If Mindy were going to do some work on herself and consider whether there are some patterns in her life that she should think about breaking, then someone like Drew, who seems to be a champion of compromise, would be a good choice for her in the long term. But after knowing Mindy for almost four seasons, we may reasonably guess that she's going to get bored by Drew's mellowness and look around for someone who's more likely to push back when she tries to steamroll him.

Winner: Jody.

Verdict

Since we all live in the real world, we know that Jay R. Ferguson has another job, and that sticking around Mindy OR Mindy for the long term isn't going to be an option. Even so, a careful review of the data proves that Drew's time with Mindy AND Mindy is probably going to run out soon. Drew may have beaten Jody into Mindy's pants, but none of Drew's visits there affected her as much as that hair-smoothing moment did. This Civil War ghost has a lot more haunting to do.

Winner: Jody.