'The Mindy Project' Season 1, Episode 17: 'Mindy's Birthday' Recap

Jeremy tries to tell his favorite patient she needs to lose weight. He can’t, so he calls in Mindy to do the job. The woman tells Mindy she needs to lose weight, and an argument ensues. Finally the woman agrees, but she expects Mindy to drop a few pounds as well.

Mindy calls her brother while she’s in a cab, and he wishes her a happy birthday. She tells him that she’s got a blind date.

At the restaurant, she finds a surprise party. She is not thrilled to find out about the party, and that her cute guy is actually Morgan on a fake Facebook.

Danny tries to hit on Mindy’s friend Alex, but doesn’t do well. Jeremy sidles in and takes over. He tells Danny that he’s interested, so he should back off.

Present time: “Microwave Cooking for One,” for example. A life-size body pillow of a shirtless Chris Evans. And one last present—an elliptical machine.

Mindy puts on her coat, and storms off after yelling at everyone.

Mindy goes to a restaurant she really enjoys, and flirts with the bartender. She orders a free birthday Sundae.

Her friends aren’t able to get a hold of Mindy, and blame each other. At the restaurant, they begin a birthday song, but realize she is alone, and she stops them. A girl comes over and tells her it’s her birthday as well, and invites her to sit with them.

Jeremy and Danny compete over who Mindy confides in more, trying to get Alex’s attention. Meanwhile, Mindy is having a good time with the group of girls. She fishes for compliments, and enjoys their attention. The birthday girl gets a text from the guy she’s seeing—a stockbroker who claims to be working on a Saturday. Mindy says that’s bogus, and starts a fight with the girls. She gets drinks thrown on her until the girls get kicked out—by Beverly, who works there.

Mindy sits in the kitchen and talks to Beverly. Her shift ends and they go to get a drink together.

Morgan sees Danny mooning over Alex, who is flirting with Jeremy as the group wanders New York looking for Mindy. Morgan gives him a weird pep talk and sends him up to interrupt. Danny and Jeremy try to get her attention, and Danny falls down an open manhole.

Mindy and Beverly drink 40’s out of paper bags. Mindy finds out Beverly sleeps in a car. Mindy says she’ll get her promoted to executive secretary, as long as she promises to burp less. Mindy goes to call her friends, but notices a text.

Danny gets put into an ambulance in front of a huge crowd while Morgan gives a speech on television, and mentions his name. People thing Baby Danny fell in the manhole.

Mindy rushes to the emergency room. She is touched that he would sacrifice the use of his legs to find her on his birthday. She seems to think he is paralyzed from the waist down, but he only fractured his ankle—apparently Morgan’s text was misleading.

Beverly comes in and Mindy tells everyone they are friends now. Mindy’s friends apologize to her, except Maggie, who tells her she was acting like a spoiled princess. They got her a fish fillet, touching her, and Brendan comes in.

Her friends realize he was the midwife who used her for her body, and throw food at him. Brendan takes her aside. He tells her he overcompensates with false confidence. He apologizes for how he treated her. He got her something—he bought a cluster of stars in the sky and named it Capriterius. It is the constellation she made up.

“Now it’s real,” he tells her. She looks at the picture. It is beautiful. He kisses her cheek and tells her happy birthday.

Mindy goes back to her friends. Danny comes out and sits with Alex. She tells Danny that Jeremy asked her out, but she turned him down. She likes someone who works for it—like someone who would fall down a manhole trying to impress her.