‘The Mindy Project’: Messina talks will they/won’t they

Meg Ryan and Katherine Heigl would tell you any good romantic comedy has its share of romance roadblocks before its damsels reach happily ever after. For the perennially unlucky-in-love, RomCom-loving Mindy Lahiri of Fox’s “The Mindy Project,� one of those roadblocks will resurface in Tuesday’s episode.

Josh (Tommy Dewey) is back. Remember him? The sports attorney she met at the VIP area of the club who seemed to have shed his jerk-y ways in his path to becoming a viable boyfriend, only to ruin Mindy’s (Mindy Kaling) RomCom fantasy when she discovered--on Christmas!!--that he had a “kinda girlfriend’ on the side.

Well, he’s back. And Mindy was “sooooo excited� to see him--Mindy Kaling, that is.

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“It’s very rare to have someone who’s that incredibly good looking be a hard jokes-type-of-guy,� Kaling said in between takes of the episode. “And I know a lot of viewers had come to root for him before the Christmas episode. I think viewers might come to sympathize with him a little bit in this one. A. Little. Bit. He still cheated on me!�

When The Times visited the set last month, we caught Dewey talking shop with Chris Messina (Danny) and B.J. Novak (who directed the episode) over snow cones. Yes, snow cones (the show had just been renewed for a second season and, hey, that’s how they party). Nearby was the setup for a rehab facility, where viewers learn Dewey’s character has been staying.

“I like that Josh has kept people guessing,� said Dewey, who will be starring in “Dads,� the upcoming Seth MacFarlane-produced comedy for Fox. “You love him, you hate him. It’s a fun needle to thread. I think him being in rehab will explain a lot of things.�

In Tuesday’s episode, his character Josh finds himself seeking a lit a bit of explanation too, when it comes to the Mindy-and-Danny relationship. It’s a dynamic that still puzzles Messina.

“I’m still not sure myself,� Messina said during another break. “I don’t even know what I want or what’s best for the show. I know they’ve become great friends, even though they probably won’t admit it. I think they have a great love for each other. And in ways, I think they’re supposed to be together. I hope they continue to kind of explore together. It’s kind of fun to wait it out--it’s real life. And isn’t that when it’s special?�

ALSO:

Mindy Kaling takes center stage with ‘The Mindy Project’

Fox renews ‘The Mindy Project’ for a second season

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