It took me literal weeks to somewhat get over the all-too-soon (and first) break-up between The Mindy Project’s Mindy Lahiri (Mindy Kaling) and Danny Castellano (). Their budding relationship gave new meaning to the term “slow burn”: It didn’t just take them a while to get together, it took some time for them to build an actual friendship beyond, well, contentious burns as the office rivals they once were. Despite everything, their chemistry was palpable throughout their shared journey and once they finally managed to get together, fans assumed (HA!) that they’d have at least a season to watch these two knuckleheads figure out their new dynamic. Instead, Mindy and Danny dated in secret for a small handful of episodes and fell apart with little provocation. Watching two of the biggest sentimental actors in television end something so new was so hard to watch, even if the writing was on the wall. What’s more, Messina has this unfairly convincing knack for portraying torturous longing, and the subtle tremble in his voice when he said, “I need to have you in my life, I have to have you” might have actually haunted my dreams. Pair that with Kaling’s relatable balking at the well-worn “we were better as friends” excuse and you have a break-up that still manages to sting years later. [Shannon Miller]
