It’s the beginning of the new year on The Mindy Project season 3, episode 12, “Stanford.” Some people start a fellowship program, others start new relationships.

Adjusting to college life:

Mindy doesn’t want Danny to worry about her while she’s in California. As she says, she wants to do it on her own — even if she doesn’t know Rosie the Riveter. But does really have what it takes? It’s a vigorous program and she doesn’t exactly start on the right foot. Mindy shows up to the “bash” in a hot pink dress and is embarrassed to find everyone in their lab coats. Turns out “BASH” on the poster meant “Beginning of Academic Scholarship Hangout.”

Despite how defiant she may be to do this on her own, her new supervisor, Dr. Robert Gurglar, doesn’t think too highly of her, until she panics and makes him stop in his tracks, yelling, “You went to medical school with Doctor Castellano!” Dr. Gurglar asks if she can do a double date that night and Mindy immediately agrees. So much for ‘no special treatment.’

In the end, Mindy realizes that she doesn’t need Danny to be there for her, but she does want him to be there.

The Dinner

The majority of the episode is centered around the events at the double-date dinner between Dr. Gurglar, his wife Barb (Ana Gasteyer) and Mindy and Danny. Barb seems a little drunk, loose-lipped about marriage and doesn’t seem happy with her husband. Danny, though, is able to sell Rob on Mindy, admitting he doesn’t know what he, or the practice, will do without her for eight months.

For the duration of the dinner, Barb is running her foot up and down Danny’s leg, but Danny has mistaken it for Mindy’s leg. When they get home and Danny explains what happened to her, he says that Rob is gonna kill them but Mindy quickly jumps in to say that he will never find out what happened.

Until she tells him the next day in the parking lot after being possibly denied her request for no special treatment because ‘Dan the Man’ and ‘Rob the Man’ are so chummy with each other. He ends up getting hit by a security cart in his insane bicycle, requiring stitches, applied expertly by Mindy.

Mindy and Neepa

Throughout the episode, Mindy has been verbally sparring with an older Indian woman, Neepa, in the program. Neepa has her young son Neal with her at Stanford while her husband is forced to live apart from them. When Mindy goes to get fast food, she sees Neepa working the window and wonders what she’s doing there. Neepa, dryly sarcastic, chastises Mindy and her “second generation” luxuries, unlike Neepa’s “first generation” work-ethic.

When the fellows gather in the operating room, Mindy is technically in charge, but she hands the duties over to Neepa, who worked for her place in the program. Mindy knows she didn’t have to sacrifice as much as Neepa, or maybe even her own “first generation” parents, but she works hard, and she wants to be treated like everybody else.

Morgan’s Best Friends versus Morgan’s Worst Nightmare

Tamra wants Morgan back. Morgan is happily “friends with benefits”-ing with Jessica (Julia Stiles). The best way for Tamra to steal back Morgan’s attention? Competitively crush him in a 3-on-3 charity basketball game. But Morgan seems to be completely over his ex-girlfriend. Peter, once again, the under-utilized brain power of the practice, gives a few words of advice to Tamra. The best way to get over an ex who doesn’t want you back is to try to move on. She ends up getting food (“getting food”?) with a teammate who joined the team to flirt with her, and the Earth keeps spinning on.

What did you think of ‘The Mindy Project’ season 3, episode 12, ‘Stanford’?

Next week: Lee Pace!