I am an unrepentant Nora Ephron fan.  That’s a fact.  So it would appear that any Nora Ephron fan must now, by default, be a fan of The Mindy Project, especially after last night’s season 2 finale.  The episode paid homage to the three greats: Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally, and You’ve Got Mail.

In order to be able to cohesively write about this episode, I had to re-watch it a couple times because much of my first viewing incorporated a lot of pillow squeezing and loud squealing.  What?  This blog has to earn it’s “fangirly” moniker.  I’m just doing my part.

The episode opened with Mindy making eyes at a stranger on the subway. She hadn’t been this happy since she found out that she is younger than Katie Holmes (“That ol’ bag”).  Petere and Danny wondered at how she would feel if all the guys on the subway were eye-banging her.

(Duh, guys.)

When Mindy and Danny come upon a Missed Connections-type ad in the paper from a mysterious “Andy”, the guy on the subway! This “Andy” would later be revealed to be Danny and I just love that he knows Mindy well enough to make her promise not to contact the guy, knowing that this will only make her more likely to contact the guy.  All part of his plan.  Mwa-ha-ha.

Mindy is still dating Detective “Not a Guy, a Man” Charlie and her co-workers give her a hard time for being emotionally unfaithful while her email correspondence with Andy gets more intense.  Morgan has other concerns.  “Wait, this is your email address?  I thought it was Mindys2ndaccount@hotmail.”  But …

… and she knows what she is doing.

Morgan, of all people, catches onto Danny’s game when he also writes Andy (from his “smartphone”).  Danny is understandably shocked that Morgan was the one to figure out the true identity of “Dr. Andy Make Believe”. He’s “smarter than you may have thoughten”.  Danny promises to make things right between Morgan and Tamara if he promises not to tell, only to find out that the two are still hitting it.  Love those two weirdos together.  Their advice to Danny:  Meet Mindy at the top of the Empire State Building and dress like Bradley Cooper.

Mindy rightly calls it off with Charlie and he advises her to not let that “rich kid from Staten Island” get in the way of her and this new guy.  On her way to meet Andy, she ambushes Danny while he is getting into his 20 piece Bradley Cooper suit.  Turns out homegirl is incapable of chewing gum without getting it in her hair.  He tries to dissuade her by using that age old excuse: he is being intimate with himself to The Good Wife.

She comes up anyway and inadvertently RUINS EVERYTHING by  giving him a speech about how she has realized that he doesn’t want to be with her and how they are no good for each other.  Mindy has obviously been reading her He’s Just Not That Into You, like every good single girl does.   But cue “Andy” standing her up while she waits atop the Empire State Building in the rain.

Morgan and Tamara are rightly pissed that Mindy got stood up, but Danny tries to make it up to a sick Mindy by bringing her some zuppa and a Guinness Book of World Records, as you do.  He attempts to reveal his catfishing scam, but not with much conviction and instead ends up staying to watch When Harry Met Sally.

Cue Danny voice over (!) as he walks us through that adorable montage of the two navigating all the places in New York where Meg Ryan has ever “laugh-cried”.

It’s all sunsets and soft pretzels until they see the real Andy on the subway.  Mindy charges and Danny is forced to tell her the truth.  They have a heated (and very well-acted) argument in the ladies bathroom at Shulman and Assoc. where Danny reveals his grand scheme and that he loves her.  She is not on board because they have been down this road before.

But Danny tells her to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building, even if he has to wait all night, he will wait for her.

Morgan attempts to cheer up with Mindy with, surprise! Her coworkers! Who try to convince her to go meet Danny but it ‘s not until Peter shows her Danny’s secret box which contains a picture of his brother, a picture of “some old hot guy” (that would be Rudy Guiliani?) and some trashy skank’s earrings.  Wait!  Those are Mindy’s earrings that she left at his apartment!

She arrives at the Empire State Building only to find out that the elevator is down and she will have to climb 104 flights to meet the love of her life (“I can talk to him tomorrow”), but she starts the trek.  For love!

The Shulman gang goes out to celebrate their persuasive powers when they come upon a wallowing Danny. This is when I got mad.  Come on, Danny!  You said you would wait all night and you wait an hour?!  I understand the appeal of a good piece of ‘za but you are supposed to be in the role of romantic leading man right now!  Get with it!  He does and runs through the streets of New York a la When Harry Met Sally.  But to the tunes of “The Boss” and he gets hit by a cab, which is very a la The Mindy Project.

He arrives and supposedly takes the now functioning elevator.  He’s too late!  NOOO!! But then he locks eyes on wheezing Mindy splayed on the ground, “Drive” by The Cars plays, he gets the cutest look on his face, and all is right with my world.

He joins her on the ground and tells her he wants to go all in (“Really? In public? With all these people?”).

They argue about their future children who will either be a future pope or 9 girls named after the muses and then make out right there on the ground of the observation deck of the Empire State Building.  And YOU GUYS! Enough with the Danny Castellano butt grabs!  My libido cannot take it.

And now we have to wait until September for to see an out and proud Danny and Mindy coupling.  I can’t take it. But what IS next for these two?  Chris Messina has said that he sees them as Lucy and Ricky type couple and is exctied to see it play out.  I’m right there with him.  I always get a little nervous about my ships coming to fruition, but these two are so mismatched that I think it just might work?