The end is nigh for The Mindy Project, which has only one season left on Hulu before the series finale. There are some loose ends that will need to be tied off and some stories that will hopefully receive closure before the series concludes. It's too soon to guess at everything that will happen in the sixth and final season, but we now know one story that will likely get some degree of closure. Chris Messina will reprise his role as Danny Castellano.
Chris Messina was the leading man of The Mindy Project for its first three seasons, but he became less of a constant presence starting in Season 4, and he was downgraded from a series regular to a guest star for Season 5. His career took off in some non-Mindy directions, and Danny wasn't around as much as a result. Mindy Project executive producer and star Mindy Kaling announced at the TCA press tour (via TVLine) that Messina will be back for multiple episodes in Season 6. While she didn't go into detail about how much he'll appear in those multiple episodes, at least we know he won't just pop in for a quick cameo in the series finale.
Fans of the Danny/Mindy romance shouldn't get their hopes up for the two the rekindle their love story. Mindy Kaling has said that a "happily-ever-after" doesn't need to depend on romance, especially when her character has her career and her son in her life. There's also the point that Mindy is married to Ben and Danny is married to Sarah, so they're not exactly free for any more spontaneous airplane hookups. If they do get back together, there will almost certainly be some heartbreak in store for Ben and Sarah.
Given that Danny and Mindy are very different people at different places in their lives than when they were a couple, a romantic reunion might be a little bit too fairy-tale, even for a show about a woman with a lifelong obsession with romantic comedies. That said, they were played as the big couple of the series, and it wouldn't be too shocking if The Mindy Project decided to fudge the details and put them back together in the finale, a la Ross and Rachel of Friends fame (or infamy).
The return of Chris Messina as Danny wasn't the only news to come out of the TCA press tour. We also know that Julie Bowen of Modern Family has signed on as a guest star in Season 6. She'll appear as a "rival mother" in one of the very last episodes.
The final season will premiere on Tuesday, September 12 on Hulu. Check out our rundowns of renewals and cancellations for cable/streaming and network TV for what else will be back, and don't forget to take a look at our summer TV schedule.
