1. Rhea Perlman is Annette Castellano. (Yes, that would be Danny's mom.)
And Danny was hoping that she would either die before he would have to introduce her to Mindy, or they could meet on Mindy and Danny’s wedding day when Mindy would be covered in all that “garb” from her “orthodox something” religion. The episode opens with Mrs. Castellano coming over to drop off someold TV Guide magazines at Danny’s, as she spends the whole cold–open thinking Mindy is a cleaning lady. Mindy then finds out from Danny that Mrs. Castellano is notorious for hating all of his girlfriends, so naturally Mindy is determined to get Mrs. Castellano to love her.
2. Peter tries to “help” Morgan to stand up for himself in his relationship.
Tamra has got Morgan "whipped like a frat pledge" according to Peter, who finds Morgan peeing sitting down in the employee bathroom (because Tamra says he gets pee on the seat otherwise). Inspired by his own romantic woes (Dr. Reed, who is conspicuously missing this week, kissed Peter’s girlfriend last episode, Peter decides to help Morgan assert himself. After Morgan tells Tamara he wants to pee standing up, Tamra tells him that’s fine as along as he sells all of his dogs because she’s allergic. She also claims to be allergic to “all metal that’s not gold” and “all seafood that’s not expensive lobster,” needless to say Peter is skeptical. Meanwhile…
3. Mindy, Danny, Richie (recurring guest star Max Minghella), and Mrs. Castellano do brunch.
At first, it goes surprisingly well. Mindy shows up to Mrs. C’s birthday brunch unannounced and proceeds to all but win Mrs. C over with the following foolproof get–mothers–to–love–you plan:
Step 1. Compliment her.
Step 2. Find common ground (In this case, Mindy pretends to watch ABC dramedy “Castle” to garner Mrs. C’s favor)
Step 3. Come bearing gifts (and don't forget about mom's friend). Mindy gets Mrs. C. and her best friend Dot tacky, matching t-shirts.
Step 4. Agree with everything she says. Everything.
Mindy royally messes up step 4, though, when Danny tells his mother he got her a stove for her birthday. His mother claims the gift is "too much" and gives Danny a hard time for something he clearly put a lot of thought into, so Mindy swoops–in to say that she doesn't think the gift is too much at all. Especially considering that Danny pays all of his mom's bills. Mrs. Castellano doesn't take well to this and gets upset that Danny has told Mindy their "private business." She then storms off with BFF Dot in tow.
4. Morgan hosts a "Dog Fair" to sell his 40 dogs (Yeah, Morgan has 40 dogs).
Peter gets upset watching Morgan sell his beloved dogs, and decides Morgan shouldn't have to give them up for Tamra's "allergy." Peter rushes over to Morgan, who’s about to sell a dog named Nicole to a nice-looking family, and grabs the dog and runs upstairs to confront Tamra. He throws the dog at Tamra, and she has an intense allergic reaction that Morgan has to save her from by stabbing with her an EpiPen. Peter realizes he’s been overstepping as a supportive friend, and really he’s just sad about Dr. Reed kissing his girlfriend Lauren (seriously, where is Dr. Reed?). Tamra compromises with Morgan that he can keep the dogs, she just won’t go over to his house anymore (“Besides, his grandma gives really wet kisses”). Peter ends up keeping Nicole, who has hemorrhoids and needs a very expensive salve applied to her butthole every six hours. So really, everyone wins!
5. Mrs. Castellano decides she likes Mindy.
Only after Mindy finds her on the ground of a hotel room she's supposed to be cleaning. Mrs. C. has popped a hip trying to lift a comforter, and Mindy comes to her rescue after some initial resistance (Mrs. C. cries "elder rape" at first). They have a lovely chat about how Mrs. C. is only hard on Danny because he can handle it, unlike her other son Richie. In the process, she realizes why Danny likes Mindy so much—she stands up for herself: "All of Danny's old girlfriends were little wisps of women, always agreeing with everything I said, these little bodies with giant—" at which point Mindy cuts in to assert that she has “huge cans.” All is well, though, and Mindy seems to have broken the curse of Mrs. C. hating all of Danny’s girlfriends.
Mindy one–liner of the week: On how Mrs. C. struggled to make ends meets while raising Danny and Richie, "What is 'ends meat,' anyway? People are always talking about it. Is that like the last fatty part of the rump roast? Sounds delicious, I'd love to try it."
