4 Things Their Relationship Needs to Work

In the season finale of The Mindy Project , Mindy Lahiri may have gotten everything she always wanted, but unlike her fellow rom com stars, she probably won't live happily ever after. Although it was refreshing to see Mindy and Danny's awkward mid-season breakup resolved using romantic comedy cliches, it doesn't necessarily mean their relationship will weather the tests of Season 3. The differences that broke Mindy and Danny up the first time were profound, and they haven't changed, so their banter in Season 3 will need to address these problems, while showing their binding and infuriating love for one another.

Like any great will-they-won't-they TV romance, Mindy and Danny's relationship could be great for the show — or the lack of romantic tension could kill the comedy. But if they stay together and work through their countless problems, The Mindy Project might be able to traverse into relatively unknown sit com territory: a tale of a healthy but flawed couple working through their differences, instead of breaking up and making up from week to week.

Here's what these two need to do to make it work.

Confront Their Ideological Differences

Danny has always been old-school Catholic, while Mindy remains a free spirit who's more obsessed with interpersonal relationships than an absolute code of ethics. Their differences have been the fuel for some great Catholic guilt jokes in the past, but they need to sit down and talk about their values and goals at some point. The last moments of the finale hinted at an upcoming fight about the future, when they couldn't agree on the genders, number, or names of their hypothetical children.

Find a Few Activities They Both Enjoy

Let's face it, Danny has exactly three hobbies: going to the gym, making 40-year-old pop culture references, and chasing girls. Mindy, on the other hand, has an abiding obsession with current celebrity culture, and is constantly shopping for new Fat Steps. Although they seem to enjoy making out and gossiping about work, they'll eventually have to find non-sexual activities they both like. Get ready for another episode where Danny tries to get Mindy into exercise, and fails miserably.

Reconcile Their Body Issues

On this front, Mindy seems to be much more well-adjusted than Danny. Although she often makes slightly overstated jokes about her "petite Asian" frame, Mindy seemed to deal with some of her body issues in this season's "Danny Castellano Is My Personal Trainer." Her body acceptance seems to stem partly from Danny's compliments, but nonetheless, she seems more body-positive than Mr. Castellano himself. Danny's constant exercise isn't bad in and of itself, but their have been more than a few hints on the show that he has body image problems. Their relationship may not fall apart if Danny stays insecure, but it isn't healthy for either of them to rely on each other for constant affirmation.

Get Away From Each Other

Living and working and commuting together can get tiring, so Mindy and Danny need to plan for the moment when the "honeymoon" is over and they just get sick of each other. Whether this means they take different trains, or if Morgan takes Mindy to that really neat quarry again, this couple is going to need some space. Because as much as we love watching Mindy and Danny do everything together, it could eventually drive them apart.

Images: FOX