Beth Dubber/FOXMindy Kaling is a woman with a decision to make.
The first season of her breakout Fox sitcom, The Mindy Project, comes to a close tonight and, while fans have taken quite a shine to Mindy's minister boyfriend, Casey (Anders Holm), they've definitely got opinions on her relationship with Danny (Chris Messina)—arguably making Mindy and Danny TV's best new will-they-or-won't-they couple (with New Girl's Nick and Jess passing the torch).
Are fans in for seasons of small moments and longing similiar to Jim and Pam on The Office, on which Kaling served as executive producer, or an avuncular relationship à la 30 Rock's Liz and Jack?
We chatted with Kaling and Messina at Fox's upfront presentation in New York City about the fan-favorite pairing's future and what viewers can expect from tonight's "smoldering" finale!
"Mindy has to make some pretty tough decisions," Kaling said of tonight's big finale. "We see her at a place at the end of the first season that she would never be in at the beginning. It's a really funny, really cinematic episode. It harkens backs to the pilot a lot of ways."
And Messina could very well make you pass out from the heat. "Chris Messina is so good in [the finale]. I watch it and I forget that I work with him! He's just so smoldering and stuff!"
Of course, the question on every Mindy Project fan's mind going into the finale is: Will Mindy and Danny have a big rom-com moment or is Kaling planning on letting that dynamic simmer for a season...or six?
"I'm so impatient as a person and I have no willpower, so part of me is like, if people are into it and I like acting with him, I kind of just want to see what happens, but I don't know," Kaling explains of deciding on the chemistry-riddled pair's future. "We had a lot of luck with Jim and Pam, with letting it build slowly. I have two competing urges and my writers, of course, are opinionated as well, so we're going to have a big discussion."
As for Messina, he's down for whatever, in typical Danny Castellano fashion. "I'm rooting for whatever's best for the TV show," he tells us. "I love acting with her and she's a lot of fun. She makes me laugh, but whatever's best for the storytelling."
The Mindy Project's finale airs tonight at 9:30 p.m. on Fox.
To hear more from Kaling and Messina, including whether or not Holms and Chloe Sevigny are poised to return in season two, watch our interview with them above!
Do you want Mindy and Danny to hook up or are you hoping they stay friends? Sound off in the comments!