Ranking Mindy's 10 Boyfriends on The Mindy Project

Mindy Lahiri has the best boyfriends. OK, maybe not all The Mindy Project's love interests have been amazing, but the range is so broad that we figured we'd rank the doctor's gentleman callers from best to worst. Now that the season-three premiere is approaching on Tuesday, and we're seeing Mindy happy with Danny, let's rank them all! Keep reading to see where we place hookups like Brendan (Mark Duplass), disappointments like Josh (Tommy Dewey), and her serious relationship with Casey (Anders Holm).

10. Brendan
Fox

10. Brendan

  • Played by: Mark Duplass
  • The nature of the relationship: Friends with benefits.
  • Reason for ranking: Brendan is more than willing to sleep with Mindy, but he won't date her seriously. Also, the fact that he's one of Mindy's career nemeses wouldn't give them long-term potential anyway.
9. Jason
Fox

9. Jason

  • Played by: Ben Feldman
  • The nature of the relationship: Casually dating.
  • Reason for ranking: Jason is the cute intellectual boyfriend you wish for, but he's a total elitist. This relationship barely gets off the ground because Jason is so judgmental about Mindy's tastes. He comes around to Katy Perry, but these two are mismatched from the start.
8. Tom
Fox

8. Tom

  • Played by: Bill Hader
  • The nature of the relationship: Very serious, until he proposes . . . to someone else.
  • Reason for ranking: Tom is perfect at first. Seriously, he's the perfect-on-paper boyfriend: the cute, sweet doctor. But he turns out to be kind of a jerk, since he dumps Mindy for someone else, then he's kind of pathetic after he gets dumped by his wife.
7. Jamie
Fox

7. Jamie

  • Played by: B.J. Novak
  • The nature of the relationship: Casually dating.
  • Reason for ranking: Dating a cute teacher like Jamie is the romantic comedy holy grail, but so is falling for your best friend, which Jamie does. And she's not Mindy. Still, he ranks highly because he's just blind about his real feelings.
6. Charlie
Fox

6. Charlie

  • Played by: Tim Daly
  • The nature of the relationship: Dating casually
  • Reason for ranking: Because as Charlie says, he's not a guy, he's a man. He's brusque, successful, and reminds Mindy to respect herself, but alas, the timing is so off (it's Danny time).
5. Sam
Fox

5. Sam

  • Played by: Seth Rogen
  • The nature of the relationship: They were each other's first kiss at Summer camp, and he comes to town briefly for a romantic reunion.
  • Reason for ranking: Sam is the cute childhood crush that could have been so much more . . . if he hadn't been shipped off to Afghanistan.
4. Josh
Fox

4. Josh

  • Played by: Tommy Dewey
  • The nature of the relationship: Pretty seriously dating.
  • Reason for ranking: OK, I know this is a controversial one because Josh turns out to be a cheating drug addict (it sounds so much worse when you type it out). But when they're actually together, Josh is fun, funny, and charming. He even tried to reform enough to get married. Hey, if things don't work out with Mindy and Danny, maybe he could be redeemed?
3. Cliff
Fox

3. Cliff

  • Played by: Glenn Howerton
  • The nature of the relationship: Pretty serious
  • Reason for ranking: Cliff is a great guy, except that he's maybe a little too into sexting and has trust issues. Until he becomes annoying because, well, Mindy is no longer into him, he's a pretty great boyfriend.
2. Casey
Fox

2. Casey

  • Played by: Anders Holm
  • The nature of the relationship: Very serious — they were engaged!
  • Reason for ranking: What's not to like about Casey? He's a good person, and he truly adores Mindy and sees her for who she is. Their breakup is heartbreaking, but it seems like it's for the best, given that Casey has "found" himself in California.
1. Danny
Fox

1. Danny

  • Played by: Chris Messina
  • The nature of the relationship: Friends who fell in love
  • Reason for ranking: Even though Danny initially lost points for hiding his relationship with Mindy and then dumping her, he regains them when he fights for her in the season finale. Sure, he catfishes her, stands her up, and almost stands her up again, but he prevails in the end, meeting her at the Empire State Building, ready to go "all in."