Mindy Kaling helped create Running Point. In season 3, she will also play Divya, an outspoken CEO of a popular gambling app who becomes “a thorn in Isla’s plans all season,” according to Variety. Production is underway in Los Angeles, and Kate Hudson is directing the first episode, her television directorial debut.
Divya and Isla share a distinction: each is the first woman to lead in a male-dominated field. That gives the rivalry a more useful starting point than a simple clash of personalities. They understand the pressure of being treated as an exception, but the character description promises that common ground will not make them allies.
A rival who runs a gambling app also puts Isla’s basketball-franchise story in contact with a different kind of business. The setup could give the comedy fresh material about ambition and public image, especially if Divya is allowed to be formidable on her own terms. A woman succeeding in a male-dominated industry can be a character, not just a résumé; the show will need to give Divya motives beyond making Isla’s week worse.
Kaling’s move from co-creator to recurring cast member makes that question especially interesting. A creator acting in the story can bring a close feel for its comic machinery, but it can also make a character’s importance feel preordained. The role will work best if Divya earns her place through the friction she creates with Isla, rather than through the novelty of her casting.
The season is in production, so the details of that friction are still a promise. For now, the sharpest opportunity is two female leaders who recognize the same barriers and choose to compete anyway.
