Mythic Quest was one of the first Apple TV+ series to show what the streamer was capable of: A show that has a decent budget, some quality writing and stars, but is ultimately about the “found family” that makes workplace comedies so appealing. A few months later, the streamer would premiere Ted Lasso, a workplace comedy that pretty much defined the service for the next few years. After a two-year hiatus, Mythic Quest is back for a fourth season.
MYTHIC QUEST SEASON 4: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: David Brittlesbee (David Hornsby) stands in front of the people who work on the game Mythic Quest and talk about what’s gone on the past few years.
The Gist: The user-creation module of MQ, called Playpen is blowing up, thanks to a game called Cozy Galaxy, created by tester Dana Bryant (Imani Hakim). But Ian Grimm (Rob McElhenny) and Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao) have been working on the new MQ expansion module, and when he introduces them, the two of them unexpectedly descend from the ceiling, dressed as angels.
At least that’s what happens in his dream. He dashes over to Poppy’s apartment in the middle of the night to give her his idea, but tries to respect the new boundaries they’ve set up for their creative relationship. He mostly fails, but at least he doesn’t cross her doorway when he gives the idea: The expansion module will be Heaven, only accessible by the most courageous players. Poppy says she loves it, kicks him out, and goes for another round of sex with her new boyfriend Storm (Chase Yi).
They present the idea — called Elysium — to David and Rachel (Ashly Burch), the head of monetization, the next day. David seems to be OK with it, but he’s distracted by wanting to know Dana’s whereabouts so he can give her an award. Rachel, who’s in a relationship with Dana, says she’ll text her, but David wacks the phone out of her hand to enforce the management-creative boundary.
David is concentrating on Playpen so much that he tells Ian and Poppy that they have all the time they need to get the expansion done; not having a deadline is something that is dangerous for both of them. In the meantime, Dana meets with her team — former money guy Brad Bashki (Danny Pudi) and David’s former assistant Jo (Jessie Ennis) — to try to figure out how to actually get paid for Cozy Galaxy, which she created under a deal that Brad derisively calls a “rookie contract”, even though he’s the one who wrote it.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Mythic Quest is a classic workplace comedy along the lines of The Office, Parks And Recreation and recent examples like Animal Control and St. Denis Medical, though it has the sensibilities of McElhenny and fellow creators Charlie Day and Megan Ganz.
Our Take: At this stage in the game, Mythic Quest is all about the relationships that have developed in an office where marathon coding sessions and months-long pushes to get updates out are the norm. The relationships are pretty deep, given all the time these people spend together, and what McElhenny, Day, Ganz and the show’s writers are exploring this season is changes in those relationships that set up those new boundaries.
Ian and Poppy have always had this intellectual and creative relationship, which is what he tells her when he sees her at Storm’s art opening. Her relationship with Storm isn’t going to affect Ian the way everyone thinks, because he insists he’s not attracted to Poppy, but when he discovers that she helped Storm design the centerpiece of his exhibit, McElhenny effectively shows Ian’s disappointment.
Dana and Rachel have to negotiate being in a relationship between a creative and a manager. David’s loyalties, always driven by what’s making the company the most money, is always shifting. Brad and Jo are adjusting to their new normal on the creative side. And all Dana wants is to get paid for her creative efforts. There are comedic possibilities in all of these situations because we’ve lived with all of these characters and how they relate to each other for some time now, through COVID and other setbacks, so we love seeing them all back and bouncing off each other again.
What struck us about this season was that both the funny and emotional moments are earned, precisely because of what we mentioned above. At this point, we know that Mythic Quest isn’t designed to be laugh-a-minute, but when the show does devolve into silliness, it makes sense because we know how these people relate to each other and deal with the pressures they’re under. But the dramatic, emotional moments, like Ian’s surprisingly earnest talk with Poppy about loving her mind, have a lot of impact because we know what the two of them have been through in their unqiue relationship.
The throughline of the season will likely be Dana trying to get her bag or taking her talents elsewhere, along with Poppy and Ian getting Elysium going and making the original MQ game front of mind at the company again. But Mythic Quest is confident enough in its writing and cast to make the actual work of creating new gaming worlds a secondary aspect of the series.
Sex and Skin: Poppy talks in barely-disguised double entendres, which is how Ian knows that she has a boyfriend.
Parting Shot: As Storm introduces the crowd at his gallery opening to Poppy, she looks at Ian and can see how disappointed he is.
Sleeper Star: Andrew Friedman and Michael Naughton play Andy and Mikey, two middle-aged game testers who seem to have no idea how to test video games. In fact, Andy is more interested in seeing the drama that takes place outside the testing room.
Most Pilot-y Line: Poppy uses a Porsche as storage because she has no idea how to drive it. She can’t even click the key fob correctly, as an alarm goes off when she uses it.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Mythic Quest is at a stage where it can take its time exploring and evolving the key relationships between its main characters, while keeping things funny, and we see that during the fourth season.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mythic Quest’ Season 4 On Apple TV+, Where Ian And Poppy Explore New Boundaries And The Original Game Is Backburnered appeared first on Decider.
