The fifth episode of this season's run of Mythic Quest seems to have finally remembered what made the show so special. Right from the very beginning of Mythic Quest, the fun of the show came out best when it was focusing on the group actually dealing with video games and the problems that can pop up when those games are being made. Of course, the Apple TV+ show was an Always Sunny in Philadelphia version of video game development, but it was still the most fun when Ian and Poppy were making video games instead of just running around being whacky.
"Playpen" seems goes back to the origins of Mythic Quest by making the focus video games. There's the video game, Mythic Quest that the MQ crew worked on when they put an NFT into the game. "Montreal" even returns as the big scary corporate overlords that can't possibly know just how poorly run the office actually is by Brittlesby. There was also a great meeting in which David is both the grumpy leader who actually seems to be the only one who understands what's going on, and is then undercut by his employees who really only undercut him because they don't realize he's pointing out how crazy they all are. Jo once again doing something she shouldn't do because she thinks she's helping him is always a good joke, and it worked in this episode as well.
Mythic Quest Back On Track
Then there's the actual work on Playpen, a video game that Poppy sort of worked on, mainly as a way to get Dana out of her hair. Of course, Poppy -being someone who tends to get lost in her work - forgot that she even gave Dana the tool where the game was made. It really is the first time in Mythic Quest Season 3 that there's real work and discussions being done on a video game, inside the television series. This is truly where the series shines. It's also where Poppy Lee's Charlotte Nicdau shines. She gets to give off this air that she's smarter and better than everyone, while also being incredibly awkward. This was best illustrated in her exchange with Dana where, once she gets into Playpen and immediately insults the graphics quality. This prompts Dana to ask Poppy how she constantly forgets that she's the one who made the game in the first place and set the graphics quality limit.
Of course, the back and forth about the fishing simulator that Poppy and Dana get into when Poppy thinks that she's actually been put into a virtual reality "spoont simulator" might be one of the best riffs of the entire season of Mythic Quest. And then of course, once the pair start playing the game, Poppy is forced to finally admit that the thing she was playing was actually fun. There are actually a ton of great interactions between the pair while they're playing these games that continue underlining how Nicdao has mastered her character. It's also why Poppy is easily the most lovable character while being incredibly offputting almost all the time.
Much like this episode of Mythic Quest is a kind of return to form in the season, it also allows Ian to be Ian again. For whatever reason, Rob McElhenney has been in the background of this season more than usual and the series as a whole has suffered because of it. This episode had Ian doing what he does best for the most part. He spent some time having to explain Poppy to other people, which is always top-notch. And then Ian also went to talk to David and showed off the massive ego that has made him such a fun character that wasn't really on display before this week. There were still some missteps when it came to his personality, perhaps trying to show that he's growing as a person.
Ian And Poppy Find Their Magic
His interactions with Dana were still quite a bit better when it was clear that he felt no respect for her at all. When both he and Poppy basically saw the testers as un-people back in Season 2 of Mythic Quest it definitely seemed more fun than the guy who seems like a bit of a sycophant to Dana. There's also the oddity that the one romance on the show that really seemed to be touching and fun has been completely ignored for the last few weeks. It's possible MQ just decided that it didn't want that kind of romance to be the show's focus, but it still feels like it's become a bit weird that the couple is never a couple. There isn't even a mention of their significant others when they are on-screen at this point.
The show is still definitely missing CW Longbottom as the kind of character that everyone else can band together on and tell him how disgusting he is. It's a character that seemed somewhat redundant at times, but he was also so out there that it's not hard to realize what he brought now that he's not there. His absence has underlined that it still does feel like the show is holding back in some ways. There just isn't the off-the-wall zaniness of the great episodes from the first two seasons. Part of that, very obviously is that there's still quite a bit of focus on the show taking place in two different locations. The show is and will always be best when everyone is in the same room together and are all playing off one another.
The changes to the characters of Brad and David continue to both be for the worst, and that is definitely a byproduct of the decision to have Ian and Poppy leave and have David actually be the man in charge. It's weird, because David has a bit more backbone this year, because has to have one and he's a less likable character for it. Likewise, Brad was better when he seemed aloof and above all the craziness that took place. The erosion of his character started in Season 2 of Mythic Quest but now the "nice guy Brad" continues to be more annoying than anything else as audiences wait for the real Brad to surface.
New episodes of Mythic Quest air every Friday on Apple TV+