Mythic Quest Season 3 Premiere Review

Critics w/o CredentialsNovember 11, 202280/10077 min
Director
Rob McElhenney
Writers
Megan Ganz, David Hornsby, Rob McElhenney
Rating
TV-MA
Running Time
50 minutes
Airs
Fridays
Channel
Apple TV Plus
Overall Score
Rating Summary
Mythic Quest delivers not only amazing storytelling but also increasingly creative ways of delivering its trademark comforting narrative.

The following is a review of the first 2 episodes of Season 3 of Mythic Questavailable now on Apple TV+

For the most avid watchers of Mythic Quest, they are likely aware of how quietly the series has been consistently delivering for Apple TV+ its previous two seasons. As a result, expectations for its third season have been set fairly high. In a time where there has been an abundance of choices to stream, creators Rob McElhenney, Megan Ganz, and Charlie Day have pierced through the notions of choice paralysis with interestingly layered characters that are embroiled in their own journeys while also embarking in a collective narrative that has followed a team of video game creators who have struggled to decide what’s next after creating one of the most popular online games of all time.

Season two ended with several major changes on the horizon for the team with Poppy and Ian departing Raven’s Banquet for a new challenge – their own studio and major game release. Meanwhile, David is left in charge, with Jo as his right hand, to continue running the company that Ian started and with it the band of tech misfits that come along for the ride. Since being whisked away to jail for insider trading, Brad has been released on good behavior and subsequently been hired back as a member of the Raven’s Banquet team, albeit as a janitor. This leads to a hilarious power struggle between David and Brad that in the early episodes has shown promise as being one of the comedic focal points for this season.

Meanwhile, for Dana, her end of the bargain struck between herself and Poppy has concluded as she has finished her coding school and is ready to join Poppy and Ian’s team. However, they seem too preoccupied to remember. But the standout character of Mythic Quest, at least from the first episode of this new season, is the one who is not even physically there, C.W. Longbottom. CW easily stole the spotlight during season two as his backstory was greatly explored in one of the series’ most powerful episodes, once again proving that characters who were at first easy to distinguish into narrative stereotypes are written in such a manner that they can surprise viewers at almost any turn.

The new season focuses on a different challenge as it attempts to balance multiple storylines while stretched in various locations but the core of its brilliance is still very much intact which is a testament to a series that has matured over time by trusting in its material. Beneath the changes, Mythic Quest still has plenty to mine going forward through David’s increasing suspicion of Brad the janitor that will inevitably lead to an amazing showdown, Jo’s introspection on her ability to still be nefarious, Poppy’s imposter syndrome, and of course, Ian’s God complex while attempting to support Poppy’s vision.

Based on the season so far, there is a comforting sense of familiarity within the series that fans have supported while also genuine excitement for the unknown of what lies ahead. If anything, this team has shown they are capable of not only amazing storytelling but also finding even more creative ways of delivering that narrative in unique packaging (Look at the episodes – A Dark Quiet Death, the COVID episode, Backstory!). Knowing that even more growth accompanied by uncomfortable, albeit necessary, change is on the horizon for Poppy, Ian and Co. should be enough to hook viewers easily for this season’s journey.

At the very least, fans should continue watching just to check on David’s COVID mustache, which may or may not become a recurring segment over the course of our reviews this season.


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