That Mythic Quest Episode
If you’ve seen Mythic Quest, you already know what episode I’m talking about. If you haven’t, Mythic Quest is a comedy on Apple TV by the creators of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia that takes place in a game studio. It’s sort of like if The Office took place at the game studio for World of Warcraft instead of at a paper company.
And much like The Office, I’ve been impressed by Mythic Quest’s ability to pack jokes into every episode but also have a deeper, more insightful level too. There are episodes about how to handle an influx of Nazis on your game to sexism in the workplace, to the new phenomenon of teenage influencers suddenly having more clout than established brands.
I was impressed by the first four episodes, and then the fifth episode started and turned everything on its head. The characters on screen were new. The scene was new. Suddenly we were in the 90s. They were bantering in a game store about their favourite games. And then … some things happen. And you realise the entire episode is a one-off short story with an entirely different tone from the rest of the series. I love all of Mythic Quest, but this episode is clearly the best of them all.
Making people laugh is hard. Making people feel is hard. Somehow managing to do both in a single work of art is nearly impossible. When I saw Mythic Quest pull it off in the first season, I thought “kudos to the team.” Then I saw the quarintine episode that came out about a month ago, and somehow they did it again. I’m agog.
This is a fun show to watch, but I’ve got my eye on the whole team. They’re onto something and I wish them all the best.
