DISCLAIMER: This recap of the Mythic Quest episode “Playpen” contains spoilers. Proceed at your peril.
FIREBALL! Mythic Quest‘s fifth episode of the season is its strongest thus far (although I feel like I say that every week). “Playpen” finds our crew firing on all comedic cylinders, with every line landing perfectly and every gag playing seamlessly. It’s a fun, heartwarming episode brimming with Mythic Quest‘s brand of bonkers humor.
In addition, the plot moves forward considerably in this outing and sets the stage for the back half of the season. We also continue experimenting with delightful character dynamics, namely Brad/Rachel/Carol and Dana/Poppy.
Ready to delve into “Playpen”? Let’s get to it.
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We open with Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) revealing she added a fun little (and complicated) word puzzle players must solve before gaining access to Hera‘s controls. Ian’s (Rob McElhenney) not feeling it. He’s distracted by the news of a developing Mythic Quest film adaptation. He doesn’t want a tarnished legacy, Pops!
Then, Poppy notices a mysterious someone is moving assets off the server to an off-site address. She uncovers the culprit — Dana. Poppy seethes with rage. Meanwhile, Jo (Jessie Ennis) massages David’s (David Hornsby) temples before the latter launches into a meeting with Brad (Danny Pudi), Carol (Naomi Ekperigin) and Rachel (Ashly Burch). David tears into them for not giving him a heads-up about the NFT thing. Montreal called to ask him about it, and he had to vamp. Vamp. David’s not a vamper.
Carol tries to take credit for the idea, but Rachel steals her thunder. David doesn’t think it reflects well on him, the executive producer, that an ex-employee is making unauthorized moves in the name of the game. David informs Carol that Montreal wants to speak with her. That can’t be good.
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Next, Ian and Poppy confront Dana (Imani Hakim) following their discovery. Poppy resorts to theatrics, while Ian tries to maintain an even keel. Dana denies stealing anything. She was merely sharing Playpen, the tool kit Poppy made for her, with her classmates so that they could create their own games. Initially, Poppy “shat” out said tool kit to keep Dana busy, but it’s proven to be quite the boon for her.
Then, Brad finds a forlorn Carol post-Montreal call. He assumes the company fired her. He apologizes for putting her job on the line. However, Montreal promoted Carol to Director of Unexplored Development Initiatives. She even has a budget and stock options! Carol is now the HODI-DUDI. Oh, and she can now hire whoever she wants. The pair celebrate Carol’s “failing upward” career trajectory.
Meanwhile, Dana introduces Poppy to her Playpen game. She also gives Poppy solid feedback, showing how fun it is to play. Sure, it’s a rudimentary game, but it’s got heart. After fishing for a bit, Dana and Poppy try to wrap chocolates in an assembly line à la I Love Lucy. The bit where Dana references I Love Lucy and Poppy mistakes it as a “queer culture” nod cracks me up. Poppy’s lack of pop culture knowledge will always be funny.
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Later, Ian visits David in MQ and complains about Joe Manganiello joining the adaptation. He assumes Manganiello will play him in the film. However, David reveals it’s a movie about the game, not the making of the game. After some back-and-forth, David reluctantly agrees to bring Ian on board as a consultant and to run all future casting decisions through him.
Jo tries to stir the pot by getting David to repeat what he called Ian while muttering under his breath — a “little b*tch.” Naturally, David vamps, settling on the opposite of what he said to avoid conflict. That’s probably for the best. Ian wants to ask Brad Pitt to join the flick, but Manganiello harbors an inexplicable resentment toward him.
Then, Brad texts Rachel about an emergency, and she rushes to meet him in the monetization office. Brad reveals he can’t take on his old job following Carol’s promotion because he’s “too good” now. He’s not genuinely evil anymore. Can an inherently morally sound person run monetization? Rachel delivers her reasoning for why these two things can coexist. Brad grins and offers her the job. It was all a test!
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Brad knew only Rachel could talk herself into accepting the monetization job, which she does. Brad urges her to forgo a writing career to dive into something she’s naturally great at — helping MQ make money. Aw, Brad is turning a new leaf! Perhaps he’s more of a gray character than outright villainous this season.
Next, Dana finds Poppy holed up in the bathroom. Poppy emerges and tearfully confesses that she doesn’t have Ian’s touch. She doesn’t know what’s fun or what others find entertaining. (This is reminiscent of what the testers told her about Hera.) Poppy feels she’s a glorified mechanic. Nicdao knocks this scene out of the park. She’s incredible with all the dramatic beats on this show. She’s so adept at comedy that I sometimes forget this.
Dana listens to Poppy and comforts her. Then, she brings Poppy into the VR world to meet her classmates. They’ve all been building games with Playpen, and they cheer after Dana introduces Poppy. Poppy gets the boost she needs to land on a significant pivot from Hera. She knocks on Ian’s door to find the latter in a white tank top, looking distracted. We see he’s doing weird sex stuff with his ex, Shannon (Alanna Ubach). Fun fact: Ubach played Roxy in “Frank’s Pretty Woman” on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
Poppy unloads her idea: she’s going to focus solely on Playpen. Sure, she spent a year of her life on Hera. However, the former gives folks more satisfaction. It’s plain ole fun. Ian supports Poppy’s choice before diving back into the weird sex stuff. No Poppys allowed (even though she’s very good at sex).
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I hope we get more emotional, nuanced performances from Nicdao, as Poppy’s breakdown is a lovely change of pace for the series. While these characters never fail to be chaos personified, it’s nice to see proper growth from them, i.e., Brad’s new leaf and Poppy’s desire to break free from her “mechanical” mode.
How do you think Ian will react when he inevitably meets Joe Manganiello? Will Poppy’s new project go off without a hitch? Will this year continue to be the Year of Brittlesbee? Thankfully, we’ve got the rest of the season to find out.
Mythic Quest drops new episodes every Friday on Apple TV+.
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What I do: I'm GGA's Managing Editor, a Senior Contributor, and Press Coordinator. I manage, contribute, and coordinate. Sometimes all at once. Joking aside, I oversee day-to-day operations for GGA, write, edit, and assess interview opportunities/press events.
Who I am: Before moving to Los Angeles after studying theater in college, I was born and raised in Amish country, Ohio. No, I am not Amish, even if I sometimes sport a modest bonnet.
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