Poppy and Ian’s rising feud involves a surprisingly weak head this week on Mythic Quest. Learn on for my evaluation of “Juice Field”:
It’s come time for Poppy and Ian to Ian to current their particular person components of the growth mission to the “MQ” board. Ian, for his half, presents his half of the growth, displaying a recreation trailer for a recreation I’d truly need to play (not like, I’m sorry to say, the unoriginal Fortnite/Minecraft clone we noticed within the first season). His presentation receives loads of constructive suggestions, however is rapidly outshined by Poppy’s presentation. Poppy’s growth is genuinely new and thrilling, with a function the place if gamers construct one thing, it exists within the recreation’s servers for everybody, in every single place. Nonetheless, as she soaks within the applause for her exhausting work, Poppy’s demo of the sport glitches out, crashing all of the workplace’s servers and bestowing upon Poppy the dreaded “blue display screen of dying.”
After studying Peter Cromwell’s guide, Rachel decides she needs to be a author. In the meantime, Dana has continued to work on her coding expertise in hopes of entering into Berkeley. Placing collectively the items, Rachel involves Dana and tells her that she discovered a writing program in Berkeley she needs to use to, making their impending separation a bit much less particular.
Poppy begins to berate the coding group as to why her recreation didn’t work. They inform her she has to decide on – coding-wise, she will be able to’t have a world the place everlasting participant modifications additionally happen in actual time – it needs to be one or the opposite. Poppy is understandably upset that her one authentic concept for the sport is rapidly taking place the drain, however her freak-out is interrupted by some extraordinarily sudden information. David rushes into the coding basement, telling her that Ian had a coronary heart assault and is within the hospital.
Poppy rushes to the hospital to search out Ian in steady situation. She and her co-manager share a young second, with Poppy realizing she’s by no means seen Ian so weak earlier than. Explaining how he expects his situation was introduced on by work stress, Ian talks about how badass he thinks being so keen about one thing to the purpose of getting a coronary heart assault is. The one drawback? Because it seems, he didn’t have a coronary heart assault. Because the physician is available in and explains, he truly simply fainted from malnutrition and dehydration. To Ian and Poppy’s shared shock and embarrassment, the physician prescribes all that he must recuperate: a juice field.
Persevering with their Shark/Mouse bit, Jo takes recommendation from Brad’s brother Zach to purchase a bunch of shares in Mythic Quest’s father or mother firm earlier than their new growth announcement. When Brad explains to her that what she did was insider buying and selling and intensely felonious, she panics, having by accident arrange what is going to undoubtedly be a significant plot level for tomorrow’s finale.
Poppy, livid that Ian would fear her for nothing (though, to be truthful, I believe not consuming or ingesting for a number of days is fairly regarding as effectively), rails into him. After letting them construct up all season, the 2 start laying all their grievances with each other out on the desk. In a second echoing their dialog on the finish of “Please Signal Right here,” Ian asks Poppy’s opinion on his growth, and he or she tells him it’s “s–t.” He agrees, admitting that she’s “the one different one that is aware of that.”
After their argument, Poppy leaves the room and Ian begins to cry. After a second, Poppy reappears to consolation him, singing him a delicate rendition of “Rainbow Connection” as the top credit roll.
I believe that Mythic Quest’s strengths proceed to return from essentially the most sudden of locations. How oddly revolutionary it’s to have a personality depicted as sturdy and historically masculine cry in the best way that this episode did. Rob McIlhenny isn’t any stranger to difficult gender taboos in his characters; his It’s All the time Sunny character has had ongoing storylines revolving round physique picture, and after years of refined hints towards it, ultimately got here out as homosexual. Nonetheless, It’s nonetheless fairly novel-feeling to see a personality who self-identifies as a “lion” portrayed as fully helpless on this approach.
As we strategy the second season finale, I’m trying again over this (all-too-short) season with combined emotions. I believe the enhancements on this batch of episodes from the primary season are fully obvious – fewer duds, extra coherent story, and blessed fewer makes an attempt by out-of-their-depth millennials to try to make sense of Gen Z tradition. Nonetheless, I nonetheless suppose Mythic Quest is holding again from us. We noticed in outings like “Everlight” and “Backstory!” simply how a lot of a spitfire this present might be, writing and production-wise, and but we nonetheless acquired caught for a big chunk of the season on half-gags and storylines that come and go with out a lot fanfare (I don’t suppose anybody is watching this present to maintain up on David’s nonexistent courting life).
If the (tragic) cancellation of NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has proven me something, it’s that true comedies on this bizarre, drama-favoring period of tv must be daring. As a lot potential because it had, most of the essential moments in Zoey’s second season had been stalled by love triangles and different simple, protected plot factors. Gifted casts and strong writing (which Mythic Quest has in spades) are usually not sufficient proper now. To actually stand aside, comedies have to unfold their arms out a bit wider; to take up an area within the TV panorama but uninhabited. Mythic Quest, like Zoey, has begun to do that, however can be touchdown on the conservative finish of the creativity spectrum. In contrast to Zoey I can solely hope that MQ will get a 3rd season – and an opportunity to set free all the pent-up wackiness it appears to have ready within the wings.
What did you consider “Juice Field?” How do you’re feeling about Poppy and Ian’s up-and-down relationship, and the best way it performed out this season? Any finale predictions? Let me know within the feedback!