Just a few weeks early,Mythic Questcelebrates Christmas in a way that onlyMythic Questcan. In the process, the Apple TV+ series saw a return to form that people who have been withMythic Questfrom the very beginningwill appreciate because it encompassed everything that made the show so good. It’s actually hard to believe this is the first Christmas/Holidays episode that the Apple TV+ series has ever done, though some of that is due to the fact that this isn’t a series that tends to air during the same period every year. It’s bounced around the broadcast schedule a bit and so it hasn’t had a ton of opportunities to do what the more traditional television series are able to do. It’s able to put the gang into the “real world” and celebrate the holidays with its audience.
“The 12 Hours of Christmas” is an episodewhere theMythic Questgangtruly shows just why they are as lovable as they have been for two and a half seasons now. There’s something great about watching people who are both lovable and fun to “be around” who honestly are also pretty terrible people. That’s because they aren’t terrible people in an evil sort of way, but they are definitely deeply flawed human beings.
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A Mythic Quest Miracle
That everyone who works for MQ are actually quite flawed is touched on in a couple of different ways to varying degrees of success. Where it definitely still doesn’t work is in the continued use of Jo as someone who doesn’t really seem to understand basic human emotions or relationships. There’s probably a decent wink at how she’s also the only “right-wing” member of the staff. To be fair, thisepisode ofMythic Questalso does Jo right. When she’s screaming at people to obey her leader, it works. When she pretends as if she doesn’t understand what brunch is, it works quite a bit less.
Continuing Jo’s confusion over things that “getting friendship right” still seems like the show has taken her character a little too far. She went from being quirky to someone who isn’t really human. That makes her less funny and just sort of sad. Of course, this episode also went a long way toward making Jo someone who is actually part of the group in the way that she rarely has beenover the course ofMythic Quest’s run. The callbacks to the days when she used to routinely yell at the peons were a nice little touch for a kind of “miracle of Christmas type episode.
The absolute best part of “The 12 Hours of Christmas” was the exchange between David, Ian and Poppy that was basically about which one of them had the worst idea of what Christmas was supposed to be about. The story that David tells about the perfect Christmas that he then later admits was nothing like the Christmases he had is both humorous and even a little sad and totally explains why he is the way he is. It also explains why he so desperately wants to make Christmas great for everyone else, while also not doing exactly everything he possibly can (like giving out bonuses). He’s someone who wants people to have a good Christmas, but deep down, deep, deep down, it’s not as important to him as he makes it look because it’s never been ingrained in him that it’s all that important. That’s a little extra touch with his personality that isn’t said explicitly but that thisepisode ofMythic Questallows viewers to see. It’s coloring in the character without needing to be a bit too implicit.
When it comes to thecast ofMythic Quest, there are no too more flawed people than Poppy and Ian and of course, the fact that they’re very talented and skilled is an added bonus. It’s basically allowed them to be the way they are for as long as they have been. The talk about Poppy’s family basically avoiding her during the Christmas season was one of the all time best back and forths of the entire show. Especially when Ian points out her family had a two-day layover nearby. And then there is a sweetness when the pair realize they are basically digging the knife into one another in order to show who is worse off during the Christmas season.
Getting The Band Back Together
It’s true thatMythic Questis never betterwhen everyone is under the same roof. And this episode did it better than most of the ones that have come before it this season in explaining how they are indeed, under the same roof. The nod towards Ian being told over and over that he wasn’t supposed to be in MQ’s offices was also a nice touch. It seemed weird that he’d keep popping up there and David very explicitly saying he wasn’t supposed to be there made more sense than earlier in the season when they would just wander in.
Perhaps the best part of this episode is what seemed like a payoff of theleadup ofMythic Questfrom very early on. Rachel and Dana’s roles onMQhave grown over the years from the star crossed lovers to full-time employees who are actually contributing. Of course, Dana has seemingly been contributing quite a bit more than Rachel and it’s clear that’s been by design. But it’s also made Rachel seem like little more than a hanger-on. It was nice to see that she’s really found her niche. The character has mostly been there for everyone else to rip into but she’s actually someone who knows what she wants to do and how to do it. There was even a nod towards her long being the kind of woman that was a drag on the relationship but this time around she was really carrying her weight. The episode itself was also pulling quite a bit of weight as it very much might be the best of the third season.
New episodes ofMythic QuestSeason 3 land every Friday on Apple TV+
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