When season two of Mythic Quest ended with its characters scattered to the wind, it could’ve worked as the end of the show. Ian had finally moved past his pride and acknowledged how much he needed Poppy, humbly stepping out of the spotlight to help her create the game she’s always wanted to create. Brad took the heat for Jo’s insider training, ostensibly to boost his street cred but also as a rare selfless act. Dana went off to programming school with the promise of a job awaiting her at the finish line, and Rachel went to Berkeley for a writing program. David and Jo were the only two main characters left at Mythic Quest, with Jo having developed a newfound respect for her chronically insecure boss.
But one of the biggest thrills of watching that finale came with imagining where the show could go next. How could this workplace sitcom let its ensemble still feel like an ensemble with the characters so spread out? Is a series only occasionally set at Mythic Quest still Mythic Quest?
“Across the Universe†is a great season premiere, easily the best of the series, because it makes answering those questions look easy, even in just 26 minutes. This is a slightly different show now, with slightly different dynamics, but the characters are still the same, and even the setting is still mostly consistent. We’re not leaving the MQ office — and if we are, we’re usually only an elevator away.
Let’s get into the basics. After a year of working on Poppy’s game, Hera, at the cavernous new GrimPop Studios, Poppy and Ian are offered $50 million for it, exceeding Poppy’s wildest expectations. David is doing well, too, actually commanding some respect at Mythic Quest, while Carol (newly upped to series regular!) is feeling aimless in her new role as Head of Diversity and Inclusion. Brad is out of prison on good behavior. We don’t hear a ton from Rachel and Dana — after all, this is a busy premiere — but they seem to be doing well, too.
There’s already a lot of potential here; I’m particularly interested to see where Carol’s arc goes, and if she’ll try to effect real change in her new position or accept her role as a figurehead. David admits to her that his job is just treading water, too, and it’s important for Carol to just “do the hokey-pokey†and keep her work calendar full of pointless meetings while maintaining the larger status quo. But then she does something pretty unexpected: Her first act is to hire back Brad as a janitor, which reflects well on the company because he’s part of two marginalized groups (he’s a brown felon). It’s good to see Brad back in the MQ orbit in a new capacity, even if I share David’s suspicions about his intentions.
But the heart of this story has always been the partnership between Ian and Poppy, and it’s great to see the two get some real wins (though in the end Poppy does turn down their first offer, burning a bridge). They still bicker as much as ever, and Ian’s wildly fluctuating gut feelings lead Poppy down a spiral of overthinking when he could’ve just trusted her initial instinct. But we can see that Ian really does support Poppy now; sure, he’s narcissistic enough to put himself on a wall lined with portraits of people like Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa, but what’s important is that Poppy is up there, too. “What matters is what you believe about yourself,†he tells her. “And my gut tells me that you belong on that wall. What does yours say?†It reminds us of how well Ian’s (often misplaced) confidence complements Poppy’s neuroticism.
What brings all these people together again is a party on the MQ roof to celebrate C.W. Longbottom’s return from his yearlong book tour. All the reunions are pitched perfectly, not laying it on too thick with the sentiment; Ian and Poppy even introduce themselves to Rachel, as if they’ve completely forgotten her in the past year. In general, the two are eager to show off how much they’ve blossomed while away from Mythic Quest, and David is desperate to prove he’s better off without them; right when he brags about how different the company culture is now, there’s Brad, breezing through, same as it ever was.
“Across the Universe†already had its work cut out for it in reestablishing these characters and leaving open intriguing paths for the season ahead. But it turns out there’s another loose end to take care of: It was announced in April that F. Murray Abraham wouldn’t be returning to Mythic Quest, so C.W. needs a sendoff. That comes in the form of a letter David reads aloud at the party, which details what happened to C.W.: Knowing that he didn’t have long to live, C.W. “scripted his own conclusion†by driving his Thunderbird into the Grand Canyon and having his remains launched into space, timed precisely to pass above the party like a shooting star.
Given the circumstances, I think this whole final message from C.W. is pretty much the best you could ask for, down to the hilarious joke that even his supposedly “true original†suicide was stolen from a movie. Both the laugh lines and the sincere lines are perfectly in character, and it’s quite moving to hear him finally own up to his stealing and hubris, urging everyone to “Hold onto each other for as long as you can, because that’s all there is.†It’s a satisfying bit of closure, an epilogue of sorts to the decades-spanning C.W. story told across two episodes last season.
This bit of narrative housekeeping also serves as a smart way of bringing together the core group, which convenes inside the office for a brief but touching scene of wistful reminiscing. For a moment, we see these old friends connecting all over again, cast chemistry still intact, and it feels right. But, of course, they all have to go their separate ways — and judging by how long it’s been since they were all in the same room, it’s not likely to happen again anytime soon.
But then we get that perfect final shot of Ian and Poppy taking the elevator down to leave Mythic Quest — only to arrive at the building’s basement level, where it turns out GrimPop is located. It’s a laugh-out-loud moment, one that makes you think back to how dramatically everybody treated the reunion, as if they’d been in different countries for the last year. But it also made me feel giddy for the season ahead, because it promises a lot more cast interactions while still technically keeping Ian and Poppy’s workplace independent from the last one. Mythic Quest is back, guys, and it’s better than ever.
Level Rewards
• The design of GrimPop’s physical space is marvelous, especially the spaceship-y unbroken white walls. (Ian didn’t want lines anywhere in the office.)
• Poppy to David: “We literally haven’t said your name in a year.†Ian: “In fact, when I think about you, all I feel is …†“Apathy?†“Yeah, apathy. So I guess you can’t really feel apathy. It’s sort of a lack of feeling.â€
• The other comedic highlight in a pretty funny episode is probably David’s frustration that everyone keeps asking him questions about C.W. that he can’t answer.