MYTHIC QUEST S2
HOW MYTHIC QUEST GOT BACK ONLINE MID-CRISIS…
The workplace comedy takes it to the next level.
Peeling back the curtain on the strange alchemy of personalities needed to keep a (fictional) MMORPG running, Mythic Quest is back for a second run on AppleTV+. The workplace comedy stars Rob McElhenney as creative director Ian Grimm, who keeps the game engine running with his dysfunctional work wife/lead engineer, Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao). Following two special episodes dealing with Covid’s impact on the company, S2 picks up with how everyone is faring in a post-pandemic world. Cast and creators provide an update…
How has the dynamic between director Ian and engineer Poppy shifted during Covid? ROB MCELHENNEY (IAN GRIMM):
Ian and Poppy’s relationship has always been at the centre of the show, yet it can’t always just be this onenote, combative relationship. If we were always at odds with one another, then it’s hard to understand why these two people would ever work together, let alone be as close as they are. So, we need to see them at their best and we need to see them at their worst.
CHARLOTTE NICDAO (POPPY LI):
I think that at the end of the day, Poppy and Ian are like best friends. They’re at each other a lot, but in this moment of crisis they’re there for each other. But who knows if they’ll continue being nice to each other after the fact.
Have you consulted companies such as Ubisoft about the pandemic’s effect on the industry? MEGAN GANZ (CO-CREATOR):
Yes, we talked to Ubisoft a lot at the beginning of quarantine, asking them how they were getting along because the videogame industry was in a unique position. Like all of us, they had to switch to remote working - but they also had a crazy uptick in the amount of work they needed to do maintaining their servers, given all the people at home playing videogames. But the stories that kept coming out, which we used for [special episode] ‘Quarantine’, were about very universal experiences, like figuring out Zoom, or trying to find a room in your house that doesn’t look terrible.
DAVID HORNSBY (DAVID BRITTLESBEE):
Initially, we had an episode that we were starting to film that focused on [trade event] E3. But once the pandemic hit, we then had to scrap that because as Ubisoft was saying, “No one’s doing E3 any more”, and so there was our episode. Head game writer C.W. Longbottom, is a larger-than-life standout. Is he fun to play?
F. MURRAY ABRAHAM (C. W. LONGBOTTOM):
First of all, I love him, too. I think that’s pretty clear. But I also think he’s absolutely believable. He’s a guy you want to hang out with; at least I do. But he’s not just a zany, crazy guy. He has something to offer and something to say and I love that.
Was C.W.’s isolated appearance this season for safety reasons?
RM:
Yes. I said, “Respectfully, I do not want to be known as the person that got F. Murray Abraham very, very ill.” We felt like we actually came up with a good solution, which was that we would have C.W. work remotely for the first
half of the season. Tara Bennett
MYTHIC QUEST SEASON 2 LAUNCHES ON 7 MAY ON APPLE TV+.