Apple TV+’s Mythic Quest finds the crew on the cusp of one thing nice this week, however that’s often whenever you fall in your face.

David, compelled to work with a prima donna actor to develop the Mythic Quest film, receives a confidence enhance from Jo. Poppy and Dana got down to enhance Poppy’s confidence earlier than a giant, costly presentation. Ian feels misplaced now that he’s admitted he and Poppy aren’t working anymore. And Phil lastly finds a method to really feel vital.

It’s one other stellar outing with the superb solid of this unbelievable Apple TV+ comedy.

Mythic Quest recap: ‘The 12 months of Phil’

Season 3, episode 9: Within the episode, entitled “The 12 months of Phil,” David (performed by David Hornsby) is scanning actor Joe Manganiello for his CGI entry into the Mythic Quest film. David is shocked to listen to that a part of Manganiello’s conception of the character of Mythic Quest protagonist The Masked Man entails by no means taking off the masks. David panics. What’s the purpose of getting a celeb within the lead function if folks can’t see his face?

Jo (Jessie Ennis) doesn’t know assist David, so she calls in Ian (Rob McElhenney) for backup. He’s free now that he’s too afraid and ashamed to return to the Grim Pop workplaces after his blowout with Poppy. He decides to go in to speak to Manganiello. The plan is to get him to take off the masks for the half, however Manganiello is such an enormous fan of Ian and his recreation that the actor disarms him instantly. The masks stays on — particularly after Ian autographs it for him. Quickly they’re sporting motion-capture fits and complimenting one another.

David will get sick of Ian and kicks him out — and one thing unimaginable occurs: David intimidates him. The battle with Poppy has erased Ian’s confidence. Then David activates Jo and, as he’s berating her, Jo presses the intercom so Manganiello thinks David is yelling at him. The actor shortly falls in line.

Poppy’s large pitch

Elsewhere, Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao) and Dana (Imani Hakim) run their pitch for Poppy’s game-builder Playpen to the Mythic Quest testers (Ben Stillwell and Austin Zajur). Dana’s involved that with out Ian within the room for the pitch assembly with the investor, with out his confidence and charisma, Poppy’s going to be a nervous wreck.

The truth is, she will get hives even in the course of the dummy presentation. Dana tries to speak to Poppy about be assured.

“Attempt to take into consideration nothing for 10 seconds,” Dana says.

“All I hear is screaming,” Poppy replies.

Carol (Naomi Ekperigin) can also be making a presentation, to the most recent group of hirees. She’s giving insane descriptions of Rachel (Ashly Burch), Brad (Danny Pudi) and Phil (Derek Waters) that make them sound like they have been all a hair’s breadth from loss of life when she found them.

Why’s everybody so younger round right here?

Then, Phil realizes that he lastly has one thing he can use to his benefit to get again on the workplace that has taken him with no consideration for thus lengthy: Mythic Quest doesn’t rent anybody over 40. He plans to begin a class-action lawsuit and take the corporate down over its ageist hiring insurance policies.

Carol panics, figuring out this can mirror poorly on her, so Brad and Rachel bail her out. They rent two new recreation testers (Michael Naughton and Andrew Friedman) who’re each over 40. There goes Phil’s lawsuit — and his momentary endorphin rush.

Poppy and Dana head to the assembly and it goes very nicely … besides that the corporate they’re pitching to is identical one Poppy turned down weeks in the past once they tried to purchase Hera. Dana is incredulous.

“I used to be being assured!” Poppy says.

“That’s not assured,” Dana replies, “that’s psychotic!”

“OH MY GOD WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE,” Poppy says.

The corporate doesn’t need Playpen, and the execs make the very compelling argument that nobody will need to purchase it.

Charlotte Nicdao and the perfection of Poppy Li

I by no means get bored with singing Charlotte Nicdao’s praises for her efficiency within the function of Poppy Li. And this week’s presentation scene provides a window into why. Nicdao goes from clean and engaged to shrieking and hysterical in a second flat. She’s simply so good at taking part in this half. Her burlesque of Ian and Dana’s confidence is humorous as ordinary, having no clue how the individuals who get all inexperienced lights in life behave.

I like the little glimpses into Poppy’s life we get by the use of the interrogations the opposite characters give her. Her describing her food plan to Dana is nice. When she’s informed that Playpen must have 12 million gamers to interrupt even, somebody asks if she even has 12 buddies, not to mention 12 million. She will’t argue.

Brad and Jo’s sociopathic camaraderie can also be good worth. The 2 of them are each uber-confident and but so over-calculating that the best duties develop into like navy interventions. Their joint deviousness has no place in the actual world, and the extra they spend time collectively the extra delinquent they develop into. It’s very cute.

One thing enjoyable to lighten final week’s heavy vibe

This week essentially needs to be a comedown from final week’s episode, which contained the most draining sequence of the season, possibly much more so than the scene of younger Ian being dragged away from his mom as a result of the context wasn’t as deep. (We’re not all the time inspired to see Ian’s humanity first.)

Watching Ian develop into a monster for a second as a result of he’s feeling let down (similar to he did as a child) was harrowing stuff, particularly after we noticed him take it out on Poppy, who nonetheless stood up for herself. It’d be powerful to high it.

We would have liked a reasonably painless episode of Mythic Quest as a palate cleanser, and this week’s episode greater than fills the invoice. Humorous, breezy and cute as a field filled with rats.

★★★★☆

Watch Mythic Quest on Apple TV+

New episodes of the third season of Mythic Quest arrive on Apple TV+ each Friday.

Rated: TV-MA

Watch on: Apple TV+

Scout Tafoya is a movie and TV critic, director and creator of the long-running video essay collection The Unloved for RogerEbert.com. He has written for The Village Voice, Movie Remark, The Los Angeles Evaluate of Books and Nylon Journal. He’s the writer of Cinemaphagy: On the Psychedelic Classical Type of Tobe Hooper, the director of 25 function movies, and the director and editor of greater than 300 video essays, which may be discovered at Patreon.com/honorszombie.