First of all, I really appreciate the whole critics about how disjointed S03 feels - talking with a friend this came along, although we couldn't pinpoint what wasn't clicking, as loving the show surely makes it harder to look into its failures. But after rewatching all episodes after finishing S03, I changed my mind a bit. They've done some incredible retroactive writing: after Sarian, it hits so much deeper when Ian is in the hospital bed, and both he and Poppy acknowledge themselves as little scared kids. While I agree this season lacks structure, for me character development is at its prime - even the disconnected plot, the alienating Grimmpop office, all false progress with the movie or Hera/Playpen... all of it ends working out for me, since I think they enhance the theme of this season. It's like the characters are so much over their head being individualistic, that all collective work that previously made the success of MQ, a common ground between characters, is replaced by sterile environments and uncohesive plotlines. Their fights against each other, which ended being beneficial for the game, now are battles of each own against their world conceptions. And being alone on these battles, they mostly struggle and fail. It looks like the main mechanism of the season is putting the characters on a completely reverse setting and role (even which characters were flat or round) - at first it's exciting for most of them, as they feel like they've finally achieved their dreams, but at the end of the day, they've all became "fish out of the water". And I think that even while plots like this can be disappointing, nowadays we really need more writing about failure, about characters facing delusion as what seemed right at the end didn't work out. Then season finale comes as a realignment, a dialectic synthesis of what they were and what they tried to be but couldn't. I totally agree that they could've handled it better, but when I see it through this thematic perspective, all weirdness kinda fits its place.
There’s so much about this show I love. I don’t mind it’s flaws one bit. What I will never figure out is the elevator pitch and why anyone invested real money into this project, but I’m so glad they did. It’s a show only gamers would watch that almost all gamers will hate. Take my money!!! 😂
my theory about the lack of focus in season 3 stems from rob’s split focus between personal life and business venture, i.e. the shiny new toy of a welsh football team with a new best friend
CW would have loved this video and your validation of the importance of the story! Seriously though, I am new to the show having just finished watching all 3 seasons recently. I think you were able to voice some of my misgivings about the show. I really WANT to connect more with these characters and there are flashes of absolutely brilliant writing throughout the show’s run. I enjoy it quite a bit and I envision returning to it for repeated viewings based on the quality of the acting and some amazing moments.
Your confusion in season 3 is probably how confusing working in games is. Often times CEOs and companies will make decisions that affect you without you knowing why. Is the exact reason game developers leave to make their own indie game. Marvel snap came about from 2 people that worked on hearthstone. I think season 3 revolves about the difference in a well stablished business vs making your own game developing business. They skip the small gritty details and doesn't need to be realistic. Is just addressing issue in the game industry but not really bringing it up. They focus on the core ideas, not the details of the problems. I think is nice and enjoyed from a game developer view
I love your review, though I have some disagreements. I don't feel like discussing them all, but my biggest is that Ian's lack of interest in Hera was not seen before Poppy said it. I watch this show as it comes out with a friend, and even before the s3 flashback episode we had discuased that he might not be into it and once that episode came out we were sure.
I found your channel thanks to your Succession video and I was amazed at your level of insight and how you made points I hadn't heard before (notably the sun/son motif) -- that show is so rich! And I'm so happy to finally see someone talk about Mythic Quest, which is a very underrated comedy in my opinion. Before you even mentioned Ted Lasso I was thinking, as always when I think of MC, about how annoying it is how Ted Lasso is heralded as the be all, end all of comedies of the new age (those that aren't particularly funny and are just dramas disguised as a 30-minutes, although TL didn't even pretend anymore when it began having those absurd runtimes midway through season 2... I know I'm rambling but I needed to vent about that show), until season 3 that is, when Apple TV+ has produced arguably better -- if more limited in audience -- comedies these past few years, including Mythic Quest and the brillant Dickinson with Hailee Steinfeld. I remember thinking season 3 was definitely weaker than the other two, and your points have highlighted my qualms with it, and even made me see stuff I hadn't thought about, and I think that is precisely because I'm not that invested in it despite my thinking it's quite good. I would argue you are much more invested in the show than you admit, but that may just be because of your seemingly heightened analytical brain. To me, the one-two punch of watching "Please Sign Here" (the HR episode where Carol tries to make the employees sign a work assessment and it goes all through the night before they won't stop arguing) and "Backstory!" back-to-back in late 2021 was an experience unlike any other as it was some of the best writing and storytelling I had the chance to lay my eyes upon in a comedy. Perhaps season 3's stumbles were due to the fact they had to dial things down a bit behind the scenes after the covid drama during production of season 2 (26 crew members were tested positive which was apparently the worst outbreak of any show shooting in LA at the time) and F. Murray Abraham's subsequent and unceremonious ousting from the show due to on-set misconduct. Nevertheless, I think we're so lucky to have this show and it still has a lot of heart in spite of its recent faults. Thanks a lot for your analysis.
this was a great video! loved your commentary about how the monetization of creativity/passion under capitalism was SO important to the first two seasons but doesn't come up at all in season three, that was one of my big gripes. and the heavy focus on the metaverse and nfts felt so antithetical to those previous discussions. didn't hate the season, i liked sarian and the ending, but you're right that the ending feels unearned.
All those characters that started out flat tho became very deep even though they are secondary. What I like is how every character has chemistry with each other
My guess is the writers worked backwards from the end for season 3 and they had a hard time figuring out how to get to that point. Hopefully they figure out how to ground the next season a little better.
great analysis! i think cw's death had a real negative effect on the narrative. he was the one on screen looking for and outlining the story in s1 and i think that wouldve helped the writers at least know what s3 was about. s3 was unfunny and long for me, which was so disappointing since s2 was so good consistently!!! but hopefully s4 will be back on track since grimpop will be back at mq.
I agree with a lot in this video. The video game CGI cutscene transitions in season 3 really irritated me. Why are these here? I have seen absolutely nothing from the video game. Are these cutscenes from mythic quest, are they Hera? It just felt so directionless and irrelevant like much of the season
I think a lot of the reason why season 3 feels so disjointed and lost is because all of the characters are lost. It feels intentional. Season 3 is a lot of setup for what I imagine will be the final season coming with season 4. It seems they wanted to start rounding out some of the background characters like Brad, Jo, and Dana because they want to give them a fulfilling arc in the final season but the characters didn't really have a specific motivation outside of very simplistic or external ones. That ends up making the characters question what they really want and what they currently have in life, leading to them going off and starting a company together.
The part with Poppy breaking down at the end really hit home to me and I’m sure a lot of people. Love this show!
Oh definitely, I know I cried a couple of times during covid because I couldn't see my loved ones.
I respect the writers for being committed to keeping the relationship between Ian and Poppy platonic but my god they have so much chemistry I hate it
First of all, I really appreciate the whole critics about how disjointed S03 feels - talking with a friend this came along, although we couldn't pinpoint what wasn't clicking, as loving the show surely makes it harder to look into its failures.
But after rewatching all episodes after finishing S03, I changed my mind a bit. They've done some incredible retroactive writing: after Sarian, it hits so much deeper when Ian is in the hospital bed, and both he and Poppy acknowledge themselves as little scared kids. While I agree this season lacks structure, for me character development is at its prime - even the disconnected plot, the alienating Grimmpop office, all false progress with the movie or Hera/Playpen... all of it ends working out for me, since I think they enhance the theme of this season. It's like the characters are so much over their head being individualistic, that all collective work that previously made the success of MQ, a common ground between characters, is replaced by sterile environments and uncohesive plotlines. Their fights against each other, which ended being beneficial for the game, now are battles of each own against their world conceptions. And being alone on these battles, they mostly struggle and fail.
It looks like the main mechanism of the season is putting the characters on a completely reverse setting and role (even which characters were flat or round) - at first it's exciting for most of them, as they feel like they've finally achieved their dreams, but at the end of the day, they've all became "fish out of the water". And I think that even while plots like this can be disappointing, nowadays we really need more writing about failure, about characters facing delusion as what seemed right at the end didn't work out. Then season finale comes as a realignment, a dialectic synthesis of what they were and what they tried to be but couldn't.
I totally agree that they could've handled it better, but when I see it through this thematic perspective, all weirdness kinda fits its place.
I appreciate this lens!
Just rewatched the series in anticipation for season 4 and i just love the depth through the lens of this being a comedy show
There’s so much about this show I love. I don’t mind it’s flaws one bit. What I will never figure out is the elevator pitch and why anyone invested real money into this project, but I’m so glad they did.
It’s a show only gamers would watch that almost all gamers will hate. Take my money!!! 😂
my theory about the lack of focus in season 3 stems from rob’s split focus between personal life and business venture, i.e. the shiny new toy of a welsh football team with a new best friend
CW would have loved this video and your validation of the importance of the story! Seriously though, I am new to the show having just finished watching all 3 seasons recently. I think you were able to voice some of my misgivings about the show. I really WANT to connect more with these characters and there are flashes of absolutely brilliant writing throughout the show’s run. I enjoy it quite a bit and I envision returning to it for repeated viewings based on the quality of the acting and some amazing moments.
Glad someone feels the same way!
Your confusion in season 3 is probably how confusing working in games is. Often times CEOs and companies will make decisions that affect you without you knowing why. Is the exact reason game developers leave to make their own indie game. Marvel snap came about from 2 people that worked on hearthstone. I think season 3 revolves about the difference in a well stablished business vs making your own game developing business. They skip the small gritty details and doesn't need to be realistic. Is just addressing issue in the game industry but not really bringing it up. They focus on the core ideas, not the details of the problems. I think is nice and enjoyed from a game developer view
I love your review, though I have some disagreements. I don't feel like discussing them all, but my biggest is that Ian's lack of interest in Hera was not seen before Poppy said it. I watch this show as it comes out with a friend, and even before the s3 flashback episode we had discuased that he might not be into it and once that episode came out we were sure.
I found your channel thanks to your Succession video and I was amazed at your level of insight and how you made points I hadn't heard before (notably the sun/son motif) -- that show is so rich! And I'm so happy to finally see someone talk about Mythic Quest, which is a very underrated comedy in my opinion.
Before you even mentioned Ted Lasso I was thinking, as always when I think of MC, about how annoying it is how Ted Lasso is heralded as the be all, end all of comedies of the new age (those that aren't particularly funny and are just dramas disguised as a 30-minutes, although TL didn't even pretend anymore when it began having those absurd runtimes midway through season 2... I know I'm rambling but I needed to vent about that show), until season 3 that is, when Apple TV+ has produced arguably better -- if more limited in audience -- comedies these past few years, including Mythic Quest and the brillant Dickinson with Hailee Steinfeld.
I remember thinking season 3 was definitely weaker than the other two, and your points have highlighted my qualms with it, and even made me see stuff I hadn't thought about, and I think that is precisely because I'm not that invested in it despite my thinking it's quite good. I would argue you are much more invested in the show than you admit, but that may just be because of your seemingly heightened analytical brain.
To me, the one-two punch of watching "Please Sign Here" (the HR episode where Carol tries to make the employees sign a work assessment and it goes all through the night before they won't stop arguing) and "Backstory!" back-to-back in late 2021 was an experience unlike any other as it was some of the best writing and storytelling I had the chance to lay my eyes upon in a comedy.
Perhaps season 3's stumbles were due to the fact they had to dial things down a bit behind the scenes after the covid drama during production of season 2 (26 crew members were tested positive which was apparently the worst outbreak of any show shooting in LA at the time) and F. Murray Abraham's subsequent and unceremonious ousting from the show due to on-set misconduct. Nevertheless, I think we're so lucky to have this show and it still has a lot of heart in spite of its recent faults. Thanks a lot for your analysis.
totally agree with your take here! seems like next season could be a return to form.
this was a great video! loved your commentary about how the monetization of creativity/passion under capitalism was SO important to the first two seasons but doesn't come up at all in season three, that was one of my big gripes. and the heavy focus on the metaverse and nfts felt so antithetical to those previous discussions. didn't hate the season, i liked sarian and the ending, but you're right that the ending feels unearned.
Thank you for another great video
All those characters that started out flat tho became very deep even though they are secondary. What I like is how every character has chemistry with each other
This episode made me laugh so hard from start to finish!
My guess is the writers worked backwards from the end for season 3 and they had a hard time figuring out how to get to that point. Hopefully they figure out how to ground the next season a little better.
Good video and I agree overall. I still liked season 3 but in some ways it felt like walking in a big circle to get back where we started.
great analysis! i think cw's death had a real negative effect on the narrative. he was the one on screen looking for and outlining the story in s1 and i think that wouldve helped the writers at least know what s3 was about. s3 was unfunny and long for me, which was so disappointing since s2 was so good consistently!!! but hopefully s4 will be back on track since grimpop will be back at mq.
I agree with a lot in this video. The video game CGI cutscene transitions in season 3 really irritated me. Why are these here? I have seen absolutely nothing from the video game. Are these cutscenes from mythic quest, are they Hera? It just felt so directionless and irrelevant like much of the season
I think a lot of the reason why season 3 feels so disjointed and lost is because all of the characters are lost. It feels intentional. Season 3 is a lot of setup for what I imagine will be the final season coming with season 4. It seems they wanted to start rounding out some of the background characters like Brad, Jo, and Dana because they want to give them a fulfilling arc in the final season but the characters didn't really have a specific motivation outside of very simplistic or external ones. That ends up making the characters question what they really want and what they currently have in life, leading to them going off and starting a company together.
I like the show but it makes no sense to me that Poppy and Ian would share a position.
To be very slightly fair, CW was killed off because his actor got fired for inappropriate behaviour on set.
I love this show so much that I can look past the obvious self insert that is Rachael. Glad everyone else on the show hates her just as much as me