Mythic Quest season 3 episode 9 recap & review: The Year of Phil

In episode 9 of Mythic Quest, David has his first interactions with Joe while working on the MQ movie and Dana helps Poppy build her confidence to pitch her game to some executives. The episode is streaming on Apple TV+.

Recap

Joe Manganiello is recording some mo-cap sessions for the movie as David and Jo are supervising but David soon realises that Joe has his own ideas on the role that won’t go down well with his bosses in Montreal.

Poppy is practising her pitch for Playpen in front of Dana, Kai and Travor but she’s extremely nervous and Dana tries to help her get out of her head with a pep talk.

Joe is really starting to get on David’s nerves but David doesn’t know how to get him to listen. Carol makes a score of new hires to the company and she addresses them with Brad, Rachel and Phil the art director by her side.

She uses the example of Brad and Rachel as her past success stories after which she uses Phil’s example to signify the older staff at MQ who are proof that Carol is shifting to a new, younger hiring practice.

Phil grabs onto that statement and tells Carol that she’s discriminating against people like him, which is people over the age of 40. He accuses her of ageism and says that this is the meal ticket he’s been waiting for all these years.

Ian shows up to the recording because Jo messaged him saying David was having trouble controlling Joe. Ian says he’ll sort things out and David is worried they’re going to fight each other but the opposite happens.

Joe sees Ian and immediately begins showering him with praise because he’s such a big fan and Ian is pleasantly surprised by the adoration as they get along like two peas in a pod.

Carol is worried about the potential lawsuit that Phil is going to file so she thinks of people she can lay off and hire older people to replace them. Brad and Rachel tell her that her diverse hiring practice worked so well that pretty much everyone falls under a protected category.

They do, however, narrow down one department where Carol can possibly make some changes. Poppy and Dana have a one-on-one conversation and Dana tries to get into Poppy’s head and find out what she’s so worried about.

Poppy is simultaneously spooked and intrigued with how similar Dana is to Ian and wants to make an effort to improve her self-confidence for this pitch.

Ian and Joe continue to be a nuisance and David starts to lose his patience. He calls Ian out and then with a surprising level of confidence chews Ian out and tells him to leave. Ian says he’s not in a great place after his fight with Poppy but realises he has no choice.

David is still riding this high and as Jo tries to add another note, he continues to give her a piece of his mind. She inches back and switches on the intercom so it appears as though he’s talking to Joe instead.

Joe listens to everything and agrees to follow David’s instructions after apologising for getting too ahead of himself. Phil is going around trying to get other employees to join his class action suit but isn’t able to find many others.

He heads over to the tester’s den with a devious smile because he knows that they’re always mistreated but when he gets there, he finds two older gentlemen whom he doesn’t recognize.

Carol shows up and tells Phil that these two people are the latest hires, foiling Phil’s plans to file a lawsuit since these hires prove the suit false.

Poppy gives a great confident pitch but the executive passes on her idea. When Poppy panics and asks him why he tells her that it’s because she rudely rejected their previous offer for Hera.

Dana is livid that Poppy went back to the same person to pitch her new game which was a stupid idea but Poppy thought it wouldn’t matter because she was confident. The executive also tells her that she would need close to 12 million players to make a profit and with those numbers, no other VC is going to fund the game.

Review

• Given how intense the previous episode ended with Poppy and Ian’s argument, the fact that this one has a more light-hearted tone feels a little unbalanced.
• David’s monologue as he tells Ian to step back and then speaks very firmly to Jo is amazing. To see his character have such a significant moment where he’s supremely confident is wonderful to see.
• The sub-plot of Phil trying to get back at MQ for all the ridicule he has faced over the years is the weakest of the three that take place in this episode and doesn’t add much to the series other than some minor funny moments.

---

Also Read: Mythic Quest season 3 episode 8 recap & review: To Catch a Mouse