Summary
“Second Skeleton” continues, at pace, Poppy’s major character development as she considers motherhood, which is a welcome addition to the story.
One of my primary concerns was that Poppy would be avoidant in Mythic Quest Season 4, Episode 5, after discovering she was pregnant in the previous episode.
However, “Second Skeleton” dives right in; a distracted Poppy tells Ian that she is 100% pregnant after taking ten pregnancy tests, and surprisingly (I wasn’t expecting her to be immediately on board), she wants to keep the baby. She connects it to building something (like gaming) as a way of justifying that it feels right, but at the same time, she fears being a bad mother.
Ian is shocked yet sweet about everything and vows to support her by suggesting they enter a controlled environment to help with her fears. This environment is a VR simulator, which doesn’t teach anything about motherhood, and the scenarios are predictably silly (it’s Ian, after all). The experiment fails once Ian’s online lover, Shannon, enters the VR world and disrupts their teamwork.
MQ Needs To Cut Costs For Investment
A foreign investor is interested in investing in MQ, and David tells Rachel that they need to make the company appear as profitable as possible. His main suggestion is to place ads in Playpen, but Rachel, understandably, is concerned about harming Dana’s game and instead suggests eliminating deadweight in the company, such as Ian and Poppy’s expansion.
David doesn’t want to take that action, believing he’s slowly forming a friendship with Ian, but Rachel’s insistence leaves him with no choice. Occasionally, the series explores corporate challenges in a bizarre but welcome comedic manner, particularly in this instance, minimizing decisions based on potential friendships.
Dana Has A New Enemy
Regarding Dana, she’s at a gaming awards show and is nominated for “Game of the Year,” but she feels threatened by a 17-year-old fan who is also a game developer and has received a nomination.
“Second Skeleton” explores corporate espionage as Brad encounters his old flame, Anna, at the gaming awards and converses in another language. The episode smoothly shifts the background soundtrack, evoking a sense of James Bond vibes. Brad and Anna have sex at a hotel and discuss their prodigies in game development (it turns out Anna’s prodigy is a 17-year-old game developer, while we know Brad’s is Dana).
This makes the outcome of the gaming awards particularly interesting. Dana loses to the young game developer, who dedicates her award to Dana and refers to her as the “gaming industry mama,” which clearly offends Dana.
A furious Dana tells the young girl that she’s going to ruin her career and asks Jo and Brad to join her nefarious plans. However, Brad seems torn as he gazes at his perplexing lover, Anna. When Mythic Quest presents odd comedy, it truly feels odd. Still, the Brad/Anna storyline really amused me.
Brad (L) and Anna (R) enjoy some intimate time in ‘Mythic Quest’ Season 4, Episode 5 (Credit: Apple TV+)
Poppy Has To Consider Single Motherhood
As we approach the end of Mythic Quest Season 4, Episode 5, Poppy decides to meet Ian’s online VR lover, Shannon, seeking advice on how to be a good mother, especially since she’s a mother herself. Poppy hopes Shannon will reassure her that she’ll be a good mom, but Shannon responds differently, telling Poppy she might be a terrible mother “sometimes” and that, like all moms, she can only do her best.
This is wise advice for Poppy, and afterward, she decides to tell Storm (the father) that she is pregnant and reveals she is keeping the baby, which surprises him. Storm expresses concern that the arrival of a child will hinder his career, especially with his aspirations to go to the Netherlands for his next project. Poppy anxiously tells him to focus on his work, but it almost feels like an acknowledgment that he is stepping back as the father, leaving Poppy to be a mother on her own.
Poppy returns to work, and Ian informs her that David has removed their expansion to make the company more appealing to foreign investors. Poppy is furious, and her internal maternal instincts ignite for the first time. She tells Ian that they will build the expansion anyway, as it is “their baby,” bringing a well-delivered episode in Season 4 to a close.
