SIDE QUEST Review: Mythic Fun, Now in Bite-Sized Form

Rob McElhenney, Annamarie Kasper (pictured), Esai Morales, Anna Konkle, Derek Waters, William Stanford Davis, Bria Samoné Henderson, Rome Flynn, Gary Kraus, Shalita Grant and more star in the expansion anthology series.

Side Quest
All four episodes of the limited series are now streaming on Apple TV+.

As the fourth season of mothership Mythic Quest comes to a conclusion, Side Quest, as its title implies, looks sideway at the series, which revolves around the creators of a very successful online multiplayer game.

Developed by Ashly Burch, John Howell Harris and Katie McElhenney, all veterans of the mothership show, Side Quest resembles the "bottle" episodes that have appeared, once per season, on the mothership. Side Quest features four episodes, and the charm and comedy of each depends on the characters.

As you'd expect from any anthology series, it's very much a mixed bag. The mothership show has designed its primary ensemble so that they bounce off each other in a lively, usually hilarious game of bumper pool, with witty characterizations that have gradually gotten deeper over four seasons. Without that residue of knowledge, the 30 minute and less episodes are hard-pressed to introduce relatable characters, reach a crisis point, and then resolve it in their limited running time.

Both Episode 1, concerning a Mythic Quest employee on a long-delayed vacation with his partner who keeps getting pinged by his boss, and Episode 2, following a Black comic book store and their panic when a much-desired Mythic Quest comic book doesn't arrive on time, are lightly amusing.

Episode 3, "Fugue," appears to be the furthest removed from the series, as it follows a newly-hired concert musician (Annamarie Kasper) who experiences great emotional distress on her first tour under the direction of an exacting conductor (Esai Morales). The lead performance is exceptional for an episode that plunges deep into dramatics.

The final episode is the first to be (nearly) entirely animated, giving us a closer look at the game that caused all the fuss. (Long-time partner Ubisoft provided the animation.)

That gives it a unique angle; the dialogue also employs the rapid-fire bickering banter that is a hallmark of the mothership show. Its arc is, frankly, wonderful, and easily the best and most complete of the four episodes.

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