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Dead Sea Squirrels
Some 2,000-year-old squirrels offer some great lessons about both the Bible and life in this clever new Minno series.
When Ian Grimm set out to create Mythic Quest–known to its fans as MQ–it was mostly a narcissistic ploy to put his name and face on a product that would be sold worldwide. But with more than 11 million players worldwide, MQ has become the most popular massive multiplayer online role-playing game ever.
No one could have predicted the success of the game, especially with a creative director who regularly pushes back release dates and exceeds production budgets. But somehow, Ian’s rash, last-minute “noodling” always works out, ever expanding his legacy. Er, I mean his team’s legacy…
And by the show’s fourth season, the legacy of MQ’s team has endured more than a few bumps.
The chief “bump” among those was the loss of Ian and another prominent employee, Poppy. Both of them left the company to start work on Poppy’s game, Hera. Unfortunately for Poppy, Hera just wasn’t all that fun to play. And that caused the duo to scrap the idea in favor of Poppy’s other idea: Playpen, a platform consisting of user-generated games and content.
Well, the issue with that software is that Poppy couldn’t raise enough capital to support it. Fortunately for her and Ian, the team behind MQ is struggling for ways to keep their game fresh and relevant. And that’s how the two rejoined the MQ team, merging Playpen back into MQ’s fold.
But if there’s one thing that seems to update more often than MQ itself, it’s Ian and Poppy’s relationship, which bounces around like a ping-pong ball on the perpetual on-again, off-again table. Currently, Poppy’s dating someone else, and considering their history, the relationship is bound to bring more tension into Ian and Poppy’s working relationship.
Mythic Quest is an accurate depiction of gaming culture—including everything wrong with it.
To be sure, there are many positive elements to online gaming (and to Mythic Quest)—the camaraderie, the engaging storyline, the emotional connection built between characters. But as any parent of a teenager obsessed with Fortnite knows, there are also many negatives.
Language (especially the f- and s-words), sexual innuendos and toilet humor flow just as rapidly as MQ’s in-game blood. LGBTQ characters are present (and engaging in romantic relationships). And the staffers at MQ love to hate on a 14-year-old boy who goes by the streaming tag “Pootie Shoe.” They nonchalantly call him a “little s—” and don’t even realize how unprofessional their behavior towards the child is until a rival company points it out.
Mythic Quest, the game, would no doubt be rated M for mature. And the show is no different.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at [email protected], or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
As MQ prepares to release its first game expansion, Poppy pushes to have her design for a simple shovel incorporated into the game.
A commercial for MQ portrays Ian shirtless, CGI characters making out and violent, bloody battles. A woman says she can get real heads (non-human) to smash in their motion-capture studio. A game avatar uses a shovel to smash heads. Ian throws things off employees’ desks in a temper tantrum. Ian says the game needs more blood.
We see an almost naked CGI woman. The MQ staff discusses the meaning of an obscene acronym referring to gamers drawing pictures of penises within the game (which we later see). A painting of a man on a wall has a window placed over the groin area. A gay woman rehearses telling her crush that she likes her. There are several graphic sexual references and jokes.
Someone drinks from a flask. A man sleeps in the office when he drinks too much. David complains about his parents’ divorce, saying that his mom called him untalented and his dad was too drunk to stand up to her.
A motion graphic of a shoe stepping in excrement accompanies Pootie Shoe’s online streaming channel. He gives a shoutout to his fans, calling the females “Pootie cuties,” the males “Pootie doodies” and the LGBTQ population “Pootie fruities.” He curses at his mom when she interrupts his recording session. And he rates games using anuses.
People lie and rudely interrupt each other. A man talks about the “gods” in the MQ storyline. We hear several uses each of the f-word and s-word, as well as “d–k,” “a–,” “whore,” “b–ch” and “h—.” God’s and Jesus’ names are misused multiple as well, once accompanied by “d–n.”
After returning to the MQ headquarters after spending some time in lock-down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Poppy, Ian and David struggle to come up with a name for Mythic Quest’s new expansion.
People describe sex dreams and we see some of these dreams on screen, with people lying in bed covered by blankets. (One of these scenes involves two men and another shows a man with a clone of himself.) We see a shirtless man pour milk over his chest in a “seductive” manner. Two women kiss a few times. An HR representative laments how inappropriate it is to discuss sex at work. A girl talks about whether someone is homosexual and cisgender.
People drink alcohol and encourage others to “get drunk.” There are a few sexist comments. Someone brainstorms the idea “Sea of Nazis.” A woman wearing a cross necklace compares the term “Sea of Ashes” to the “Dust of Christ.” We hear uses of the f-word, “p-ssy” and “d–n.” We also hear misuses of God’s and Christ’s names with the former occasionally paired with “d–mit.”
Ian and Poppy get approved to start work on a new expansion for Mythic Quest. However, Ian wonders why Poppy tries to hide her new relationship from him.
The new expansion Ian comes up with is called “Elysium,” and it’s meant to be MQ’s version of heaven, where only players who die in valiant ways can access it. Ian dreams that he and Poppy descend from above dressed as angels to promote the expansion. In a cutscene for MQ, we see a demonic-looking character. Someone claims that “the universe” orchestrated something.
We see a man in his boxers. Poppy slaps the man on the rear. She also makes multiple references to the sex they’re having via double entendres, causing a couple of coworkers discomfort. Poppy admits to changing her underwear for a date. Someone says that he plans to give a woman something later; and when an employee thinks he’s talking about something sexual, he clarifies that he means he’ll give her a trophy. Someone says that “you don’t have to be attracted to someone to have sex with them.” Two women talk about their relationship and go on a date together. People claim that a man gives off “masculine-feminine” energy. Ian says that Poppy has the “body of a 14-year-old boy.” A woman wears a dress that reveals cleavage.
The f-word and s-word are both used three times. “B–ch,” “d–n,” “h—” and “bloody” are all used, too. God’s name is taken in vain six times, including twice with “d–n.” Jesus’ name is likewise used in vain four times.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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