Welcome to Mythic Quest headquarters, where there are very few functional and healthy relationships and we definitely learn that fact in this episode, “#YumYum”! There are actually quite a few plots happening in this episode, but they all focus on the idea of strengths and weaknesses in relationships. Ultimately while I don’t think I laughed as much this week as I did last, “#YumYum” serves as great story fodder for episodes to come and actually moves the emotional/empathetic meter on some unexpected characters.
DAVID’S DIVORCE(S)
The main two plots of the episode are intertwined: Poppy and Ian have decided to split their expansion down the middle to avoid any and all fighting. On paper, this sounds good, but David knows better. He’s aware that what Poppy and Ian are experiencing is just a calm before a storm; you can’t avoid conflict forever. Eventually you’re forced to confront your issues one way or another. But the two directors are adamant that they’ve never been better or happier in their working relationship, even though they’re separated, and David announces that they’re acting like people about to get divorced.
This sets the stage for a very hilarious conversation toward the very end of the episode. But we’ll circle back to that later. Because yes, Poppy and Ian do in fact act like separated adults/parents in this episode.
David, meanwhile, is ready to start dating again and a chunk of the episode is devoted to him pursuing relationships on apps. When Brad and Jo overhear David’s dilemma, Brad cautions Jo to not get involved. Eventually, though, Brad’s ego can’t resist a challenge and he’s the one who actually gets involved. He’s going to fix David and make him ready to date. Now, is this motivation entirely self-seeking and does Brad compare David to the loot crate in a video game (and eventually to a burlap sack)? Yes. But David doesn’t have the luxury of having too many other options so he agrees to let Brad help him find someone to date. What we embark on is a whole storyline where Brad sets David up on a simulated dating app because, in Brad’s words, he finds David’s “unsellable loot box” persona to be much more challenging than dealing with other things.
He shows David a simulation game, and tells him that he’s ready to go on the dating apps when he can get a date with a sim. What follows is a very, very long process where David fails to be able to get a date. Eventually he does, with Brad’s coaching, and then Brad reveals the plot twist: the sims were being run by real people. Tall Paul, Carol, and Sue were actually behind the seeming computer that David was talking to.
While Brad sees this as a victory — for himself, of course, because David was just a project/commodity with no emotional attachment to him — David sees it as disheartening, and walks away. Later, the story wraps up with Brad telling David that he isn’t filled with garbage; he’s actually more like a burlap sack.
While David initially balks at this comparison, Brad insists that it’s a compliment: a burlap sack seems unappealing; it’s not flashy but Brad notes that the people who buy the burlap sack? They need it. It’s useful and reliable. So Brad sets David up on a date and encourages him with the notion that there are women out there who want someone safe and comfortable just like him. It’s not necessarily a compliment, but it’s the nicest thing I think Brad has ever said so then again, maybe it is! I liked seeing this little bit of growth in him — immediately undone in the next few scenes when he celebrates turning Poppy into his minion — especially because next week seems like it will focus more on his character.
THE CALM BEFORE THE DIVORCE
With the stage-gate meeting in sight where Ian and Poppy have to present their expansion ideas, the two decide to split up and work with their teams in separate offices. (As David noted, the fact that they’re living uh… working out of separate homes… offices! is not good.) The biggest conflict with Ian and Poppy now is that there’s no conflict; their strength as a pairing is that they constantly challenge each other. Do they hate each other occasionally and drive each other mad? Yes. But in doing so, they really also highlight each others’ strengths.
In his team, Ian has no one pushing back against his ideas. Everything is executed exactly the way he asked it with no friction. He needs that friction to create better ideas than the ones he’s dreamt up. He is on time and under budget and that completely unsettles him. He needs Poppy to noodle on things to make them better than even Ian knew he needed or wanted. Ian has been told he’s a genius his whole life and until he started collaborating with Poppy, I know he believed that. (And he still does, of course.) But now, he’s realized how much better they make each other and he’s unsettled by the fact that no one is telling him no.
Meanwhile over in Poppy’s team, she’s supposed to lead and inspire but no one is praising her. And thus, she’s blocked creatively. Because that’s usually Ian’s job: he’s the one who pushes her to trust her gut and her instincts. He inspires a confidence in her that makes her believe she can do anything (and let’s be real, he fuels her ego in that way). Unfortunately, that’s her downfall in this episode. Poppy wants people to tell her that she’s a god, but she doesn’t know how to lead the people who could help her achieve her expansion goal.
So Ian and Poppy use Rachel and Dana, respectively, in the episode to try and recreate the relationship they have with each other. Obviously I don’t need to tell you that this doesn’t work. Ian tries to get Rachel to insult him, and Poppy tries to get Dana to hype her up and inspire her. But while Ian ends up actually having something to present, Poppy doesn’t. So instead of admitting this to Ian or working with her team to accomplish their Hera goal, Poppy falls back on something safe: Brad’s idea for a battle royale.
USING A WEAKNESS AS A STRENGTH (AND VICE VERSA)
In a smaller storyline, C.W. gets a breach of contract from his publisher because he hasn’t turned in the final book in his trilogy. Jo is sent to navigate the issue, and she initially approaches the meeting with her typical hostility… and then she realizes that C.W.’s book was due in 1982. How does she handle this new information? Initially she panics until she listens to C.W. tell offensive stories. Then she has a realization; C.W. being a weak point is actually a strength!
So she re-confronts the contract meeting with a revelation: C.W. is a liability; if he’s able to publicly speak about his book series and the inspiration for the main character, he’ll offend so many people and likely risk putting publishers and anyone who wants to adapt his work into tricky situations. Jo is a boss and this episode proves we should never forget it.
Anyway, this episode ends with the Poppy and Ian yelling in the middle of the office. The hilarity is that the language they use makes it sound exactly like a separated couple who is trying to get back together.
Y’all, the moral of this story is that David was right after all.
Notes and quotes:
- “Something bad is gonna happen.” “... yeah.”
- “Hey! I am not filled with garbage!”
- “I’m feeling very triggered right now.”
- “If we went at it, I’d turn you into a pretzel both physically and intellectually.”
- “You’re the hostile, shrill one right?”
- Rachel and Dana’s story is small but important; Dana has big dreams of getting out of the world of testing but Rachel doesn’t really. That’s definitely something that will come up throughout the remainder of the season. How do you navigate a relationship when one person
- I love that Mort is in this!
- Jo is the best and the amount of care that Jessie Ennis puts into every choice she makes for her is amazing.
- “I didn’t know if you were gonna punch me or kiss me.” “Why would I kiss you? I’m gay!” “It’s happened before, okay?!”
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
0 comments:
Post a Comment