Mythic Quest “The 12 Hours of Christmas” Spoilers Ahead
Something about TV holiday specials will always make the show a little brighter and more joyous. Directed by the man of the hour himself, David Hornsby, Mythic Quest Season 3, Episode 6, “The 12 Hours of Christmas” is a sweet, endearing delight that warmly brings C.W. Longbottom’s words from the season’s first episode to life.
However, in true Mythic Quest fashion, the odds for experiencing true joy are stacked against the characters initially. When the employees need to work on Christmas Eve, David’s holiday plans to distract them from the lack of a yearly bonus backfires when Ian and Poppy join the celebrations. In the end, however, the episode focuses on the lengths people are willing to go through to showcase that, despite their drastic differences, they are each other’s family. (So long as there’s chili involved.)
12 Hours of Christmas
The fascinating thing about Mythic Quest, however, is that unlike those in a show like Ted Lasso, everyone’s a bit of a selfish Scrooge, hiding behind the jobs they need to do. There’s still lingering animosity after Ian and Poppy left to create GrimPop. While they’re each passionate about the gaming industry, there’s yet so much they need to work on internally. That’s why, in these 12 hours of pushing, probing, and trying to make everything one way, the realization that compromise encapsulates the true spirit of Christmas works best. The ending isn’t about David getting his way but about a group of people who care about one another doing something nice to make someone a little happier than when they went to bed that night.
It’s taking earned income and passing it around to those who deserve it that serves as a better message than the tireless capitalist nonsense we’re ceaselessly force-fed in the real world. But this episode works because it continues to cement the detail that, at the end of the day, loyalty at Mythic Quest runs deep. Despite Jo’s frustrations with both Poppy and Rachel doing “friendship wrong,” there’s an understanding in the end that their brunch date really did change the entire trajectory of their relationships.
Hornsby’s directing brings immense warmth to the office despite the frustrations in the air because all throughout, there’s the hope instilled that, somehow, all this is going to end well. And it does. Poppy and Rachel coming together to give Jo a gift she’ll adore as well as Ian realizing that David deserves to have Christmas his way times ten? What more could we ask for?
Since the season began, there have been tangible changes to showcase that there’s genuine adoration brimming for each other underneath all their inner codings. Christmas is generally about family, sure, but in a place where family is all they have, it’s about making the best of every unfortunate circumstance. It’s an episode that showcases perceived loneliness and projections of what characters feel on the inside, looking outward to perhaps do for others as they’d like to experience something. And in the end, though it’s David’s perfect Christmas, it ends up being an exhibition of joy for everyone, even Brad.
Now streaming on Apple TV+: What are your thoughts on Mythic Quest’s “The 12 Hours of Christmas?” Let us know in the comments below.