Complex family ties make everything a little more interesting in this week’s episode of Mythic Quest - and shows us a new side of the titular game's generally cold-hearted head of marketing. Read on for my review of “Breaking Brad”:
The battle royale expansion has been very successful in luring young kids to play Mythic Quest, much to Brad’s delight. David comes in to congratulate Brad - but not for his professional achievement, but his birthday. When Brad insists it isn’t his birthday, David reveals that Brad’s brother Zach is in town and trying to surprise him for his “special day.” Brad immediately panics - Zach seems lovable and fun on the outside, but he insists that Zach’s an even colder heart than he himself is. Have we finally found the thing that will crack Brad’s facade?
Poppy is also enjoying professional success because of her work on the battle royale expansion, although she acts quite nonchalant about it. In fact, Corporate even gifted her a Porsche as a reward, which she is treating like any other car - a cardinal sin, in Ian’s eyes. When he confronts her about it, Poppy, indifferent, gives him the keys. However, after Poppy leaves, Rachel discovers that Ian can’t drive the car because he doesn’t know how to drive stick.
Brad convinces Poppy to be on “Team Brad” versus “Team Zach.” She initially agrees, but Zach’s charms are quickly too much for her, especially after he invites Snoop Dogg to perform at the office for Brad’s “birthday” (Brad continues to insist that it’s not his birthday and he doesn’t like Snoop Dogg’s music).
Unable to drive Poppy’s Porsche himself, Ian must listen to Rachel complain about the advantages of straight white men as she she chauffers him around. Ian offers an opportunity Rachel - clearly fed up with the system - to offer her own ideas to him and advance her career. But she can’t think of what she wants, so Ian insists that she get to working on that instead of complaining. I’m going to be real here; this interaction was weird, tonally! I couldn’t tell what this scene was supposed to act as. Was it too non-pc? Or was it on the cutting edge of wokeness? And - most importantly - why do I care?
Brad, of course, turns out to be right about Zach’s devious motivations. Zach reveals in private to Brad that he is, in fact, preparing to come in and kill Mythic Quest, “just like Kate.” He forces Brad to beg him to save the game, only to respond with “we’ll see.” Jo overhears this and seeks out Zach, asking him who Kate is. Zach explains that when he and Brad were kids, they had a pig that they were raising for 4H that Brad named Kate. Brad grew attached to Kate, and couldn’t kill her when they were supposed to, so Zach did the deed instead (holy crap?!). Zach ends their conversation by implying that he might want to poach Jo from Brad (who, reminder, poached her from David).
And that’s the end of the episode? I mean, alright?! This was a crazy episode. Definitely funny, but mostly just a wild ride of (what I’m assuming are) set-ups for storylines that will arc over the rest of the season. I loved to get to see a new side of Danny Pudi’s portrayal of Brad - any Community fans in the audience will know he’s a very dynamic actor. While Brad is a great foil for the Mythic Quest team, he is also quite “by-the-numbers” much of the time, so it was great to see this fresher side of him.
How did you like “Breaking Brad?” What do you think these new storylines have in store for the Mythic Quest crew? And how hilariously random was that Snoop Dogg cameo? Let me know in the comments!
