Going on a MYTHIC QUEST

Article first published as TV Review: MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN'S BANQUET on Seat42F.

A new sitcom on AppleTV+ is MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANQUET. Set at a video game developer whose sole product seems to be the titular Mythic Quest, the team releases the first expansion in the pilot, subtitled Raven’s Banquet. But the show isn’t about the game; not really. It’s about the various personalities who work there. Many represent archetypes, but there’s also a lived-in, complex element to nearly every lead that should not only serve to help people better understand one another, but also shine a spotlight on those who are too quick too judge. Also, it’s hilarious.

The creative genius behind the in-show MYSTIC QUEST is Ian (Rob McElhenney, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia). He hides in his massive, above-everyone-else office, and manipulates (purposefully?) them into doing what he wants. This is very frustrating to Poppy (Charlotte Nicdao, Kuu Kuu Harajuku), the actual coder who builds the game for him, and who wants to put her own thumbprint on it. David (David Hornsby, Good Girls) is the ineffectual boss caught in the middle of this struggle, and who surprisingly doesn’t always side with Ian. This feels like it may be the central conflict of the show, and is a delight right off the bat, with Ian and Poppy’s division not nearly as clear cut as it at first seems.

They are surrounded by a bevy of other colorful characters. Jo (Jessie Ennis, Better Call Saul) is David’s new assistant who worships and enables Ian. Tester Rachel (Ashly Burch, OK K.O.! Let’s Be Heroes) has a massive crush on fellow tester Dana (Imani Hakim, Everybody Hates Chris), who is fully committed and focused on the job. Brad (Danny Pudi, Community) may just be evil. HR Carol (Naomi Ekperigin, Broad City writer) wishes everyone would stop treating her like a therapist. Pootie Shoe (Elisha Henig, The Sinner) is the obnoxious child reviewer who decides if the game lives or dies. And the great F. Murray Abraham, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Amadeus) is CW Longbottom, the alcoholic, eccentric writer behind the game.

Not all of these actors in MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANQUET are well-known, but it is an extremely solid ensemble. Each brings something great to the plate, and none feels in over their heads. They embody the douchebag, the naïve young adult, the frustrated bureaucrat, and so many others who actually work at places like this – or any workplace, anywhere. It’s a different set of personalities than The Office or Silicon Valley, but it’s still highly relatable, especially in how each individual has rich, inner lives. Whether they be enthusiastic dreamers or cynical paycheck collectors, they know how they fit into the overall picture, and do a great job showing the audience that.

It’s also just a solid win in the humor department. Much of the pilot is spent arguing over a shovel. Is a plain shovel too boring? Or does it transform the way gamers will interact with the world in an exciting new bend? Should it be flashy? Should it have dual purpose as a weapon? You can extend all of these questions into metaphor for so much else about our culture. But you will also chuckle as Ian struggles to smash a watermelon just the right way, or Brad finds a way to make it sexual. You’ll relate to Poppy’s pure love and devotion to it. I could write a whole review about the damn thing, and that’s just one element of episode one.

I love MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANUQET. It’s magnetic, entertaining, and not just banal triviality. It’s that rare show that feels like it could just be dumb humor, but ends up being so much more. It should appear to viewers of all types.

Stream MYTHIC QUEST: RAVEN’S BANUQET now exclusively on AppleTV+.

HOMELAND Brings Back "Anxiety" In a Good Way

Article originally published as HOMELAND Review "Separation Anxiety" on Seat42F.

Sebastian Koch as During and Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in Homeland (Season 5, Episode 01). - Stephan Rabold/SHOWTIME

Showtime’s HOMELAND returns tonight for a fifth season with the installment “Separation Anxiety.” After an amazing freshman run that kept the audience guessing about the motivations of one of the show’s two leads, seasons two and three faltered as it kept the same pair of main characters without a story nearly so compelling to back it up. So if you’re one of those fans who jumped ship, you may be asking yourself, should I even care that the show is still on? The answer is yes.

Season four reset the game, reinventing HOMELAND as a one-woman show, with a couple of very good male supporting characters. The trio got into some very heavy things in the fourth year, and the formula diverged from the typical television one in that (SEASON FOUR SPOILER) they didn’t win the day. Not even close.

So as “Separation Anxiety” begins, two years later, these people are in a different place than we’ve ever seen them. Unlike the early days of the show in which our characters kept going after one man, season five finds them moving on, albeit in different ways. This makes the drama much more grounded and realistic, knowing that the world keeps turning, they don’t always get their man, there will be other terrors, and maybe some people don’t want to keep playing a game they’re sick of losing. The psychology behind what each of the trio have chosen to do during the hiatus is fascinating.

As has been publicized, Carrie (Claire Danes) is happier than she’s ever been. Living with an American lawyer, Jonas Happich (Alexander Fehling, Inglourious Basterds), in Germany, raising her daughter, on her meds, Carrie has found peace. She has left the CIA behind and now works security for a private organization, conveniently the same one Jonas is employed by, whose billionaire head, Otto During (Sebastian Koch, The Lives of Others), does good in the world. It is great.

Of course, HOMELAND would not allow such bliss to remain for long. “Separation Anxiety” opens with a CIA crisis in Germany, one in which Saul (Mandy Patinkin) has to come to town for. This year’s emergency is timely and poignant. It deals with hacking and data breaches and rights of the press and homegrown terrorism recruiting and off-the-book-assassinations and government conspiracies. Yes, all of the elements are present in a single event that occurs in a single episode.

I think this shows the way forward for HOMELAND. While some may want it to end, it doesn’t have to if it’s going to be an intelligent look at current events with something to say. Its characters are complex and the writers show the different sides. The world portrayed is both very big and very small. Season five is its own thing, but it doesn’t forget what came before it. I can see a number of more years using this same approach in different ways and being very successful, as season five already seems poised to be.

Now, Carrie isn’t drawn back in immediately, nor should she be, given where she is. I hate when shows artificially stretch things out, and then quickly revert to the status quo, but I don’t think that’s what’s happening here. From the tension between Saul and Carrie, who are not talking, to the new Berlin station chief played by Allison Carr (Miranda Otto, Rake, The Lord of the Rings), to a righteous, naïve rebel (Sarah Sokolovic, Cold Comes the Night), there are enough new pieces to the show that don’t point to a reversion. There are also returning characters like Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) and Astrid (Nina Hoss) whose roles aren’t yet defined. Carrie will get involved, but she isn’t just going to jump back in under Saul on an operation, nor did she do that last year.

And what of Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend), who along with Carrie and Saul is one of the three current leads of HOMELAND? Well, let’s just say where he’s been is very interesting, revealing something really deep and dark about his character, and where he ends up at the end of the episode in an arrangement with Saul is both surprising and suspenseful.

I’m telling you, despite some bumps in the road in seasons two and three, HOMELAND is a show you don’t want to miss once more. Watch it Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime.

"Down" in the HOMELAND

Article first published as HOMELAND Review Season 3 on Seat42F.

Showtime’s HOMELAND returns with the season three premiere “Tin Man Is Down.” It’s not just the Tin Man, whoever he may be, that is down, though. Two months after the events of last spring’s shocking finale, all of our main characters are struggling. Let’s just hope they can rise back up again before too long.

I am going to write in vague generalizations to avoid spoilers. Still, if you’d rather not know anything, bookmark this article and check back after the episode airs.

The CIA is facing a serious inquiry, with Congress hauling Carrie (Claire Danes), Saul (Mandy Patinkin), and others before them. This is something easy enough to see coming, as someone must answer for such a glaring gap in national security that allowed an attack to kill over two hundred people, including agents and leadership. Let’s just say that those running the panel, especially Senator Andrew Lockhart (Tracy Letts, Killer Joe), will not be stopping with their investigation until they get restitution for the American people.

What would make up for the attack to the public? Finding out who is to blame for not stopping it and seeing their lives ruined? The CIA suffered the worst of the blows, losing men, property, and face. It’s not quite understood why Lockhart and his colleague want to make someone else pay more, but they definitely are angry and are letting that anger out.

The question is, how will this showdown between Congress and the clandestine agency end? Can Saul protect the organization he is now running, as we saw in last year’s season finale? Can he shield the individuals who bear some of the responsibility? Will he be able to control the flow of information so that he has influence over the end result?

Saul is a great character, with a strong moral compass and oodles of intelligence. But “Tin Man Is Down” does not make things easy for him, as information gets to Congress that he’d rather keep from them. I won’t tell you what the information is or if Saul manages to figure out where the leak is coming from, but this is definitely some great drama for him to deal with, while also trying to find the terrorists responsible for the mess in the first place. Plus, we get to see him interact with both Dar Adal (F. Murray Abraham) and Mira (Sarita Choudhury), two relationships that are intriguing.

Not that “Tin Man Is Down” is all conversations and slow burn. There is some movement on the action front, too, especially involving Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend, now a series regular).  But that’s all I can say at this time, not wanting to give anything away, since Quinn’s is such a gripping subplot. I think we’re going to get some terrific stuff for him this season.

Carrie also has her own issues, both from the hearing and on another front. Let’s just say that she thinks she has it together, but does she ever really? It’s not exactly clear what Carrie is up to these days right away, however she still has some hanging threads left from the Brody (Damian Lewis) incident, and that will surely get resolution sooner rather than later.

As the discerning viewer may have predicted, the Brody family bears a horrendous fall out from their patriarch’s actions. We’re talking dark trouble on a couple of different fronts. It’s got to be incredibly hard to cope with learning one’s husband or father is a terrorist, or at least the media is reporting that he is one. Each member of the clan reacts in a different way.

“Tin Man Is Down” gives most of its Brody family focus to Dana (Morgan Saylor). Considering the conversation she has with her father last year, not too long before the bomb goes off, she feels particularly betrayed, and perhaps goes to the most extreme measures. I don’t know that the path she’s going down will be an improvement over her story arc last year, which fans either loved or hated, mostly the latter, but HOMELAND is definitely resolved to keep giving the young girl screen time, for better or for worse.

Jessica (Morena Baccarin) is perhaps less affected because she already has a rocky relationship with Brody throughout seasons one and two. She doesn’t view him through the hero googles that her children do or did. She’s also a strong survivor, though, having gotten through believing Brody was dead prior to the show’s start, and she’ll overcome the challenges she faces now. Perhaps her season three plot will center on her being the single mother who can support her family, stepping up even more when she must.

There are multiple main characters who do not appear in “Tin Man Is Down,” though I won’t get into which ones. This is a set up episode that does not give us everything we’ve been waiting for, but does get a lot of things going again.

Suffice it to say, HOMELAND remains a big-picture show, continuing the stories of last year while also telling new ones, but never at a quick pace. When season two began, I wondered if the show had lost something, not seeing right away how it could continue past the amazing stuff from the first year. I feel the same this fall, not sold on where the writing is going yet, but if last year is any indication, that will probably change relatively early in the run. There are some interesting things in this installment, but there is also a lot left unexplained and not going well. Whether it can take off and soar remains to be seen, but my guess is that it probably will.

HOMELAND returns Sunday, September 29^th on Showtime.