Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for the Mythic Quest Season 4 finale.The will-they-won’t-they relationship is a true sitcom staple, present in a number of classics, fromCheers, toFriends, and more recently, toAbbott Elementary. A less common subgenre of this trope is the codependent friendship that teeters the line between romantic and platonic, where the pairing in question acts like a couple, but doesn’t necessarily ever cross that line. This aptly describes the dynamic betweenMythic Quest’s Ian Grimm (Rob McElhenney) and Poppy Li (Charlotte Nicdao). They have always been especially close, but for a long time, it looked like the show would never go there. As of theMythic QuestSeason 4 finale,though,Ian and Poppy have officially kissed.
There always seemed to be an almost zero chance thatMythic Questwould ever cross this particular line with Ian and Poppy, particularly because of the way that they met. Ian was giving a guest lecture for a class that Poppy was taking 15 years ago, back when she was in college. She told him that his first and least successful game was what made her go into this career, then accidentally insulted him in the process. He quickly became her mentor, and she started working for him. They have since become partners and best friends, andit looked like the show had thrown romance out the window for them, with their platonic “I love you” in the Season 3 finale. Season 4 explores a shift in their dynamic and what they mean to each other, and after the kiss, things are definitely going to be very different between the two of them in Season 5.
Ian and Poppy’s Dynamic Already Changed in ‘Mythic Quest’ Season 4
Each season ofMythic Questso far has shown Ian and Poppy gettinginto a massive blow-up fightthat always gets resolved at the end of the season when Ian fixes it with a grand gesture. It’s pretty much the same every time: Poppy gets frustrated with their dynamic and tries to pull away, then Ian reels her back in with a huge gesture that seems like change on the surface-level, but doesn’t actually fix anything. Season 4 tackles this head-on and finally breaks this cycle between them. It spends the beginning of the season exploringa shift in Ian Poppy’s dynamic,with Poppy pulling away because she is dating Storm (Chase Yi) and Ian trying to let her go. All the while, Ian starts to question the depth of his feelings for her, while Poppy tries to uphold boundaries between the two of them. They fall back to their old patterns after Poppy finds outthat she’s pregnant,but, of course, it doesn’t work out for them.
Ian and Poppy’s major fight this season is only made worse by Ian’s grand gesture, and this is only solved when Ian decides to let Poppy go and send her to the Netherlands. She only chooses to come back when she sees himbeing selfless and prioritizing her happiness while working behind her back.It is important to note that even without the kiss, Ian and Poppy’s relationship would have looked different in Season 5. No longer would they be attached at the hip, but fighting all the time like their old dynamic or trying to keep their distance like they did for much of Season 4. Instead, Season 5 was being set up in a way where Ian and Poppy would be closer than ever, with Ian now putting her and the baby’s needs ahead of his – at least sometimes, that is.This probably would have led to a romance down the line for them anyway, but now they will have to figure out their feelings much sooner.
“They Have Absolutely No Business Doing This”: Charlotte Nicdao Talks The Surprising Season 4 Finale of ‘Mythic Quest’
It’s the inevitable kiss we never wanted to see.
‘Mythic Quest’s Big Kiss Between Ian and Poppy Needs to Be Explored in Season 5
Ian and Poppy have always had a special connection that honestly feels a bit poetic. Their joint flashback episode, “Sarian,” shows the two of them both having deeply lonely childhoods andnot truly feeling that true sense of belonging until they meet each other many years later in an MIT classroom. Going even deeper, it was the game inspired by Ian’s class project with his mom (Lindsey Kraft) that made Poppy fall in love with video games as a kid.They fight all the time,but they are also the only ones who truly understand each other and who can put up with each other time and time again. It wasn’t a surprise this season that Poppy getting a boyfriend would shift their dynamic because Ian feels the need to be the most important person in her life. It also made sense every time Storm asked Poppy about her history with Ian because, from the outside, their dynamic absolutely comes off a certain way.
In a different sitcom,Ian and Poppy’s kiss might have led directly to them being a couple.Mythic Questwould never let it happen so easily, though, and it will likely explore this dynamic next season in an intentional, thorough, and hilarious way. Based on thefreaked-out looks that Ian and Poppygive each other after the kiss, there will probably be a denial stage for quite a bit of the following season.There is a version of Season 5 whereMythic Questcould retcon the kiss by having them both regret it and then move past it early in the season, but that would be a mistake, and anyway,it is not the show’s style to just abandon major storylines like this.
Ian and Poppy’s kiss is such a risk that the best way to move forward from here is to truly explore this relationship in Season 5. Based on their reactions in that last scene and their previous overall patterns,Poppy will likely spend Season 5 trying to act like the kiss never happened, while Ian will be trying to talk about it and figure out their relationship. IfMythic Questis, in fact, planning to make Ian and Poppy a couple, they will probably be more distant for Season 5, get into a big fight related to the romantic aspect of their relationship towards the end of the season, then end the season together. If the show isn’t interested in exploring their romance, it could follow a similar structure but ultimately end the season with them choosing not to move forward in this relationship. As it stands, no matter whatMythic Questdecides,the kiss has permanently changed Ian and Poppy’s dynamic going into Season 5.
All episodes ofMythic Questare available to stream on Apple TV+.
Mythic Quest
