5 Reasons You Should Watch Mythic Quest

If you don't have Apple TV+ then that is unfortunate, because Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet, a comedy based upon the daily goings-on behind the scenes of an MMORPG game and the people who keep it running, is an unexpected gem.

MQ (as it is known in the series) is the equivalent of something like World Of Warcraft: a vast, expansive open-world online role-playing-game that has a huge fan base around the globe. However, the people that created and run the game are completely out of their minds in all kinds of ways.

The series begins with the team ready to expand the game with the Raven's Banquet expansion and the controversial addition of a shovel. From there, we go through a 14-year-old narcissist streaming whizz-kid, an in-game Nazi regime, the MQ version of Return Of The Jedi, and just anything to do with F. Murray Abraham's head writer C.W. Longbottom.

The show was co-created by Rob McElhenney (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia) and stars him, Danny Pudi, Charlotte Nicdao, David Hornsby, and F. Murray Abraham. All of them have great stories in the series and are responsible for some real belly laughs.

Cast your mind back to 1985, the year that gave us Back To The Future & Mike Tyson's first fight (which he won by knockout). Well, not only did that happen but also actor F. Murray Abraham won an Academy Award for Best Actor due to his turn in Amadeus.

Fast forward to 2020, and F. Murray Abraham has had a brilliant career filled with dramatic roles and thought-provoking films. Then he agrees to be in Mythic Quest. Whilst this move may either look like a desperate one to get work, or the last attempt to become relevant again, it clearly is neither. Abraham's career hasn't stalled, nor does one get the sense that this acting heavyweight cares much about being relevant for the wrong reasons.

No, he took the role of C.W. Longbottom for one reason: it is just brilliantly written. Abraham pulls out a great performance from the scripted material, material that for him is somewhat against type because C.W. is the head writer for an MMORPG video-game and totally holding onto his illustrious past.

The performance is one of great wit and off-the-wall comedy, but Abraham also imbues C.W. with a fully realised mind. He is clearly the classic sitcom trope of the outsider of the group. However, unlike Chevy Chase in Community or Kramer (Michael Richards) in Seinfeld, he isn't so out of his mind that he can't connect with the rest of the characters without great effort.

F. Murray Abraham's ability make Longbottom a well-rounded character and a great addition to the rest of the cast. Seeing an actor of his ability thrive in this kind of role completely upends what a role like this used to be.