For four seasons now, Mythic Quest has been toying with the fact that the partnership between Poppy and Ian is solely platonic. But eagle-eyed viewers familiar with the old adage and who’ve been watching from the beginning could sense that there was always something more. In addition, Season 4 expanded on these suspicions by pushing their relationship to some questionably extreme heights, making it wild to watch and still believe that there wasn’t something beyond their friendship. But in the Mythic Quest Season 4 finale, Poppy and Ian do more than say goodbye—Poppy and Ian kiss.
Now, where the characters will go from here, only time will tell, because judging by their final looks, even they don’t get it. If Mythic Quest Season 4 hadn’t ended the way it did, I’d be writing a very different article, challenging what on earth was happening in the writer’s room because the narrative plot points for them weren’t adding up. But because we have concrete proof that the two of them have feelings, there’s much to break down about how their relationship can shape their future.
Mythic Quest’s Season 4 Finale Proves That Poppy and Ian Can’t Be Just Friends
The language writers have been using throughout this season was intentional. It isn’t normal for a man to say to a woman that he’s with her through the entire pregnancy when that man a) isn’t even her best friend and b) she has a partner. On more than one occasion, Ian would make it sound like he’s the baby’s father instead of Poppy’s random boyfriend, Storm.
At the same time, the absolute lack of boundaries between the two co-workers isn’t remotely healthy in the platonic sense. Anyone looking from the outside who is their partner would be deeply concerned with not only how well they know each other but how they’re constantly together, even when they’re acting as though it’s normal. (It isn’t—there are feelings there!)
And we see all of this come to life so well through Rob McElhenney’s performance at the airport, where all his sardonic and comedic lines drop for a sincere and vulnerable, “Can I hug you?” McElhenney makes Ian look so small and so defeated in that moment that it’s almost crushing to watch. It’s crushing to realize that it’s now hitting him how he’s about to lose the person who’s the closest to heaven he’ll ever have here on earth. It’s no coincidence that the Mythic Quest Season 4 finale is titled “Heaven and Hell.” Without Poppy, Ian’s life is a purgatory. It’s that simple. Without Poppy, no expansion or any job matters. She’s what he never expected to find, and she’s who he wants to keep.
The defeat we see in Ian’s expression isn’t that of a man who’s losing his favorite co-worker; it’s the face of a man who’s losing the most important woman in his life. It’s why he pulls her back, one more time after everything at the office, even while he doesn’t get what’s happening. Further, when Poppy gets out of the plane and runs to the office, her decision to kiss Ian back says everything as well. If she went all the way to New Zealand, she’d also be leaving behind so much of her heart with him. She’d be leaving behind her best friend.
Poppy and Ian are two people who’ve maybe wanted each other for a while now but never really understood what was happening. They’ve always needed each other, and this is a new step to showcase how real their feelings are for one another. They can pretend to deny it all they want come Season 5, but you can only run so far before the emotions force you back into a confrontation.
Mythic Quest Season 4 is now streaming on Apple TV+.
First Featured Image Credit: Apple TV+