When it comes to writing an inherently volatile relationship like the one between Ian and Poppy, there’s always the risk of repeating yourself. In many ways, seasons one and two were both about Ian learning to recognize, privately and publicly, how much he needs Poppy. They bring out the worst in each other but also the best, and ultimately they may not be able to create anything truly great without the other. That became definitively clear to Ian last season when the show ratcheted up its dramatic content, giving us a friendship story with serious, surprising stakes.
How do you follow up on that? Well, you acknowledge the reality: Ian may have done something unusually selfless and humble by suggesting they make Hera, but realistically speaking, he’s still often pretty fucking annoying as a business partner. So while “Partners” shows a lot of Ian-Poppy squabbling that wouldn’t feel out of place in another season, the shift in their dynamic is important. They’re no longer in direct conflict about the content they’re putting out; it’s more that Ian is bored and antsy for the first time since he got really successful. He’s grasping for control and desperate for a purpose, traveling down random metaverse rabbit holes and dedicating himself to improving Poppy’s hygiene.
“You’re great, but you’ve done it,” Poppy tells him. This is her moment to do it, so she’s asking him to just be a good partner and get her a buffalo-chicken pizza from the gas station on the corner. And while Poppy’s eating habits are more insane than ever, it’s hard not to root for her alone time when we see how magical coding looks from her perspective: her desk spinning, with lines of code materializing in midair, the sleek white office flashing blue and purple around her. Besides, if I requested a pizza and my friend came back with a smoothie station and an exercise bike, I’d be a little pissed too.
Ian repeatedly regresses into thinking he knows what’s best for Poppy, eventually leading to her calling him a terrible partner. And the conflict isn’t really resolved at the end of the episode; Ian and Dana find her conked out at her desk, then the two of them discover a shared love for VR, suggesting a fun new friendship dynamic (and a potential source of jealousy from Poppy?). I don’t necessarily expect this particular spat to carry over to the next episode, especially based on the light final note, but the open-endedness hints that their contentious dynamic may be a common theme coming up.
I do hope the show remembers to keep it fresh and to stay rooted in the characters’ perspectives instead of piling on the Ian-Poppy drama just for the sake of it. But so far, the new dynamic is fairly distinct, with Poppy repeatedly reminding Ian she’s more important than he is right now. I always appreciate the writers’ willingness to let Poppy be a total asshole — and that’s especially the case in her scenes with Dana, where she treats her like a servant at best and an errant fly at worst.
As in the premiere, the biggest convergence of cast members happens toward the end of the episode when everybody once again ends up at Mythic Quest HQ even though half of them don’t work there. Carol calls a meeting after the two socially conscious new testers report harassment from Jo (who called them the “lowest white men on the totem pole”) and from Dana and Rachel (who popped in with the idea to have sex on their old testing couch, then made the guys uncomfortable by asking about their sexualities). But the Ian and Poppy drama also erupts at the meeting, as does David’s suspicion of Brad.
The end of the episode leaves Brad’s plan unclear, if he does indeed have one. But it seems as though he must have something up his sleeve. He’s shady this whole episode: obliquely suggesting that Jo plant something on him; assuring David that if there were some nefarious plot afoot, he would never know about it; and reminding Ian of the man he used to be, a “conduit between the realm of pure potential and the corporeal plane.” I’m curious to see how his scheme unfolds in the next few episodes and if Jo will once again be caught between David and Brad in a quasi–love triangle.
“Partners” is a bit of a comedown from the high of the premiere, and the return to Mythic Quest feels a little more contrived. I’m curious to see if the season will go with this method of frequent pop-ins or if it’ll stick to a few core character groupings in separate spaces. I also would have liked a little more clarification about the status of Ian and Poppy’s VC pitches, especially considering the episode’s shortish length. I assume the offer Poppy got in the premiere has been lost forever, but she doesn’t seem overly concerned with it in this episode and Ian is actively bored.
Still, this is a solid follow-up, returning to the old workplace-sitcom vibe of classic Mythic Quest. This has been a confident start for season three, and you get the sense that the writers have finally gotten a handle on exactly who these characters are. Even if season three did drop the dramatic elements entirely and stick with this light tone, it would be one of the most enjoyable sitcoms on TV right now.
Level Rewards
• Poppy walks Ian down a hall of “visionaries” like he walked her past in the previous episode, and Ian ends up accidentally quoting Elizabeth Holmes: “This is what happens when you work to change things. First, they think you’re crazy, then they fight you, and all of a sudden, you change the world.” I like how quickly this realization convinces Ian he may be wrong in this instance.
• Rachel’s parents seem concerned about how much time she’s spending away from school, which seems like a hint of where her arc could be going. She’s the only one in the cast right now whose role in this season is a little unclear.
