Mythic Quest Season 4 Standalone Episode, Rebrand, Explores Child Stardom
Mythic Quest is known for its seasonal standalone episodes, starting with A Dark Quiet Death in Season 1, Backstory! in Season 2, and Sarian in Season 3. Now, near the end of its fourth season, Mythic Quest adds another to its repertoire: Rebrand. The story centers on Brendan, aka Pootie Shoe (Elisha Henig) a massively popular streamer and the estranged son of Ian Grimm, and his mother Shannon (Alanna Ubach) on Brendan's 17th birthday as he attempts to "rebrand" and take the next step towards adulthood - only to find he might not be ready to let go of childhood quite yet.
Personal Experiences
The episode is as heartfelt as it is funny, and tackles issues like working from a young age, relying on a child for the family income, working through the challenges of an absent, semi-famous father, facing responsibilities, and finding work-life balance. Both Ubach and Henig have been working from a young age, and Henig, who is currently not much older than his teenaged character, wrote the episode.
"Writing this episode was quite personal," says Henig. "I think that the journey from doing this job as a kid, it messes with your head. You have to start all over again as an adult when you transition through puberty, but I think you also have to reevaluate everything and have a realization of how strange your life has been.
"I have no complaints about being a child actor, but I do think there's a certain trauma inherent in the profession, and I think the streaming world is maybe even more intense in some ways. I mean, those streamers will work for like 12 hours a day when they're 13. This episode felt like a natural vehicle to express some of the thoughts I was having."
Ubach agrees, recounting her own experiences auditioning in
