Overview of Playing The Backrooms Game ☢️ - H3 After Dark #114
This episode is a classic chaotic H3 After Dark mix of pre-show banter, sponsorship plugs, horror-movie discussion, and a long cooperative gaming segment. The crew talks about their upcoming Los Angeles trip, Teddy Fresh, a recent update on Grace Helbig’s recovery, and then dives deep into Hereditary before finishing with a frantic run through The Backrooms game with David and Kate.
Main Topics Covered
Pre-show banter and updates
- The episode opens with casual Friday-night chatter, travel complaints, and jokes about splitting dinner bills and Venmo balances.
- The crew talks about:
- Their upcoming trip to LA and the usual dread of flying.
- Switching roles on the show and using “Grok bots” to do different jobs.
- Teddy Fresh’s current drop and what items are still available.
- They also mention planning to keep things chill and doing more “in-person After Darks” soon.
Grace Helbig health update
- Ethan brings up Grace Helbig’s cancer-related surgery.
- They share positive news from Mayim/Mae Marie’s update that:
- Grace is out of surgery
- Everything went beautifully
- She’s now resting and recovering
- The tone is supportive and relieved.
Hereditary Discussion
General reaction
- Harley watches Hereditary for the first time before the show and says he liked it a lot.
- He and David both react strongly to how unsettling the film is.
What they think the film is really about
- The crew discusses several possible readings:
- grief
- mental illness
- guilt
- generational trauma
- cult influence
- Harley argues the movie felt less like a pure “mental illness metaphor” and more like an exploration of grief after a traumatic family death.
- He says the film’s emotional horror comes from how grief can feel frightening, not just sad.
Favorite elements
- They praise:
- the miniature/dollhouse imagery
- the cinematography
- Tony Collette’s performance
- the slow reveal of the cult
- They note that the film is scarier because it feels like something that could be happening in a normal house nearby.
Behind-the-scenes details from David
- David shares some production trivia:
- Hereditary was filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah.
- Much of the crew came from local Utah productions.
- The team behind the film also worked on David’s project at the time.
- He also mentions rumors that Alex Wolff went very method on set and that the production was intense.
Other horror connections
- The discussion branches into:
- It Follows
- Rosemary’s Baby
- the idea of “keening” as a grief sound
- horror as an expression of family dread and emotional decay
Last Meals Segment
The crew does a “last meal” game and shares big comfort-food fantasy menus.
David’s last meal
- Appetizer: nigiri, especially salmon and toro
- Main: a smash burger he had in Paris at a place called La Renommée
- Dessert: tiramisu and/or Pizookie-style dessert
- Drink: Arnold Palmer, specifically with whiskey and peach at the wedding version he likes
Ethan’s last meal
- Appetizer: a French breakfast spread with baguette, salted butter, preserves, croissant, and café au lait
- Main: Jollibee chicken, spaghetti, and garlic naan / Filipino food
- Dessert: French cheese course, specifically Tête de Moine, plus crème brûlée or flan
- Drink: Kir Royale
Galia’s last meal
- Appetizer: shakshuka
- Sides: fresh breads, hummus, egg spread
- Main: the “buck burger” from Montreal
- Dessert: Napoleon cake
- Drink: two flat whites and a latte
Harley’s last meal
- Meal: zesty nachos from Denny’s in Rosemead, California
- Main: a deluxe “buck burger” with capicola-style meat, roasted red peppers, and sauce
- Dessert: a truck full of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, served from a toy dump truck
- Harley’s menu is intentionally absurd and very “H3” in tone.
Backrooms Gameplay Segment
The second half of the episode turns into a chaotic multiplayer run through The Backrooms.
Setup
- Ethan, Harley, Kate, and David play a cooperative Backrooms game.
- The goal is to:
- collect VHS tapes
- survive monsters
- navigate the maze-like Backrooms
- activate generators / progress through levels
What happens
- The team gets separated repeatedly.
- They encounter:
- a large monster
- “smiler” enemies
- blackout events
- sanity loss
- hidden rooms, holes, doors, and generators
- The game becomes a mix of survival, panic, and arguments about who is helping whom.
Running jokes and chaos
- Harley repeatedly hides in holes and gets accused of abandoning the team.
- David leans into the “gamer streamer” persona and jokes that he’s carrying the team.
- Kate is repeatedly frustrated by communication issues and by the game’s first-person horror mechanics.
- The crew keeps joking about:
- “getting mutarted”
- “danger holes”
- being left behind
- who is actually doing the work
Progress
- They eventually:
- finish the VHS-tape objective
- move into the next level
- complete several generators
- escape at least one major room section
- The game is difficult, but the team manages to advance together by the end.
Notable Moments and Running Gags
- Venmo joke ad read: a long, recurring ad bit about spending Venmo balance instantly.
- “Keening” joke: Ethan and Harley riff on the sound of grief and compare it to exaggerated horror-movie screaming.
- Method acting talk: they compare Alex Wolff’s performance to other method actors like Jeremy Strong.
- Odd food obsession: the whole episode keeps circling back to food—lasagna, Jollibee, French bread, burgers, and desserts.
- Harley’s boomer-gamer energy: his Backrooms gameplay becomes the butt of repeated jokes as he hides, runs off, and refuses to use the correct mic setup.
Takeaway
This episode is part horror analysis, part food fantasy draft, and part full-on gaming meltdown. The most substantial discussion centers on Hereditary, which the crew reads as a devastating movie about grief, family trauma, and hidden evil. After that, the show pivots into the kind of chaotic, funny, multiplayer gaming segment that After Dark does best.