Rick and Morty Season 8 Review – Episodes 1 and 3-5

This is simply a spoiler-free reappraisal of Rick and Morty play 8, which premieres connected Sunday, May 25. New episodes aerial play done July 27.

Eight seasons into its run, Rick and Morty has go 2 shows. Sometimes it clings to its roots arsenic a science-fiction escapade that brews up a caller parody of a genre staple each week. But it’s champion erstwhile it spends clip expanding its characters and world, exploring Rick’s acheronian backstory, his interaction connected the multiverse, and his narration with his family. Unfortunately, the 4 episodes of play 8 that I’ve seen thin connected the classical Rick and Morty formula, which is getting a spot tired.

In caller years, the amusement has challenged Rick’s dominance by having characters propulsion backmost against his abusive and self-destructive behaviour portion simultaneously proving that the feline who fancies himself the smartest being successful immoderate world isn’t close astir everything. That advancement seems to person evaporated successful play 8. While Rick does get duped aft making a large mistake successful the play premiere, “Summer of All Fears,” helium mostly gets what helium wants and persuades others to autumn successful enactment with his amorality.

When Morty argues for trying to really assistance radical connected their adventures, helium winds up regretting the decision. Rick, meanwhile, finds that being benignant alternatively than cruel tin enactment to his advantage, but it’s not a acquisition bound to stick. Judging by these episodes, play 8 takes a sadistic glee successful undermining imaginable quality growth, adjacent arsenic it provides a glimpse astatine what the Smith household is consenting to bash to each different to execute their goals.

Rick and Morty inactive shines erstwhile it pairs its absurdism with crisp writing, pulling nary punches erstwhile mocking Christianity and the War successful Afghanistan with immoderate precise weird sci-fi twists. Its over-the-top usage of gore, violence, and apocalyptic threats means the stakes are ever precocious and prone to get improbably higher. And it’s ne'er forgotten the worth of a bully callback – conscionable hold to spot however Morty’s determination to adhd a snorkel to a death-race car successful “Summer of All Fears” pays off.

Yet its newest episodes besides connection little rewarding reminders of things Rick and Morty has done before. Several of them consciousness similar structural oregon thematic retreads: "The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly," for example, is simply a coagulated small Western that follows the exemplary of “The Ricklantis Mixup,” focusing connected the fallout from the demolition of the Citadel of Ricks portion the superior versions of Rick and Morty stay blissfully ignorant of the larger plots unfolding astir them. The assemblage horror-heavy “The Last Temptation of Jerry” is simply a mashup of The Santa Clause and Prometheus, but beneath the surface, it’s conscionable different accidental to usage Morty’s mediocre dada Jerry (Chris Parnell) arsenic a punching container – which would beryllium little bothersome if it were arsenic comic arsenic (or offered the richer quality arcs of) erstwhile Jerry episodes similar “The Jerrick Trap” oregon “Big Trouble successful Little Sanchez.” Even with that slayer snorkel punchline, “Summer of All Fears” has a spot excessively overmuch successful communal with the play 6’s "Rick: A Mort Well Lived," which besides combined zany enactment with an affectional arc astir integer selves.

It feels arsenic though Rick and Morty is astatine a crossroads: At akin points successful their agelong runs, chap animated comedies Archer and The Venture Bros. had evolved beyond their spoofs of espionage thrillers and Hanna-Barbera lad adventurers, staying caller by allowing their characters to turn and change. Season 7 saw Rick termination his nemesis and Morty face his fearfulness of being abandoned by Rick, and yet neither large improvement seems to person an effect connected the aboriginal parts of play 8. (Maybe we spot that reflected successful occurrence 2, “Valkyrick,” which wasn’t screened for critics.) The extremity of past play besides saw the rubric characters admit that each the cosmic horrors and untold pleasures they’ve experienced person near them feeling a small jaded. If Rick and Morty isn’t careful, its assemblage mightiness commencement to consciousness that way, too.