The initial pitch for Rick and Morty was easy enough to get excited over: from the mad minds of Adult Swim and the creator of Community came an animated show about a Doctor Who-like time traveler and his grandson, except his grandson is an idiot and that Doctor Who-like character is an alcoholic, cynical A-hole.
Except Rick and Morty proved to be much more than that exceedingly appealing premise. With Season 3 premiering on Sunday, July 30 (after dropping its first episode early in an amazing April Fool's prank), Adult Swim's critical darling has grown to be one of the smartest, funniest and sharpest TV shows on the air, and what I would argue is the best sci-fi series currently airing.
Sci-fi is often at its best when it reflects the world around us, and Rick and Morty consistently and surprisingly challenges the audience as it takes its title characters on their increasingly zany adventures. While the events of each episode are stranger than can be described (made all the funnier by their very bland episode descriptions), creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have a tight grasp on the story they're telling and the characters they're putting through the ringer, and the series is all the more effective because it is increasingly resonant to its audience. Take Season 2's "The Ricks Must Be Crazy," where we learn Rick created a miniature universe inside of a battery simply to power his Space Cruiser, but that universe was filled with an entire society of people with hopes, dreams and ambitions, not knowing their sole reason for existence is because a mad genius needed power to travel through space.
On paper, Rick and Morty is a cross between Doctor Who and Futurama, but isn't just in it for the laughs. There's a rich, challenging depth to the comedy that helps explain why it took Roiland and Harmon two years of development between the premiere of Season 2 and the premiere of Season 3: they have to make the show better with each season, and with a show as tightly and smartly written as Rick and Morty, I'd imagine that's increasingly difficult to one-up themselves. While similar adult animated series like The Simpson and Family Guy are episodic in nature with gradual linear development for characters and story arcs over time, Rick and Morty leans into its serialized nature.
For all that Rick and Morty bumble their way throughout the galaxy, these characters and their family members -- Beth, Jerry and Summer -- need to make hard choices that have real consequences, like that time back in Season 1 when Rick and his grandson needed to hop realities to save their lives, and had to kill versions of themselves in order to fit into the new reality unnoticed. That the weight of that action stays with those characters beyond that episode -- and even gets referenced again in the Season 3 premiere -- is a perfect example of the way Rick and Morty excels in what it strives to achieve.
Unlike other excellent science fiction television on the air right now, such as Syfy's The Expanse, Rick and Morty is only constrained by the limits of Roiland and Harmon's minds and the talents of its animators -- which is to say it's not constrained at all. This series doesn't need to worry about translating out-of-this-world ideas to real life; because Rick and Morty is animated, it can go to whatever weird worlds, see whatever strange creatures and endure whatever bizarre circumstances its writers can muster. Because of that, we've gone to an amusement park inside a homeless man, experienced a world-ending, galaxy-challenging version of America's Got Talent ("Get Schwifty!"), went to a daycare for every reality's Jerry and experienced 64 Ricks at once. Oh, and they did The Purge.
But it's not just insane adventures throughout time, space and reality or creating stakes for the character that continue to matter: where Rick and Morty brings it all together is that you truly care about each character, from Rick, Morty, Summer, Beth and Jerry all the way to Mr. Poopybutthole, Birdperson, Mr. Meeseeks and Krombopulos Michael. (I'm still not emotionally over the Snuffles/Snowball episode.) Over the course of its first two seasons and heading into Season 3, Rick and Morty has perfected its character development as it flits between absurdist and sincere, and always grounds its storytelling in a place that feels true to the show even if the most bizarre things imaginable are taking place on screen.
As IGN's reviewer Jesse Schedeen wrote in his review of Season 2, "when a show is as clever and inventive as Rick and Morty, its only real competition is itself." Roiland and Harmon sharpened Rick and Morty in Season 1, and delivered an even stronger season in Season 2. When the wrote themselves into a corner with its emotional, somber finale, they came back with an even greater Season 3 premiere (the fact it was great was an added bonus to the hilarity of them dropping the episode months early on April Fool's Day).
There's no show quite like Rick and Morty on TV -- and there really hasn't been a show quite like Rick and Morty ever. It's funny, challenging, insightful and *burp* disgusting, and I have high hopes that the upcoming Season 3 will continue to exceed my high expectations. With the quality of science fiction storytelling on television continuing to rise, Rick and Morty sets a high bar for its peers to strive to match.
Terri Schwartz is Editorial Producer at IGN. She's pretty thrilled Rick and Morty: Season 3 is premiering on her birthday, July 30. Talk to her on Twitter at @Terri_Schwartz.
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