By Samantha Werkheiser
Editor-in-Chief
SPOILER ALERT:
The popular Adult Swim show “Rick and Morty” is now nearing the end of its third season and it still has the raunchy charm that it had in the beginning.
The show manages to be witty and intelligent while still maintaining a fun and zany element.
The third season started off strong with “The Rickshank Redemption”, which chronicles the story of how Rick managed to escape the prison he was placed in at the end of season two.
The following two episodes “Rickmancing the Stone” and “Pickle Rick” were somewhat of a letdown plot-wise.
Both focused too much on the ongoing issues in the Smith family following Jerry and Beth’s separation.
While the episodes were full of wacky misadventures, it felt like it was trying too hard.
They didn’t capture the same feeling that the earlier seasons did.
The idea of Rick in a pickle form had been a joke promo long before the episode had gone into production.
It felt like the creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon tried as hard as they could to make an episode just based on Rick being a pickle, which was a good idea for a promo, but not a whole episode.
The fourth episode “The Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender” made up for the second and third episodes falling flat.
This hilarious parody of overdone superhero movies is reminiscent of older “Rick and Morty” episodes.
Rick also begins to go back to his old selfish and drunk ways, proving this with an elaborate setup that makes the viewer think he actually values Morty. This proves to be false when it is revealed that an insignificant character named Noob Noob is the one who Rick was expressing his appreciation to.
In the fifth episode “The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy”, the subplot proves to be stronger than the main plot.
Jerry and Rick are the focus of the main plot, with Jerry almost participating in a plot that kills Rick, changing his mind last minute when Rick apologizes to him.
This is typical of his character and only further enforces that he is a weak-minded fool. The subplot focuses on Summer’s body issues and Morty proves to be the hero in this one.
“Rest and Ricklaxation” was another fun, but forgettable episode.
Rick and Morty head to an alien spa to get away for a while, but enter a machine that separates and traps their negative personality traits in a “toxic zone”.
The positive personalities remain in the real world, with Rick being kinder and Morty being confident enough to score girls.
By the end of the episode everything is reverted to normal, which made it so easy to forget.
The seventh episode “Tales from the Citadel” combines many stories of Ricks and Mortys in the Citadel.
Though all the plotlines were amusing, the main takeaway is that Evil Morty has inevitably returned.
He is now in a position of power as well, which could result in some serious repercussions for the main characters.
The most recent episode “Morty’s Mind Blowers” replaced the “Interdimensional Cable” clip shows that were in the first and second season.
Though this episode wasn’t bad, it wasn’t on par with either of the “Interdimensional Cable” ones. The after the credits clip proved to be the best part of this episode, with Jerry once again letting his stupidity shine through.
Overall, the season has some dud episodes, but it is still worth watching.
Email Samantha at:
swerkheis4@live.esu.edu