TV Post-season Review: Rick and Morty
Jun. 2nd, 2020 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cjlasky7Rick and Morty (available on Cartoon Network)
Dan Harmon needs to let it go.
Harmon, the comedic mastermind behind Community and co-creator of Rick and Morty, has railed against internet trolls and the toxic excesses of the fringes of R&M fandom--incels and alt-right snobs who hold up Rick Sanchez as a role model in their battle against softheaded liberalism.
So, some time in the long wait between Seasons 3 and 4, Harmon apparently decided he was going make it absolutely clear that Rick was no role model--even if he had to ram that message down our collective throats.
As you can imagine, that kind of took some of the fun out of Season 4.
For the first time ever, Rick and Morty crapped out for a disturbingly long stretch of episodes: the pointlessly violent season opener, with Morty warped into a white, suburban version of Akira; a dissertation on Rick's inability to form friendships wrapped in an episode about a toilet seat(!); a screamingly dull, one-note satire of heist movies, and a dragon orgy that wasn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. The first half would have been a near-total loss if it weren't for the mid-season finale, a wild First Contact calamity on a planet of sentient snakes that doubled as a parody of Terminator movies--past, present and probably future. (Summer impressing her friend with "snake jazz" is one of those tiny details I love about this series.)
In previous seasons, the writers carefully balanced the sci-fi hijinks with detailed character work. Every episode gave us a new wrinkle in the Smith/Sanchez family dynamic along with the 60 foot mucus monsters and talking butter serving robots. But Season 4 didn't seem to be interested in deepening our understanding of the characters, or in any type of continuity. (In episode 6, Harmon seemed to mock fans for expecting any kind of overall narrative structure.)
Now, granted, this isn't my show. If Harmon and his staff want to do multiple variations of "Rick is a genius, but he's an asshole" or "we're not obliged to follow through on anything if we don't feel like it", I can't stop them. But a long lasting TV series makes its money on the characters, and too much meta-narrative dicking around and too little character/plot progression can kill even the smartest shows.
R&M seemed to acknowledge this in the season finale, which crammed a full year's worth of continuity and callbacks into a tight 22 minutes. We caught up with Beth's clone, the Galactic Federation, Tammy, Bird Person (excuse me, Phoenix Person), and Dr. Wong (the Smith family psychiatrist). Morty and Summer argued the way a teenaged brother and sister do, but they joined forces to save the world. Jerry's stupid puppeteering act saved Rick's ungrateful ass. (Jerry also delivered street justice in an invisible garbage truck.) Rick literally had his guts beaten out and finally admitted to himself he was a shitty father. Both versions of Beth seemed to be happy with her life. There was a hilarious and plot-appropriate bit of product placement.
Sounds great, huh? Why couldn't they do this all season?
The finale gave me hope for Season 5. Maybe Harmon got all the troll baiting out of his system, and we can get down to serious business. Maybe they'll bring back the Citadel, the Council of Ricks and Evil Morty. Maybe Rick will realize he'll have to change to earn back his family's respect.
Or maybe Harmon was screwing with us again, and none of that will happen. Who knows?
Season 4: C+
Dan Harmon needs to let it go.
Harmon, the comedic mastermind behind Community and co-creator of Rick and Morty, has railed against internet trolls and the toxic excesses of the fringes of R&M fandom--incels and alt-right snobs who hold up Rick Sanchez as a role model in their battle against softheaded liberalism.
So, some time in the long wait between Seasons 3 and 4, Harmon apparently decided he was going make it absolutely clear that Rick was no role model--even if he had to ram that message down our collective throats.
As you can imagine, that kind of took some of the fun out of Season 4.
For the first time ever, Rick and Morty crapped out for a disturbingly long stretch of episodes: the pointlessly violent season opener, with Morty warped into a white, suburban version of Akira; a dissertation on Rick's inability to form friendships wrapped in an episode about a toilet seat(!); a screamingly dull, one-note satire of heist movies, and a dragon orgy that wasn't nearly as much fun as it sounds. The first half would have been a near-total loss if it weren't for the mid-season finale, a wild First Contact calamity on a planet of sentient snakes that doubled as a parody of Terminator movies--past, present and probably future. (Summer impressing her friend with "snake jazz" is one of those tiny details I love about this series.)
In previous seasons, the writers carefully balanced the sci-fi hijinks with detailed character work. Every episode gave us a new wrinkle in the Smith/Sanchez family dynamic along with the 60 foot mucus monsters and talking butter serving robots. But Season 4 didn't seem to be interested in deepening our understanding of the characters, or in any type of continuity. (In episode 6, Harmon seemed to mock fans for expecting any kind of overall narrative structure.)
Now, granted, this isn't my show. If Harmon and his staff want to do multiple variations of "Rick is a genius, but he's an asshole" or "we're not obliged to follow through on anything if we don't feel like it", I can't stop them. But a long lasting TV series makes its money on the characters, and too much meta-narrative dicking around and too little character/plot progression can kill even the smartest shows.
R&M seemed to acknowledge this in the season finale, which crammed a full year's worth of continuity and callbacks into a tight 22 minutes. We caught up with Beth's clone, the Galactic Federation, Tammy, Bird Person (excuse me, Phoenix Person), and Dr. Wong (the Smith family psychiatrist). Morty and Summer argued the way a teenaged brother and sister do, but they joined forces to save the world. Jerry's stupid puppeteering act saved Rick's ungrateful ass. (Jerry also delivered street justice in an invisible garbage truck.) Rick literally had his guts beaten out and finally admitted to himself he was a shitty father. Both versions of Beth seemed to be happy with her life. There was a hilarious and plot-appropriate bit of product placement.
Sounds great, huh? Why couldn't they do this all season?
The finale gave me hope for Season 5. Maybe Harmon got all the troll baiting out of his system, and we can get down to serious business. Maybe they'll bring back the Citadel, the Council of Ricks and Evil Morty. Maybe Rick will realize he'll have to change to earn back his family's respect.
Or maybe Harmon was screwing with us again, and none of that will happen. Who knows?
Season 4: C+
