There’s kind of a stigma around being a Rick and Morty fan. The reasons are too plentiful to go into, although they perhaps can be distilled into two words: Szechuan sauce.
But those of us who do enjoy the Adult Swim cartoon—for its no-holds-barred humor, affecting character development, and narrative ambition—have found it harder than usual to defend the show. Reports broke earlier this year that Justin Roiland, who co-created the show with Dan Harmon (Community) and voiced Rick, Morty, and several other characters, had been charged with domestic violence. After prosecutors dismissed the charges, allegations of sexual assault and grooming attempts followed—and amid it all, he was fired from the show that had made him famous.
Roiland’s alleged behavior is awful, disturbing, and infuriating. But in some way, it’s been heartening to learn that Roiland had a seriously reduced role in making Rick and Morty in recent years. Harmon and other members of the creative team spoke about how Roiland had stopped writing or even coming into work since Season 3, performing the voices from home. Losing Roiland, then, seemed unlikely to affect the show’s quality going forward. But at the same time, Rick and Morty’s voices are a large part of the humor—could new actors replicate their trademark tenors without missing a beat?
While Adult Swim won’t even tell reviewers who the new Rick and Morty are—there are two actors replacing Roiland—fans can rest assured that no beats are missed. With Season 7 (premiering Oct. 15), Rick and Morty continues its reign as one of the funniest shows on cable television, the Roiland of it all be damned.
While Season 6 ended on a plot-heavy note, Season 7 arrives as an accessible entry point for a lapsed or new viewer. There’s an overarching plot lingering in the background, involving Rick and Morty’s multiverse-hopping quest for revenge against the murderous “Rick Prime,” who killed our Rick’s wife and daughter in another timeline. But if you haven’t kept up with the canon, you’ll be fine; so far, Rick and Morty is more interested in flexing its excellent sitcom chops.
Instead of Rick Prime, the first two episodes of Season 7 focus on Rick—and just Rick. Morty’s presence is curiously minimal here, which some fans may find disappointing. But Rick’s Doc Brown-But-Drunk antics have always been a major part of the fun, and the season opens with them front-and-center. The premiere is a hangout sesh featuring Rick and a cast of cameos that longtime fans will appreciate, along with one that’s especially surprising. (No spoilers, but it’s a huge celebrity.) It’s like a Cronenbergian Animal House, a boozy boys’ night featuring interspecies mayhem.
Episode 2 leans further into the grotesquely funny sci-fi, but instead of Morty bailing out his Grandpa Rick, Morty’s dad Jerry (Chris Parnell) joins his father-in-law for an intergalactic adventure. Yes, it’s actively disgusting to watch Rick and Jerry gun down aliens across the stars and fuse their bodies together (seriously), but fans are used to that. We’re really here for the constant quips and subtle heart that lies beneath the blood and guts.
Morty’s love/hate relationship with his grandpa is missed, but watching Rick’s horrible science projects go awry with his pals and the rest of the family affirms how great the supporting cast is. As a major dickbag, Rick needs someone who’s less of a dickbag as a foil; Morty’s the best fit, but he’s not the only option. That said, here’s hoping Season 7 tips the scales back in Morty’s favor.
The biggest criticism I can offer Rick and Morty in its seventh season is that this episodic fun may start feeling a little stale. The prospect of new voices is more exciting than the new voices themselves, which is ultimately a good thing; Rick and Morty sound 99-percent identical to Roiland’s performances. But with such a shake-up, plus Season 6’s set-up for a more linear narrative, you’d think Rick and Morty would try to be a little more daring this time around.
Alas, Season 7 is a sitcom as familiar as it is funny thus far. It remains a very good, very silly, very inventive sci-fi show. And when an episodic show is this good at episodic storytelling—many of Rick and Morty’s bestinstallments are self-contained experiments in storytelling and character-building—not moving the needle forward isn’t so bad. Without Roiland, and regardless of the judgmental public’s opinion, Rick and Morty’s return is as welcome as ever.
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