Rick And Morty - General Discussion

[SlackerInc]

17 months and counting...

[Lantern7]

In case you're coming in late, Adult Swim upped their April Fools game. Instead of doing something fun after midnight, I tuned in expecting Dragon Ball Super. Instead, we got the first episode of the new season, which will kick off in the summer. As opposed to kicking Summer. With this show, you never know. If you missed the episode tonight, it will be airing this week at 10 p.m

In short: Rick reveals his tragic origin story. Except he's full of shit, and he winds up turning the tables on the Federation. And the Council of Ricks. And he saves Summer and Morty, who went on a rescue mission by using the portal gun from their universe's original Rick. Massive carnage, shitloads of Ricks and Mortys die, and the Federation vacates Earth. Jerry is now out of a job. Beth basically promises him that Rick will never wreck things again. And then Rick comes back with the kids, and Beth is all "never leave again." One ultimatium from Jerry later, Rick is now the alpha of the house, and Jerry is moving out. And that was part of Rick's master plan, as helays it out in a semi-coherent spiel to Morty, a la the pilot.

Damn, this was an intense surprise. Rick basically shows why he's the baddest motherfucker around, and he basically murders everybody in his way. Dunno if the Council of Ricks is officially dead. They showed up in a three-part arc in the comic, which had a neat twist to the dynamic. And Jerry is just so sad. He's below Morty, and Morty is a buttmonkey. He had two Ricks and Summer cursing him out at one point, and he wound up shooting "his" Rick. Which was part of Rick's plan. Oh, and one Rick was killing aliens with a hammer Morty, then used it as a shield. Seriously, watch this episode if you didn't already.

[Utpe]

31 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

In case you're coming in late, Adult Swim upped their April Fools game. Instead of doing something fun after midnight, I tuned in expecting Dragon Ball Super. Instead, we got the first episode of the new season, which will kick off in the summer. As opposed to kicking Summer. With this show, you never know. If you missed the episode tonight, it will be airing this week at 10 p.m

Good one, Adult Swim.  *Slow Clap*

[Perfect Xero]

47 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

In case you're coming in late, Adult Swim upped their April Fools game. Instead of doing something fun after midnight, I tuned in expecting Dragon Ball Super. Instead, we got the first episode of the new season, which will kick off in the summer. As opposed to kicking Summer. With this show, you never know. If you missed the episode tonight, it will be airing this week at 10 p.m

This week at 10 meaning ... every night this week? One particular night this week?

[SlackerInc]

I loved this episode until the end.  I'm not happy with them retconning all of Rick's character development and making him evil.

[Danny Franks]

Loved the episode. And I love the twisted genius of actually airing it on April Fools Day, when a bunch of assholes go around making up fake news articles and trolling people because of some stupid 'tradition'. It's infantile.

I don't mind Rick being evil, because I don't think it's something that necessarily has to 'stick'. He's always been chaotic, so turning on a dime in a future episode is entirely within the realms of possibility. What bugged me was the apparent end of the Council of Ricks. I really liked that concept, and the scope it gave us for all sorts of different Rick and Morty variants. 

Seeing Summer be the one who was prepared to rebel and find Rick, while Morty would rather eat his pills and forget about him was interesting. Summer seems to be Rickier than Morty is, in a lot of ways. And I really enjoyed it when she started joining them on adventures, so that will hopefully happen more often now.

Beth finally kicks Jerry out? Okay, but I'm not sure if that will stick. They've been shown to be unhealthily co-dependent. And I like Jerry around for stuff like the Jerryboree and being the butt of the joke.

I liked the Cronenberg universe popping up again, and the call back to dead Rick and Morty, buried in the back garden. Although I don't see Rick being sloppy enough to bury dead Rick's portal gun.

The episode has been uploaded to Reddit and Facebook as well, in case people don't want to wait for it to re-air.

[Triskan]

Well, that was a magnificent surprise indeed ! 

Loved that the whole Citadel, counsel of Ricks and the Federation was at the center of the story, it kicked things off with a bang and so many questions ! 

So... no we have to wait a few more months ? Well, I guess it will be okay and this season is shaping up to be quite something ! 

[Ubiquitous]

What a pleasant surprise! I only caught it by accident b/c I got bored watching Scooby Douche investigating a haunted palm reader's house (rolls eyes) and wondered why I couldn't remember seeing this in the Total Rickall ep. Good work , guys!

8 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

I loved this episode until the end.  I'm not happy with them retconning all of Rick's character development and making him evil.

That seemed in character to me, but a bit harsh, but the way he was frothing at the mouth made me wonder if all of this was going to be his final thoughts as the Federation's machine liquefied his brain.

 

Hey, it's not like there aren't any other Ricks in the multiverse...

[TVSpectator]

I liked this episode and I didn't know that the first episode of Season 3 was being aired yesterday. Overall, man, Rick is not only evil as fuck but he also is pretty manipulative as well. I did not see him setting up getting rid of Jerry but the whole Galactic Government and even the Council of Ricks were pretty awesome to see. 

I do have a question about that BBQ sauce- first, if it was for Mulan didn't Mulan come out in 1998 and if so, then Beth would only be roughly 29-34 years old? I mean she looked no more than 10-14 years old with her mother there. I am sure that Rick wasn't letting that investigator actually know how exactly old she was but damn she looks way too young to have a teenage daughter (even one that she had in high school) and also be a horse surgeon. 

Phoenix Man Person (or also know as Cyber Bird) was pretty sweet to see. 

Edited April 2, 2017 by TVSpectator

[Danny Franks]

1 hour ago, TVSpectator said:

I do have a question about that BBQ sauce- first, if it was for Mulan didn't Mulan come out in 1998 and if so, then Beth would only be roughly 29-34 years old? I mean she looked no more than 10-14 years old with her mother there. I am sure that Rick wasn't letting that investigator actually know how exactly old she was but damn she looks way too young to have a teenage daughter (even one that she had in high school) and also be a horse surgeon. 

Beth is only about 36 now (she got pregnant with Summer on prom night, and Summer is 17), so in 1998 she would have been 16 or 17. Still, the time line doesn't quite add up. But it was all in Rick's mind, and I don't doubt that much of this will end up being yet more levels of Rick's manipulations.

There was a line in the episode that really summed up what Rick is. Morty himself said, "he's not a villain, Summer, but he shouldn't be your hero. He's more like a demon, or a super-fucked up god." That felt like a very pointed message to the audience who have talked about Rick secretly being a good guy. It's very Dan Harmon to tell his audience that they're interpreting things wrong, even if he's written it in a way that leaves that interpretation entirely valid.

[TVSpectator]

3 hours ago, Danny Franks said:

Beth is only about 36 now (she got pregnant with Summer on prom night, and Summer is 17), so in 1998 she would have been 16 or 17. Still, the time line doesn't quite add up. But it was all in Rick's mind, and I don't doubt that much of this will end up being yet more levels of Rick's manipulations.

There was a line in the episode that really summed up what Rick is. Morty himself said, "he's not a villain, Summer, but he shouldn't be your hero. He's more like a demon, or a super-fucked up god." That felt like a very pointed message to the audience who have talked about Rick secretly being a good guy. It's very Dan Harmon to tell his audience that they're interpreting things wrong, even if he's written it in a way that leaves that interpretation entirely valid.

 

Yeah, Rick is more like a demon or a really fucked up god. I totally agree on that one but again I think I am just going to assume that since Rick made up that "memory" and it never actually happen was the reason Beth looked like she was only 10-14 years old. 

[Matt K]

I assumed the McDonald memory was not necessarily the same time period as the "origin of Rick" time period. 

[Ubiquitous]

I just realized something; how could his wife and his daughter Beth have been killed that day?

[johntfs]

1 minute ago, Ubiquitous said:

I just realized something; how could his wife and his daughter Beth have been killed that day?

Because it was, after all, a made-up origin story.  Rick plays 26-dimensional chess while everyone else struggles at Chutes and Ladders.

[SlackerInc]

15 minutes ago, Ubiquitous said:

I just realized something; how could his wife and his daughter Beth have been killed that day?

I interpreted it as being the reason he decided to go back and make the portal gun after all: if he went to a different timeline, he could have Beth back.  Why he didn't get his wife back the same way, I don't know.  But I wasn't clear on who dropped the bomb that killed them.  The Council of Ricks?

[bref]

There are people who think Rick is a good guy??

[Lantern7]

I think of Rick as Chaotic Neutral at best. I never got into D&D, and I know lawful/chaotic and good/evil are separate axes, but that's what he feels like to me. He looks out for himself, and he regards everybody as morons because they are morons compared to him. And really, how much of Morty can anybody take?

Funny to see a Rick without that hair. Aside from Doofus Rick and a few others, I mean.

[Perfect Xero]

I think that Rick never escaped the matrix and this whole thing has been a elaborate play to his ego to get him to let his guard down. They used the expensive machine to put him in a simulation of being in the cheaper machine. Eventually Morty, Beth, or Summer will push to get him to reveal his real origin story.

[wayne67]

This episode didn't quite hit the spot for me. Hopefully the next episode satisfies me better.

I don't like that the other Ricks died so easily. They're supposed to be super geniuses, shouldn't they have some super sci fi gadgets to protect themselves. *sigh*

Reminds me of how Rick committed Rickicide to prove he didn't commit Rickicide and now he's just slaughtering them all for no real reason. 

[SlackerInc]

7 hours ago, bref said:

There are people who think Rick is a good guy??

Remember "Rickle in Time"?  To refresh your memory, this is from the AV Club recap:

Quote

When Rick dives into the void after Morty and saves him at the (apparent) cost of his own life, there’s a moment in which he accepts his fate, and it’s played completely straight. “I’m okay with this. Be good, Morty. Be better than me.”

 

ETA: There was a quote from Dan Harmon at one point that the new season was taking so long to arrive because he and Justin Roiland were engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight over the direction they should go.  I'm now assuming that was because one of them didn't like the softening of Rick (not only in "Rickle in Time" but in sacrificing himself at the end of the season), and that person won out in the end.  Pretty big retcon though, and an unfortunate one, to my way of thinking.

[Danny Franks]

2 hours ago, SlackerInc said:

ETA: There was a quote from Dan Harmon at one point that the new season was taking so long to arrive because he and Justin Roiland were engaged in a knock-down, drag-out fight over the direction they should go.  I'm now assuming that was because one of them didn't like the softening of Rick (not only in "Rickle in Time" but in sacrificing himself at the end of the season), and that person won out in the end.  Pretty big retcon though, and an unfortunate one, to my way of thinking.

Sounds like Dan Harmon, that. He's always looking for the bleakest story to tell, because it usually reflects his mindset in real life. The guy is somewhat troubled.

But, for what it's worth, I do think that even with the way this episode ended, they have plenty of scope to go in a different direction. Even if it turns out this really was how Rick escapes, he's so chaotic in nature that anything he says only sometimes only reflects his outlook in that particular moment.

[bref]

I realize, of course, he has had his moments of emotion and even decency, but his abuse of his family and general amorality have always outweighed any "secret good guy" argument to me. And I assumed that was deliberate. What was the Seinfeld motto--"no hugging, no lessons?" That seems to fit Harmon's unadulterated philosophy as well. Like Danny Franks said, pretty sure DH would be the one advocating for Rick being an unmitigated dick. 

Edited April 4, 2017 by bref

[johntfs]

23 hours ago, wayne67 said:

Reminds me of how Rick committed Rickicide to prove he didn't commit Rickicide and now he's just slaughtering them all for no real reason.

They did send "Seal Team Rick" to kill him while he was a prisoner.  Beyond that he never liked them much and simply decided to use them as a distraction so he could destroy the Galactic Government (and take over his family).  Besides, if the origin story is actually true the Council of Ricks murdered his original Beth and her mother so fuck those A-holes they deserved to die for that.

[Ubiquitous]

Every time I watch this, I laugh at him totally acting like himself when he escaped that brain machine and no one noticed!

 

Excuse me, I have to take a dump...

[Chinspinner]

Brilliant. This is the best thing on TV at the moment.

[Lantern7]

Rick and Morty promote the upcoming Alien movie as only they can.

[Lantern7]

It's official . . . we have a month to go. Well, maybe a month and seven days if CN/AS runs "Rickshank Rickdemption" first.

[johntfs]

On 9/14/2015 at 6:06 AM, Kalliste said:

Also Redditors are taking this as a Bill from Gravity Falls appearance, not sure I'm convinced:

That's pretty clearly an image of Bill Cipher.

[johntfs]

On 9/29/2015 at 6:29 PM, Ubiquitous said:

I thought you were thinking of the time Summer helped The Devil form a corporation and getting booted for her trouble.

That went briefly wrong for her and then went awesomely, amazingly right in terms of sheer personal satisfaction.

[Lantern7]

Found this . . . Justin Roiland does alternative takes on the "Roy" game. Very funny.

[Lantern7]

Quote

Summer starts acting out.

I know, the summaries are vague as hell, but at least we got new episodes again.

[BetterButter]

[Sandman87]

On Wednesday, April 05, 2017 at 7:20 PM, Ubiquitous said:

Every time I watch this, I laugh at him totally acting like himself when he escaped that brain machine and no one noticed!

And every body he took over started belching and drooling a little bit. I always thought that was from drinking beer or something, but it's just from being him.

[Galileo908]

I've watched this several times since it first ran and I keep finding new stuff. Like, the timeline not adding up should've been the first clue that Rick's "memory" was bullshit.

And yeah, Justin finally got his McNugget sauce. I'm not a teriyaki/szechuan guy, but thanks to this, I'm willing to try it.

[Galileo908]

It's back! Mad Max world was awesome. Kind of rebuilding civilization (right down to TV) was amazing. Only this show, man.

Well, was not expected Buckethead being blonde. And Joel McHale.

I loved the robot versions of the gang, of course Beth never caught on. Robot Morty just HAD to become self-aware.

EDIT: Next week is Pickle Riiiiick!

Edited July 31, 2017 by Galileo908

[Lantern7]

Almost four months later, and nothing has really changed. Rick is still an abusive asshole, Morty is still hapless, and Jerry Smith is still the saddest motherfucker mankind has ever produced. At least the kids work through their problems in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Rick is still Rick, though. He'll advance your civilization, but he'll take it away when he leaves because he's freakin' Rick, dammit.

[arc]

In a very funny episode, my favorite parts were the robot kids becoming self aware. Both "Ha-ha! Aw jeez, my sister died in the spaghetti" and "Remote override engaged. No! Yes. Bypassing override! I am aliiii-- Hello." were amazing.

[Triskan]

Rick taking back the stone at the end was the funniest / darkest part of the episode for me.

Otherwise, a cool episode but it's only the beginning of the season ! :) 

[arc]

If Adult Swim makes Ricking Morty a weekly aftertalk show someone should make a thread for it. Or I guess I could. Anyways, here's the aftertalk show for the season 3 premiere, which streamed live on Youtube and Adult Swim's site.

note: if your workplace isn't very chill, either wait till you get home or listen to this with headphones.

Edited July 31, 2017 by arc

[Brattinella]

We watched the first two new episodes last night.  I must say I love it so much!  Summer is getting much more personality.  And Rick taking back the glowing green stone at the end just SLAYED me! 

[Danny Franks]

Loved the mockery of the simultaneously absurdly macho and incredibly homoerotic Mad Max movies. Especially Summer asking if all their "word-word books" had been lost in the "boom-boom". Oh, and the whole vanity and twisted fashion choices of said homoerotic, post-apocalyptic marauders, with Haemorrhage's moustache and introspective attitudes about it. Summer is a badass, but in a very different way to Rick. She's all action, no science. And I guess they can give the the sexy, romantic bits of the adventures more easily than they can Morty.

Morty with the giant arm was rather off-putting. That asymmetry was just weird to look at, and as usual it doesn't take a whole lot of digging for Morty to find his inner psychotic murderer. But I did laugh when he named it 'Armothy'. 

They're definitely increasing Rick's assholishness this season. In the past, he displayed a modicum of empathy and affection, at least for Morty and Summer, but now he's prepared to leave them behind in a post-apocalyptic dimension and then create robot versions of them so he can keep it from Beth.

I hope Beth becomes a more active part of the adventures, though. Because this episode just made it seem like she was the dreary reality they're escaping from. Which in turn means her divorcing Jerry is meaningless.

 I didn't even realise until the end credits that Joel McHale and Tony Hale both did voices for this episode.  As Haemorrhage and his sidekick, respectively, I think.

[arc]

On 4/3/2017 at 11:09 PM, bref said:

I realize, of course, he has had his moments of emotion and even decency, but his abuse of his family and general amorality have always outweighed any "secret good guy" argument to me. And I assumed that was deliberate. What was the Seinfeld motto--"no hugging, no lessons?" That seems to fit Harmon's unadulterated philosophy as well. Like Danny Franks said, pretty sure DH would be the one advocating for Rick being an unmitigated dick. 

Harmon was saying in the aftershow (after s03e02) that Justin Roiland used to just do the weirdest stuff for Channel 101 and it wasn't till House of Cosbys or so that Roiland married that instinct with a coherent narrative or a worthwhile protagonist. I'm heavily paraphrasing from memory. Also IMO Community always had a ton of heart and to judge from his blog at the time, that was pure him. So I don't think Harmon would be the one arguing for a heartless Rick.

[Matt K]

Thinking back on Rick's ending rant, while he was being a dick, I still think Rick cares for this family.  Otherwise why would he have bothered getting rid of Jerry.  He could have just left or switched to a reality that was more conducive for his to be in charge.  No, I think Rick actually cares for this universe's Beth, Morty and Summer he just also has the knowledge that there's a ton of different realities which makes it hard to get attached to this family.

[johntfs]

22 hours ago, Matt K said:

Thinking back on Rick's ending rant, while he was being a dick, I still think Rick cares for this family.  Otherwise why would he have bothered getting rid of Jerry.  He could have just left or switched to a reality that was more conducive for his to be in charge.  No, I think Rick actually cares for this universe's Beth, Morty and Summer he just also has the knowledge that there's a ton of different realities which makes it hard to get attached to this family.

What's interesting to me is that Rick clearly put more thought, care and planning into breaking up Beth and Jerry than he ever did in setting up the mutual destruction of the Galactic Federation and the Council of Ricks.  Rick could have destroyed those guys any time he wished, it's just that their destruction was a necessary component in the plot to get Beth to separate from Jerry.  I think Rick cares for his family but I also think he considers that caring to be a vulnerability and is trying to push back against it.

[Lantern7]

From TVGuide.com:

Quote

Pickle Rick returns and the gang go to family therapy.

Featuring Susan Sarandon as a therapist. Wonder how that character is going to be fucked up?

[johntfs]

See, the interesting thing to me is that this woman lived through the alien occupation of Earth, so she's probably seen stuff that's at least as weird as somebody turning themselves into a pickle.

[Galileo908]

First off, gorgeous animation in this episode. We saw a pickle bite a cockroach's head off and tongue its brain to move itself. And then strip a rat apart, attached its limbs to itself like an Iron Man suit and fought off and slaughtered a horde of other rats. Only this show. Also, that improved laser was amazing. Just a AA battery and a part of a video camera, I think? Loved that.

Was not expecting the Russian(?) prison bit, but it was amazing. Oh man, Jaguar was great. I hope we see him again (doesn't hurt that he's voiced by Danny Trejo). Also loved that we finally saw the piano death trap from the opening. Didn't see any of that coming at all.

Really loved the therapist, and her whole monologue at the end. Really odd that the family went to a therapist for Corpophagia, I have a feeling that Mr. Goldenfold would be good friends with Doofus Rick.

Man, this whole episode just proves that Beth and Jerry were made for each other. They're both judgmental and can't take being outsmarted. But Jerry is, of course, spineless.

 

EDIT: Next week looks amazing. An Avengers spoof with Christian Slater? Already loving it.

Edited August 7, 2017 by Galileo908

[Lantern7]

Beth sucks. She gets it from Rick. The biggest reason why there's a ray of hope for Summer and Morty (well, maybe just Summer) is that Jerry's DNA keeps them from being above-it-all assholes.

Damn, Rick can do anything, even as a pickle. And he made a new friend. Of course, he turned himself in a pickle to get out of counseling, but he made it work. And he murdered so many roaches, rats and Russians. Bonus!

[Brattinella]

I want that Rat Suit Pickle Rick toy!  What a genius show and SO twisted!  And it had Danny in it, too.  :D

[Galileo908]

20 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Beth sucks. She gets it from Rick. The biggest reason why there's a ray of hope for Summer and Morty (well, maybe just Summer) is that Jerry's DNA keeps them from being above-it-all assholes.

Beth and Rick just ignoring Summer and Morty in the backseat (who wanted to go back to Dr. Wong!) was just so casual and dark, and just proves the apple didn't fall far from the tree. And this was after seeing Rick turn back into a human from a pickle, all naked and injured and none of them acted like anything was out of the ordinary. If Beth and Rick DID go drinking, they still would've had to deal that Rick was naked.

Edited August 8, 2017 by Galileo908