K-SCORE: 94
Creators: Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon
Starring: Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke
“sophisticated and nuanced... hysterical”
Spoiler Level: None
(seasons one and two)
High concept science fiction with lovable, interesting characters has never been so grotesque, absurd, and hysterical. Rick and Morty does what Futurama wishes it could do. Rick and Morty does what I wish someone would give me a chance to try to do. This show, or the first two seasons of it at least, is absolutely spectacular. I was both pleased and shocked multiple times in every episode how sophisticated and nuanced the show’s sci-fi ideas and social commentaries are considering the animation format and that its main characters are a simpleton pubescent kid and his anarchistic alcoholic genius inventor grandfather. Not only is the show funny, it’s the kind of funny that sticks with you for hours or days after you’ve watched an episode. It’s the kind of humor that appreciates given more time and thought.
There’s a lot about Rick and Morty that sets it apart from other animated shows, comedies, and science fiction serieses. They’re perfectly willing to take big bold steps in different directions, time freezing, miniature worlds that serve larger ones, evil monsters born out of subconscious thoughts, teleportation, multiple universes, alien genocide, all of which create a lot of potential for comedic situations. Then they stick with the choices they make, never backing down from the fact that they killed a character or established the fact that there are multiple versions of every character in their multiverse. Just seeing how overwhelmed Morty is with whatever horrifying thing his grandfather has gotten him into is amusing. The way that Rick treats those situations as commonplace, annoying, and largely irrelevant with character motivations like: throw an awesome house party and get ice cream is hilarious. He tiptoes along a thin line that separates irresponsible and mean from brilliant and just-good-hearted-enough that you’re not sure you should be rooting for him, but you always do because he’s so compelling. The show has a way of using Rick to solve big sci-fi problems in seconds as an afterthought while turning little life problems into world-ending conflicts that keep you laughing and engaged for every second of the short run time. It’s fast and smart and there’s not nearly enough of it.
Rick Sanchez also has an odd dozen of some of the best one-liners I’ve ever come across. “Weddings are just funerals with cake,” and “Love is just a chemical reaction that compels animals to breed,” and “Being nice is just something stupid people do to hedge their bets.” I found myself constantly going back to rewatch a couple minutes just because I’d laughed over some of the dialogue.
About the only problem I have with Rick and Morty is the animation style. It’s not my taste. The whole color palette seems to clash or gives everything a washed out look just isn’t that pleasant and the style of the people, especially their mouths and hair, is a little icky. Given how smart this show is, I’d say the animation style detracts from its success more than the creators realize. When your stories are this polished, when your characters are this good, and you make consistent and permanent choices about how your universe operates, you deserve to be innovating on the stylistic form side of things as well. Rick and Morty looks only slightly better than Rugrats.
All that said, we’re far from done with Morty, Summer, Jerry, and their incredible grandfather. I’m looking forward to the day when season three pops up on my computer and until that time I’ll be rewatching the too-short experiences of seasons one and two.