Television Watching Rick & Morty mostly for the first time. Impressions as I go.

[SaysWho?]

Seven years ago, I saw some Rick & Morty episodes with some friends but never got past season 1 in the time I was visiting them. Months ago before Season 5 began, I saw an episode involving Morty not staying in the ship which made this snake world create time travel. After nearly suffocating on my own laugh, I decided it was time to watch everything. I now own Seasons 1 - 4 on Blu-ray + digital. Gf and I are watching it and will likely buy Season 5 if we continue to enjoy it. Here are my impressions so far:

 

Pilot - Decent episode that sets up the relationships and pacing; you know this show is going to move quickly. Best scene for me was Morty not turning on his boots, which caused him to fall and break his legs. Rick just casually tells him he should have turned them on, look at me not falling, and then injects serum to heal Morty. Poor Morty.

 

Lawnmower Dog - I vaguely remembered the episode from years ago. There's something about adult cartoons disliking the movie Inception (this and South Park, anyway). I love Inception but do enjoy the two shows' take on it. Dog was cute as hell for being so rebellious. I also got a big kick of the idea of going from dream to dream, with Grandpa Rick even choking out a character once to get him to sleep. A step up from the pilot, which I normally expect.

 

Anatomy Park - The biggest laugh from me was seeing Jacob and Jerry's mom begin making out followed by dad sneaking into the closet with a Superman outfit. Great setup/payoff. 

 

M. Night Shaym-Aliens! - This was probably the strongest episode at this point. I loved the entire sequence where Rick reveals that everything is a simulation. It starts off small enough ("Look Morty, the vendor's putting a hot dog in between two buns.") But the escalation to I think a pop-tart going out of a toaster house and driving a toaster, followed by Rick's deadpan and sarcastic, "What, have you seen something like this in real life, too? Have you driven in a smaller version of your house before?" had me in stitches. The world was so pathetic, so I could easily believe Jerry would fall for it while trying to make love to his wife ("Mmm yeah don't move."). Also impressed with the plot twists in this episode -- I had no inkling that Morty really was a hologram. It's like all the battery power in that virtual world was used on him, while everyone else glitched every three seconds.

 

Rick Potion #9 - Poor Morty. As screwed up as the consequences of Rick's potion were, this felt like a regular episode until those final four minutes. At first, I didn't understand why the flu would create problems with the potions, but once you saw the contagious reasons, it made sense. But oh, poor Morty. All he wanted was a girl to like him, and now he has to bury his own body and now be with a "different" version of his family. It was hilarious but shocking, really, because I don't know how I'd react if that happened to me.

 

Raising Gazorpazorp - A bit weaker than previous episodes, imo, but worth it just for the title of Morty's son's book.

 

Rixty Minutes - omg. Highlight of the season so far. First, I've seen the clip of what I'm assuming is a well-known line ("Nobody is born on purpose. Everyone dies. Come watch some TV.") but forgot it since I only saw the clip once probably 8 years ago. Second, there has to be a balance between random and funny. I don't know what the balance is, but the episode found it. I could easily have seen this episode just feeling weird, with viewers watching these commercials and shows and going, "Uh, what? lol" But whatever they did worked. I about passed out at the Lucky Charms commercial, but the fake doors/camera follows the man home was an easy second. I wanted a second episode of them deciding what to watch, just 24 minutes of nothing but.

 

Something Ricked This Way Comes - You'd thinking watching roided version of Summer and Rick beating people up the exact same way would seem like cheap 70s Disney thing, reusing animations for Robin Hood, but that somehow made it funnier. They're just going around, deciding to beat up bad people, and I dug it. The Needful Things story was my favorite part; I got a big laugh the minute that one customer mentioned the shop that removes the curses, followed by the TV playing behind Lucius. I didn't have to hear a word yet of Rick to start laughing because of course he'd set up an opposing shop and use his tech to remove the curses. What a splendid plan. The Morty-Jerry story was all right.

[Ricofoley]

2nd half of the first season is definitely a lot stronger than the start.

[Anathema-]

Yeah it's episode I think seven where the show really gets running. Might be eight not sure. It's kind of surprising how fast it goes from neat to brilliant. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

Two of my favorite sci-fi concepts ever are now favorites because of this show. I'm really curious to hear what you think of the episodes "Total Rickall" and "Auto Erotic Assimilation" so make sure to @ me when you get to those.

[GeneticBlueprint]

On 1/2/2022 at 11:09 AM, SaysWho? said:

Rixty Minutes - omg. Highlight of the season so far. First, I've seen the clip of what I'm assuming is a well-known line ("Nobody is born on purpose. Everyone dies. Come watch some TV.") but forgot it since I only saw the clip once probably 8 years ago. Second, there has to be a balance between random and funny. I don't know what the balance is, but the episode found it. I could easily have seen this episode just feeling weird, with viewers watching these commercials and shows and going, "Uh, what? lol" But whatever they did worked. I about passed out at the Lucky Charms commercial, but the fake doors/camera follows the man home was an easy second. I wanted a second episode of them deciding what to watch, just 24 minutes of nothing but.

 

 

Also, they know this is what you want so they'll give it to you next season. Then you'll want even more and get blue balled in perpetuity afterwards. Just warning you.

[SaysWho?]

Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind - This was a good episode, I think made better by the ending. I didn't the ending to be a possibility, but it added a nice layer to the Rick-Morty relationship.

 

Ricksy Business - The humor in this episode just comes from who the hell shows up at the house to visit. 

 

A Rickle in Time - I knew I recognized the voice of the four-dimensional being. Good ol' Key (and then later Peele). My first thought was that the concept of this episode was really cool but maybe could have gone more places by the end. While I was watching, I was paying close attention to character placement since that seemed to relate to how "certain" the character were, but I was expecting it to evolve a little from that? I see that many people really dug the episode, so it could easily be my expectations upon seeing what the concept would be once we saw the realities split. Nice little character moment with Rick saving Morty (and of course Morty isn't conscious to see).

 

4 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Two of my favorite sci-fi concepts ever are now favorites because of this show. I'm really curious to hear what you think of the episodes "Total Rickall" and "Auto Erotic Assimilation" so make sure to @ me when you get to those.

 

Will do, and thanks for the warning.

[GeneticBlueprint]

Also, are you hanging around for the stingers after the credits?

[SaysWho?]

38 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Also, are you hanging around for the stingers after the credits?

 

Yup, I just have it auto-playing.

[SaysWho?]

Mortynight Run - Poor Morty. You know, the episode is pretty clever, showing Morty kill the assassin the moment he went to rescue Fart, which already means he's already getting even on the death count. But the fact that Morty had to kill the dude anyway during one of those trippy sequences, thus rendering his efforts to not pull the trigger meaningless, makes me feel this was his worst emotional outing since burying himself. Highlight was the 'Dave' game. I need them to do what they did on Rixty Minutes, only play a bunch of weirdass arcade games instead.

 

Auto Erotic Assimilation - @GeneticBlueprintWell, this got dark. First, highlight was watching Unity bomb a city, just to show that she -- meaning its entire population -- was evacuated. That, and the subterranean alien. They give it big, wide sympathetic eyes, but I didn't put it past the creators to do that to mislead us as to the creature's true intentions. But the entire sequence -- he's going to shoot them, wait that's a voice translator, she was right, he was right, she was right, he was right, this is just a lesson that they're unhappy -- was fantastic. The Unity storyline brought up some interesting bits about assimilation versus free will, especially with how shitty that planet was, but the real meat was the similarity of Rick's influence on others and Unity's actual assimilation powers. End of the day, Rick clearly has issues, but to go as dark as a suicide attempt was something I was not expecting it to do, at least in this episode since it seemed mostly silly. My guess is we haven't seen the last of her. 

 

Total Rickall - @GeneticBlueprint Loved this episode. I didn't laugh uncontrollably like Rixty Minutes (though I did laugh plenty), but the entire concept was done perfectly. Established an uncle you've never seen, explains it matter-of-fact as Rick tends to do, immediately shows Rick falling for another character you haven't seen (who turns out to be real wtf ), and puts that character in the intro. From then on, the entire process of figuring out who's real, the number '6', the deception to make Rick forget the '6', the whole thing was a riot in the best sense. And the resolution is poignant in some ways: the people you're closest to aren't necessarily people with whom you've never shared a bad memory, nothing but roses and good times, particularly those with whom you spend everyday. That ending though, wtf?

[GeneticBlueprint]

There is going to be at least one episode per season going forward that will get serious and dark (comparitively). The show hints at it quite a bit that Rick has some demons and there will be a few episodes that really grapple with those demons. After you get to those I don't think the Unity one will seem so out of place. That episode really worked for me when I first saw it because I loved how it dealt with the emotionally stunted male which I can relate to quite a bit. But I loved the concept too. Dating a hivemind. Just lol. Wait til you see the ep that deals with Rick fucking a planet. And I'm not talking about its population.

 

The happy memory parasite is such a brilliant concept as well. I also like seeing the family accept each other's shortcomings in a group and using that to win. And the funniest part of that episode for me was Jerry and how it further un-developed his character. He's so pathetic and weak.

 

@SaysWho?

[SaysWho?]

Get Schwifty - I was really hoping that they used Ice-T the person to play himself.  But I got a big kick out of his origin. I also really liked the not-so-subtle criticism of seeing signs from God and assuming other events are being influenced by what a higher power thinks of your actions. Silly episode, but in a good way.

 

The Ricks Must Be Crazy - Loved this one. I also made a joke to my gf that the show likes Inception more than it lets on due to the time differential in universes. Could be a trope also used in mini-verses, but it works! I had no idea Stephen Colbert played Zeep, and did I ever get a kick of Rick's plan to make Zeep see his hypocrisy, only for Zeep to be smart enough to realize what was going on. Middle fingers mean we come in peace, Rick's not being impressed by the quicker-descending ramps, there's so much to love.

 

Big Trouble in Little Sanchez - Enjoyed Little Rick and his existential. His songs and dances were made funnier by the obvious cries for help set to upbeat music. Not a standout, but enjoyable.

 

Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate - Yeeeesssss! The personal space one was a riot, but the idea of going to a comedy show or whatever that was to get a song and dance dedicated to you, then beaten to death as demons suck the life out of you, is so galactically ridiculous on an otherworldly level.  Oh, and the final one where the guy has ice cream coming out of butts and the flavors he describes look NOTHING like the names. Good shit once again. I'll miss this concept.

[gamer.tv]

I really didn’t want to like Rick and Morty and then it happened. It makes me a little sad that I’ve watched it through about 10 times.

[SaysWho?]

1 hour ago, gamer.tv said:

I really didn’t want to like Rick and Morty and then it happened. It makes me a little sad that I’ve watched it through about 10 times.

Wait, why didn’t you want to?

[Slug]

43 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Wait, why didn’t you want to?

There's a very cringey subset of the fan base that makes being a fan of R&M feel wrong. 

[SaysWho?]

6 minutes ago, Slug said:

There's a very cringey subset of the fan base that makes being a fan of R&M feel wrong. 

Oh no.

[Jason]

1 minute ago, SaysWho? said:

Oh no.

 

[Slug]

1 hour ago, SaysWho? said:

Oh no.

Is something wrong with 'Rick and Morty' fans?

WWW.NEWSWEEK.COM

---

"Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody's gonna die. Come watch TV."

That article will give you an idea. All that said, I really dig the show and don't worry what folks think. I like sci-fi and I like funny. Doesn't need to go further than that IMO. 

[GeneticBlueprint]

5 hours ago, Slug said:

There's a very cringey subset of the fan base that makes being a fan of R&M feel wrong. 

 

5 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

Oh no.

 

Rick Sanchez, unfortunately, has become a member of the incel Trinity along with Tyler Durden and the Joker.

 

 

[Anathema-]

9 hours ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

 

 

Rick Sanchez, unfortunately, has become a member of the incel Trinity along with Tyler Durden and the Joker.

 

 

 

What always gets me about these toxic idols is how they would so obviously reject those assholes. 

[SaysWho?]

I'll have impressions of the final two episodes of Season 2 when I have time to write them. Early impressions are: LMFAO and LOL-whoa.

[SaysWho?]

Look Who's Purging Now - I loved this one so much. They even make fun of how you think the episode will play out, since you know some kind of Purge parody is going to happen. They have Morty spell out what people think will happen, but it's Morty's fucking fault they get stuck! And it actually fleshes out his character some more because he has some pent-up aggression that had nothing to do with those Yummy-Yums(?) they ate. My gf and I lost it when Rick's flying to his ship, and says something like, "There it is, Morty!........ Morty?" and he sees Morty shooting people on the ground, who Rick matter-of-factly informs Morty are just hiding. And then the twist is a double-twist: that girl backstabbed them, but only to get the really culprits in a scene they admit is gratuitous. A funny riot.

 

The Wedding Squanchers - When the episode is at the wedding, it's enjoyable but nothing to write home about. However, boy, did I think something was up when the bride started talking, and then of course everything goes nuts. While I didn't feel Birdman was a HUGE character, he was a recurring one, so his death was shocking, and poor Rick was finally getting somewhat in the spirit of things at the wedding when it happened. After that, despite the fact that the episode took a turn at the end, it was a laugh factory for me when they looked for a new place to live. The small planet that they bumped into? The screaming sun? So good. And they really milked the small planet with Morty's ball-throwing and the "planet core." Of course, I know that everything will turn out OK knowing that Pickle Rick and that snake episode from Season 4 are things, so I don't have to wait two years to find out how it works out, but at the time, I imagine it was quite the cliffhanger as reaffirmed by our non-imaginary friend at the end.

 

 

[SaysWho?]

Watched the first two episodes of Season 3. More details later, but the season premiere was really cool. I didn't feel the second episode with the Mad Max stuff at all. I guess I enjoyed it, but it wasn't funny enough to work. Some funny moments, but it didn't feel particularly clever compared to some of the better episodes.

[SaysWho?]

The Rickshank Rickdemption - I dug this one. At the end of the day, at least this early in the series, you know the main characters will be back together, so this was a fun way to show Rick's mind on overdrive, moving from body to body, and dismantling an entire organization from within. Also, his meltdown for that Mulan sauce was lol.

 

Rickmancing the Stone - Eh. This wasn't an emotional episode that went to dark places, so it can't use that to explain the lack of consistent funnies. A few moments were funny, but overall, this episode was just kind of there.

 

Pickle Rick - Ah, talk about an episode that spawned memes and pics and gifs and everything under the sun. "What more did you want? I turned myself into a pickle, and 9/11 was an inside job?" As clever as his plans were to get to the therapist's office, I actually enjoyed just watching him sit there helpless at the beginning of the episode. His face just looks so fucking goofy on a pickle. I also enjoyed the therapist -- smart cookie who didn't let Rick walk all over her by the end.

 

Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender - I really enjoyed this one. I was honestly a bit worried that following up what's considered a classic R&M episode would come a letdown, but it was actually a very enjoyable and funny episode. Weird thing is I don't recall ever doing the first adventure with them, so I wondered if there'd be another reveal that THEY'VE INFILTRATED THEIR BRAINS AGAIN! What I like is, once again, it's a R&M episode that has a bunch of twists, but they're really cool twists. I mean, Rick ending up being the main antagonist because he got blackout drunk? Cool! Then you think, "Fuck, he's killing the superheroes!" but you find out that they're not so heroic, so it's all good. Also, lol @ the twist that Rick thinks Morty is the final answer, but it ends up being one of the Vindicators who laughed at his joke or whatever he did.

[GeneticBlueprint]

I love the meta in that Vindicators episode that they missed Vindicators 2 just like we the viewers missed Vindicators 1.

[SaysWho?]

Finished Season 3.

 

The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy - Liked this one a lot. Jerry and Rick were just about to have a moment, lol. 

 

Rest and Ricklaxation - Liked this a lot, too. I've seen that opening scene where the two have that meltdown; maybe I saw it here when Season 3 was about to begin. Non-toxic Morty cracked me up, and he finally made some progress with his crush. 

 

The Ricklantis Mixup - Doing some reading, some people thought the main story was predictable, and here I was thinking my deduction was pretty good. Maybe if you had years to stew on the first two seasons, you were thinking about 

Spoiler

the evil Morty storyline for a while, but I haven't really sat on that episode for that long. Sounds like Evil Morty has his own depressing theme song that plays at the end of his episode. I dug that development very much, and it gives our main duo a much different foil in the future.

 

Morty's Mind Blowers - @GeneticBlueprint warned me about being blue balled about interdimensional cable, and the episode very clearly lets you "down" before the opening credits (which was funny in itself). But I loved this episode. The idea of a clip show of clips you've never seen is a funny idea, and the clips were great. My favorite may have been Morty talking about evidence of heaven, only for the guy to doubt it, die, and then find out it's all real in the worst way. They were all good, though.

 

The ABC's of Beth - Jerry's an idiot, lol, but the resolution to his conflict was pretty fitting. The ideas of breathable water and bouncy ground in Froopyland cracked me up, but I have to think some people were a wee bit disturbed by what Tommy was doing? Like... damn.

 

The Rickchurian Mortydate - I like the president/Captain Anderson in this series. I also like the idea that Rick & Morty can easily fix all his issues and therefore leave him with no reason to utilize the duo again. I don't know how relevant the clone question is in the grand scheme of the show, or maybe it's unimportant since the show stresses nothing matters, nut I feel like she's the original since Rick's so adamant about it and Jerry, despite being an idiot, seems to think so? Also, the characters breaking the fourth wall cracks me up all the time. "It'll be like Season 1 except more streamlined." 

 

 

The episode that pushed me into wanting to watch the series, Rattlestar Ricklactica, is coming this season!

[SimpleG]

2 hours ago, SaysWho? said:

but I have to think some people were a wee bit disturbed by what Tommy was doing? Like... damn.

Pretty sure everyone was disturbed by his baby buffet. 

[SaysWho?]

Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat - What a clever twist on the "Don't sweat the small details; live for the now," moral. I laughed out loud watching Morty drive poorly, edging a little up, a little to the right, etc. all to secure the death he wants. He becomes a damned medium in the courtroom and is content with not seeing her until his 40s and becoming a disgusting monster to eventually be with her. In the meantime, the Groundhog Day plot was hysterical. "Damn it, when did fascism become the norm?!" Fucking killed himself to avoid being in a fascist hellhole by the umpteenth attempt, and each version of him became more comical.  And the protesting holograms.... lol.

 

You know, the show does talk about how "nothing matters" or everyone's gonna die, but it's really not about nothing mattering. A large theme of this show is that you shouldn't feel weighed down by what happens in the grand scheme of things and just enjoy the ride now, at least that's how it appears to me. It's an uplifting message.

 

The Old Man and the Seat - The ending was unexpected, and I laughed at the idea that Rick had to engrave a warning about making an app. Good episode.

 

One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty - I was in on this concept, you son of a bitch. This felt like a rib on twist endings that are really high on themselves, where everything is expected to happen by the antagonist to the point of incredulity. That made the ending of Rick out-expecting/planning the computer for a few hours funnier, further enhanced by a sky that's playing on repeat. I really liked this one. My possible favorite line? After assembling the first crew, "What's the job?" "That was it. Bye."

 

Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty -

 

Rattlestar Ricklactica - Ah, the episode that pushed me into watching the whole series. I got a special kick out of the scenes I forgot, like the cyborg sent to protect them with mutated skin that's designed to look familiar (that was so scary-looking, he was killed by the family anyway). And while sometimes the side stories are just fun distractions, Jerry's is super memorable. The physical comedy of his lightness is terrific, getting tossed out of a bar and inadvertently tossed into the stratosphere. The scenes on the snake world are fantastic silent comedy. The thousands of snakes each going back in time to stop another snake going back in time stopping another snake going back in time is kinetic comedy gold.

 

"Next time, stay in the fucking car!"

[SimpleG]

51 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty

Best episode of the season

 

"We are the slut dragons, who live in this slut cave, where we suck, fuck and eat butt."

 

"Yeah! We like it down here cause we can fuck woolly mammoths."

"You're the only one that fucks that thing"

"Well, at least I'm not into shit play"

[SaysWho?]

Never Ricking Morty - I've seen meta episodes, but damn, this one takes the cake. I can't even really describe to you what happened, yet it kind of makes sense while it's happening, where the entire mission hinges on their understanding on how the narrative should go.

 

Promortyus - An enjoyable romp. 

 

The Vat of Acid Episode - I love this one, but if I may: my heart, fucking broke, for Morty. You know the scene. I wish y'all could have seen my face and heard my gasp when he fell on that fucking remote after being pepper sprayed.

 

fffffuuuuuuccccckkkkk

 

It's like they took something like The Inner Light from The Next Generation but made the realization way fucking sadder. The thing is, this isn't a sad episode overall. I quite enjoyed the entire concept, especially the pre-credits scene where the bad guy decides to just stand around and contemplate what he just witnessed, which somehow leads to a disagreement on if a fake vat of acid was a good idea, to, damn it, Morty's love interest thinking he fell into a real vat. fffffuuuuuuccccckkkkk

[SaysWho?]

Childrick of Mort - Poor Jerry is a damned punching bag in this one, more than usual. Honestly, the episode as a whole felt a bit weird and disjointed with an obvious deus ex machina at the end, but with this show, those episodes tend to still be entertaining. Funniest part was Rick throwing the kids under the bus.

 

Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri - At the end, I was paying close attention to the Beth tubes, but even the episode cuts to Rick just looking down and thinking he's a bad dad. Oof. Jerry gets his comeuppance with a hilarious use of ventriloquism and invisibility. "The only one to have an arc." I'm gonna assume if they let the video run, you should be able to tell who is who. I think it's best that no one actually saw the process he used.

 

Shoutout to the post credits scene and the garbage truck stint ruined by exactly what made it so fun.

[SaysWho?]

Um, I REALLY enjoyed the first two episodes of Season 5. Loved the concept, the comedy, the everything.

 

Mort Dinner Rick Andre - This was a very funny episode, and my girlfriend loved Nimbus. At the same time,  

Spoiler

I thought it was actually really sweet that Morty called Jessica when he thought he was going to die, and then actually got a date, and then had it constantly interrupted, and then by the time he's finally with Jessica, she's a "time God" that's already lived decades in the other world and just wants to be friends. FUCK! DAMN IT! MORTY DESERVED BETTER.

The "time moving faster" concept was done cleverly here, with Morty becoming a godly intruder that all creatures in the other world base their lives around fighting. And that first guy, "I'm just helping the young buy move wine that's been sitting here for decades." lol

 

Mortyplicity - Loved this episode as well. I'm constantly impressed by how the show can take something that could be overcomplicated and random and make it make so much damned sense. The post-credits scene was damned good, but I was just a fan of not knowing who was real, who was a clone, thinking I had it figured out but not really figuring it out. And there is that short scene of the goofy-looking Rick telling Beth he cares, which of course makes me think, "Heh, that's might be the real one who now will have told Beth the truth." And damn, some of the swerves: the shitty-looking squid costumed family takes down the better-looking squid ship just to find that they're clones. Mind blown, you clever fuckers.

 

 

I've heard the beginning and end of Season 5 are the best parts and criticism about the middle, so I'll see when I get there. I'm trying to go into the episodes just expecting R&M and not putting expectations high or low either way.

[ort]

There was a 3-4 episode run in the middle of season 5 that turned me off so much I have yet to finish the season. And I am a mega-fan.

 

I need to just go back and watch...

[Kal-El814]

Yeah, where he stopped is near where the wheels fall off. But it ends pretty strong.

[GeneticBlueprint]

Two episodes from where he's at is like the worst Rick and Morty episode ever.

[Kal-El814]

2 minutes ago, GeneticBlueprint said:

Two episodes from where he's at is like the worst Rick and Morty episode ever.

 

It's so fucking bad, lol