Has Rick and Morty Lost the Zeitgeist?
Look, I get that I might be taking the shows sci-fi rules a bit too seriously. Rick comments that they can only start a new life in a new universe so many times, which, with endless permutations of universes available to them, doesnt really make any sense, but thats the point. The series doesnt always want you to think of these sci-fi rules as concrete guiding principles. To wit, last seasons Never Ricking Morty seemed to poke fun at fans for expecting too much from serialization. If you dont take what youve learned about the multiverse too seriously, Rick and Morty can just keep getting into trouble in all manner of crazy universes. But unfortunately, the development extends to the characterization as well. Just as in Community, character development sticks and Rick and Morty are extremely different characters from the ones they were at the shows start. Morty is far more jaded now, quite rightly; youd be jaded too after burying your own corpse. In fact, the entire Smith family (except maybe Jerry) are sick of Ricks crap and his position as the alpha is very much in question. Rick and Morty certainly is, in part, a sci-fi cartoon sitcom thats just trying to make you laugh, surprise you, and gross you out in each episode. However, its depth and ambition are what set it apart. Its the pop culture phenomenon that it is because of how well-crafted it is and because of how unique and exciting it was that it was willing to go all-out in its first season. Were endeared to the characters because it makes sense that an almost-all-powerful being like Rick would be cynical and pessimistic and that Morty would transition from a gee-whiz kid ready for adventure into a world-weary traveler who kind of hates his grandpa. As much as I see some fans claim the serialization should be ignored and is just the creators trolling (gosh, they sure put a lot of work into these episodes just to troll lil old me), Im quite certain youd find it very odd and annoying if Morty suddenly regressed to his pilot episode persona for no reason. In fact, this sort of happened back in season 2s Mortynight Run, in which Morty caused a lot of death and destruction in his nave pursuit to rescue a sentient fart cloud. I was actually fine with this episode myself as I felt Morty still retaining some naivete at this point was not entirely out of character, but a commenter noted that it felt like Morty was relearning a lesson hed already learned, which I couldnt really argue was incorrect. And, with everything Mortys been through in subsequent seasons, it would only make less sense now for him to devolve back to his early, innocent form. This means you get a lot of episodes in which Rick and Morty deadpan their way through threats, murdering up whatever gets in their way as though every otherworldly intergalactic threat is merely a nuisance to be brushed aside. This makes perfect sense after what weve seen these characters survive, but its not particularly exciting to watch, and gets old. It also makes sense that the Smith family are regularly antagonistic toward one another after all the sci-fi dysfunctionality theyve been through, but that gets super unfun to watch and seems entirely at odds with what Rick and Morty is at its core: a sitcom. Were supposed to be endeared to these people, not put off by them. Rick and Morty has backed itself into something of a damned if it does, damned if it doesnt situation. If it retcons all its character and world development, itll feel cheap and unfair, but if it maintains the status quo, well be getting a lot more episodes where all-powerful beings who hate each other effortlessly whack-a-mole their way through conflicts (the trailers havent revealed a ton, but the tone unsurprisingly feels like its mostly sticking to the latter approach). Perhaps all the blame shouldnt be put on Dan Harmons shoulders, but the problems feel like the same ones from Community. I must reiterate that I remain glad regardless that theres a Harmon-helmed series on TV because, even if the conflicts are lacking and the characterization has gotten a bit stale, no one else is doing complex, breakneck plotting that stuffs gags into almost every possible moment.