Good news first — there is finally a new Rick and Morty episode to watch. Bad news — the rest of the season isn’t coming until this summer.
In an unprecedented move that some (mostly me) are comparing to Beyoncé dropping Lemonade out of the blue, Adult Swim pulled off the greatest trick of April Fools’ Day and dropped the season three premiere of Rick and Morty, a show following the adventures of a genius scientist grandpa named Rick and his grandson Morty as they travel throughout the multiverse.
The episode wasn’t fake, but the release felt like a sucker punch of pure joy. It’s like waiting your whole life to get a puppy and then someone just drops one in your lap. Of course it’s amazing, but it’s anti-climactic. You don’t have time to process your happiness and revel in the anticipation.
To clarify, the episode was tremendous. Well worth the wait, it took the viewers on a ride that makes you look at every scene with excessive scrutiny. Filled with dramatic bait and switches and powerful revelations, the show’s trademarked idiosyncrasies are everywhere.
While the episode is plot heavy, this isn’t necessarily a problem. You are never certain if the show will change its format moving forward. Despite the episode being focused on returning the show to its previous form, in the end there is a major change to the status quo.
The final scene is a callback to Rick’s famous incoherent speech from the show’s premiere. The speech makes Morty seem like more of a captive than a partner in crime, and it reveals Rick’s motives more than any previous episode. They are not as grandiose as you might expect.
The episode pushed the boundaries of our understanding of how the Rick and Morty universe works, but the dark cloud looming over this episode is that we must wait until the summer to see the next episode. Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon has chosen the most gut-wrenching path to reveal a new episode.
After rick-rolling us (excellent use of a pun on his part) and teasing us with all sorts of new promos with no hope of a premiere date, Harmon chose to give us what we wanted when we least expected it.
With any out-of-the-blue release, publicity could be a problem. The episode unexpectedly premiered on Adult Swim’s website Saturday night and played on loop for two hours. Some people may have missed the episode just because they weren’t available. But for those of us who caught it, the sudden shock made the whole thing worth it.
