​‘Rick and Morty’ season three delivers

By Katherine Cohen     10/18/17 12:37am

It’s the crude nihilistic sci-fi comedy show that countless have been talking about. The season three finale of “Rick and Morty” aired Oct. 1, leaving behind multiple loose ends. What ever happened to Evil Morty? Is Birdperson going to reappear in the show? Does this show’s continuity even matter? However, season three was well worth the nearly two-year wait. 

Warning: Multiple season three spoilers ahead.

“Rick and Morty” follows a young Morty and his brilliant and irreverent grandfather Rick. For the most part, each episode is self-contained. A story begins and ends within 20 minutes of animated chaos in which a world is saved or destroyed, an adventure to some distant planet or timeline ends, and some twisted conclusion is drawn with a quick existentialist punchline. Other characters in the show, including Morty’s sister Summer, his mother Beth and his father Jerry, are often involved in the scientific escapades of the two main characters. Some storylines continue throughout the show, and fans are dedicated to trying to predict the resolution of these storylines. In particular, there is the recurring antagonist of Evil Morty, as well as the threat of a resurrected Birdperson who was killed in the season two finale.

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This season continues this pattern of vignette-style episodes, kicking off the season with Rick’s “Inception”-like escape from intergalactic prison. The episode is a promising start, filled with clever twists and the destruction of two entire civilizations in just a few minutes. It also features the apparent end of Beth and Jerry’s marriage. The majority of the episodes in the season delve into the effects of the divorce on Summer and Morty, as well as Jerry’s rapid descent into isolation.

The season is studded with creative plots and hilarious premises. Notable moments from the season include Rick’s action-adventure as a pickle, an episode-long potshot at the “Avengers” franchise and an exploration into the daily life in the Citadel of Ricks after their government is destroyed in the first episode. This season balances new adventures with some classic premises from the first two. Following the patterns of the “intergalactic cable” episodes, season three includes a fresh take on the idea with “Morty’s Mindblowers.”

Though the season was filled with great episodes, viewers were expecting the season finale to more satisfyingly resolve certain conflicts. Instead, Beth and Jerry’s marriage is resolved, and Rick is clearly emotionally attached to this timeline of his family, a big change from the previous seasons. In a show known for its shameless commitment to fourth-wall breaks and dedicated existentialism, viewers should have expected an ending sprinkled with cliffhangers. Though there are no clues as to when season four will return, based on the previous seasons, we’re in for a long wait.

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