No longer the nervous, constantly agitated sidekick to Rick, Morty began to assert himself and become the voice of reason in the face of his grandfather's over-the-top behavior. Morty in particular showed a tangible growth this season. And with the adults trapped in their own downward spirals, it fell on Morty and Summer to be the grown-ups in the family. Rick was more dominant and self-serving than ever, Beth was just beginning to discover her independence again, while Jerry had to grapple with the loss of his family and whatever shred of self-respect he might have had. That was especially true this year, with every main character beginning the season in a profoundly different place. While Rick and Morty has never been an especially continuity-driven sitcom, there's always a clearer sense of progression from the start of a season to the finale.
Thankfully, Roiland and Harmon avoided doing "Interdimensional Cable III," instead opting for the vignette-driven "The Ricklantis Mixup" and the faux-clip show "Morty's Mind Blowers." Nothing could top "Pickle Rick" for sheer hilarity and novelty factor, however.Īpart from the high-concept storytelling, Season 3 really excelled when it came to character development. For the most part, Season 3 was very good about avoiding episodes that rely too heavily on parodying other franchises ("Rickmancing the Stone" being the one major exception) or repeating plots from previous seasons. Maybe the tank will run out of gas someday, but clearly not yet.
WATCH RICK AND MORTY ONLINE SEASON 3 SERIES
This series is nothing if not extremely clever, but there's always a fear that creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon will run out of ways to top themselves and keep pushing the envelope. Rick's wacky behavior was the source of a steady stream of wacky, high-concept sci-fi storytelling. Literally, in the case of "Rest and Ricklaxation." From transforming himself into a talking pickle to waging all-out war on the President of the United States, Rick was never shy about seizing on whatever crazy scheme came to mind. What we saw over the course of the next nine episodes was Rick's dark side coming to the forefront. With Jerry mostly out of the picture and Beth ever more eager to please her perpetually absentee father, Rick's id lost whatever fragile safeguards were keeping it in check. Thus, the stage was set for a very different status quo in Season 3. Far from establishing that Rick had finally learned to put the needs of his family over his own selfish desires, the premiere saw Rick become even more unhinged and double-down on his arrogant, self-destructive behavior. "The Rickshank Redemption" managed to be depressing in a completely different way. The series was coming off one of best and most emotionally charged episodes in "The Wedding Squanchers." That episode ended on a hugely depressing note, with Rick making the ultimate sacrifice for his family, turning himself into the Federation to spare the rest of the Smith clan from a lifetime of exile on an undersized, empty world. As mentioned, "The Rickshank Redemption" very much set the tone for the season as a whole.