Like everyone else in the world, after finishing Season 3 of Rick & Morty, I’ve had t spend a few days asking myself “what the hell went wrong?” and “it has all the same characters and ideas, why do I feel violated?”
Problem: The difference between Rick and Morty’s first two seasons and Season 3 is like the difference between reading an awesome comic book and having your mom read it aloud to you with editorializing. ..assuming your mom is on a heavy dose of Xanax and hates men but also parents and herself and is aware of it but pretending that being aware of it means she doesn’t have a problem.
The Rick & Morty Fail starts with these two things:
- really bad directing, and
- trying to make it into a drama. And failing.
These to failures break the two fundamental cornerstones of a comedy show:
- timing
- actually having jokes somewhere in the show
No, I don’t think it’s an SJW thing, I think it’s simple incompetence. They were trying to do something very difficult: a comedy that is also a serious drama. They failed hard at both, due to mediocre writing and direction.
The attempt at making a serious drama/comedy show failed on both sides. The “comedy” was just a lot of violence and “people being mean”, where the drama was a bunch of fourth-wall-breaking preaching and “people being mean.” If you like to watch the main characters in a show be abusive to each other for no reason and without any jokes deeper than “yeah Rick punched that thing real good with a laser beeyatch”, you undoubtedly really like Season 3. (I didn’t.)
Compare the Purge episode to the POTUS fight. In Purge, R&M display denial, anger, real human emotions, and we see them learn lessons about themselves, each other, and how dangerous it can be to try to be nice to someone. All without speeches or fourth-wall break, and with lots and lots of fighting, blood, and gore. It is funny and the violence has an effect on the characters, even when they are wallowing in it. In the POTUS fight, we learn that Rick Is Violent And Selfish And Morty Is Suffering. OK, sure, this is possible, but I think the point is that up until now Rick has assumed Morty is not really Suffering[TM] but just, you know, what kid wouldn’t want to come along? I mean after the initial shock. Hell, at that age everything is new and uncomfortable. So, yes. Every storyline in Season 3 is really there to pound home how abusive this situation is and how Someone Is Suffering. Gosh, that sounds like a really fun cartoon, doesn’t it?
Storyline aside, all the characters are now one-dimensional examples of how to be a bad person, where previously they had been multi-faceted dysfunctional humans. And OMG what is the deal with Rick’s Xanax monologues? How is Beth supposedly now a supergenius but also talks like she reads at the 7th grade level and is unable to make a simple existential decision? Are we supposed to be offended at Rick & Morty for calling Summer a bitch during a sketch where she’s actually acting like a smug bitch?
There’s a difference between teaching a life lesson and judging.
Why is it that the only likeable, relatable character in all of R&M Season 3 is Jerry?
