It’s hard not to wax poetic for about how great Adult Swim’s brand new show, Rick and Morty is.. but the more time spent reading about it means the less time actually being able to watch it.
So let’s get down to the brass tacks: Rick and Morty is one of the best shows that Adult Swim has put out in a very long time.
This, coming from your latest member of the clergygeek (parish surname TBA; for now just call me Myke), also a big fan of The Boondocks, Robot Chicken, Metalocalypse, and The Venture Bros. While the satirical, yet loving references to everything science fiction is what will grab you, the extremely well-developed characters are what will hold you.
Created by Justin Roiland and Community’s Dan Harmon, R&M: Season 1 chronicles the misadventures of Rick Sanchez, an alcoholic, mad-scientist grandfather and Morty Smith, his awkward, teenaged grandson. If that’s a little hard to picture, just imagine Doc Brown and Marty McFly; except Doc’s an alcoholic and Marty will probably never get into Elisabeth Shue’s pants. Also, this Doc Brown really doesn’t care about scientific merit, or universe ending paradoxes, and he can especially can give a Gazorpazorp’s tail about politically correct.
Whether it’s building microscopic amusement parks in the bodies of homeless people or incepting Morty’s math teacher in his dream to give Morty an A, Rick is driven by…well, what every man is driven by: money, pride, and boredom. What makes every episode’s crazy sci-fi plot work with the show? Rick’s multiple super-scientist inventions are seen as so commonplace, that the family seems almost annoyed by them – like a kid playing with his toys. Rick’s alcoholism and selfishness tends to underplay the fact that he has a portal gun to other dimensions, flies a spaceship around casually, and hoards an infinite collection of sci-fi tropes.
However, Rick isn’t the only family member with his share of flaws…
(Flip the page for the Rick & Morty bible score!)
