Rick and Morty Season 3 (2017)
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Rick and Morty Season 3 Review
The third season of Rick and Morty is definitely better than the first season, but it is weaker than the second which remains the best one so far.
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“I have no doubt that you would be bored senseless by therapy,
the same way I’m bored when I brush my teeth and wipe my ass.
Because the thing about repairing, maintaining, and cleaning
is it’s not an adventure.
There’s no way to do it so wrong you might die. It’s just work
And the bottom line is, some people are okay going to work,
and some people… well, some people would rather die.
Each of us gets to choose“
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The first episode is Rickshank Rickdemption. It’s definitely very important in terms of storytelling as Beth chooses Rick over Jerry and thus Jerry is finally out of their lives. However, the entire episode, although interesting in how it changed everything into different direction than expected, still is difficult to follow through, not funny and more important than truly good.
Rickmancing the Stone is somewhat of a parody of ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’. I liked it quite a bit as Summer got to be badass here and the overall episode is not only a very strong, fun sci-fi adventure, but also a great metaphor where dystopian future acts as children’s coping with their parents’ divorce.
Pickle Rick is excellent and the first great episode of the season. Not only is the concept fun in its silliness but also stupendously executed in action as those sequences are exhilarating, brutal and very entertaining. The highlight, however, is the therapist session with Rick and the family where Dr. Wong perfectly states the difference between living a reckless, irresponsible life and living a boring, but necessarily responsible life. That was such an inspired speech.
Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender has too much action and spectacle which was to be expected from its superhero trappings. However, this is still a solid parody of the comic-book genre with a particularly fun emphasis on Rick’s badassery.
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The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy is sweet in Summer/Beth storyline, but the real meat of the season lies in Jerry/Rick subplot where the two spend some time together and eventually start to bond just a little bit. It was an essential episode for these two and one of the highlights.
Rest and Rickxalation is a clever episode where the two get rid of their toxic selves only to realize that they need them and that they aren’t that much different even without them. It’s a good episode, just not as fun/funny as some of the best ones here.
The Ricklantis Mixup is not my cup of tea. Just like the first episode, it is particularly difficult to follow and I did not understand anything that was going on. The concept is very inventive, but the execution is too convoluted and these types of Rick and Morty episodes are just way too complicated for their own sake.
Morty’s Mind Blowers is a particularly original episode as the story is magnificent and it was a lot of fun seeing the bits and pieces of their troublesome adventures so far. I really liked the inclusion of Summer in the end as well.
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The ABC’s of Death is another one of the highlights. I loved this adventure with Beth and Rick and her realization about who her father really is as a person. I loved how the series focused on her for a change and her tough decision is very interesting. The other subplot where Jerry dates a dangerous alien is also terrific and definitely the more fun and funny of the two.
The Rickchurian Mortydate is pretty good as the last episode to close the entire season which was too short for me. I loved the president of the United States as he was so funny and although Rick is too God-like by now, it was still very entertaining watching him mess with the government folk. The episode ends with Jerry coming back which I am happy for, but it did render the entire season useless when you think about it.
Overall, I liked this season quite a bit. Some episodes aren’t great, but most are very strong or even terrific. It is a darker, more sophisticated season which needed more science fiction in it, but it focused on characterization and psychology this time around and it worked very well.
Worst Episodes: The Rickshank Rickdemption and The Ricklantis Mixup.
Best Episodes: Pickle Rick, The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy and The ABC’s of Beth.
