Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” is back for Season 8, and the nearly year-and-a-half break has resulted in a burst of creative energy for a show that, at its best, can only be loosely described as a sci-fi sitcom. Creators Scott Marder and Dan Harmon have returned to the core Smith family dynamics (partly inspired by “Succession”), now severely impacted by Rick (Ian Cardoni) and Morty’s (Harry Belden) rippled universe mayhem. Season 8 offers up some provocative existential problems, along with eye-popping world-building, and even more imaginative body horror. At the same time, there are a few callbacks to feed the fanbase.

Here are some early highlights: In Episode 1 (“Summer of All Fears”), Morty and older sister Summer (Spencer Grammer) return from being prisoners inside a simulated “Matrix” as punishment for not returning Rick’s phone charger. Summer became a ruthless tech firm leader while Morty suffered Ptsd from going to war.