Rattlestar Ricklactica

A return to the classic R+M feel with a parody of 80s time travel flicks. It leaves out the complicated nature of paradoxes, etc., which I think they outdid themselves with in the season 2 premier; I forgive them for being lazy this time, though it does lose coherency in the final act. It's so over the top this time (even for R+M standards) that it really doesn't matter. There are a lot of funny moments throughout the whole episode, whereas previous episodes of S4 have a gag or two that are amusing.

Only item still missing is anything 'deep'. While S1 and S2 were just as over the top with zany stories, there was still a lot of character drama. Seems like they believe they've run out of stuff to do there, or are avoiding it, as it's been mostly absent this season (and it's half-way over). That's what separated R+M from the other cartoon schlock, even outside of the exaggerated, shroom-like sci-fi themes.

We'll see if it continues. I railed on episode 4 pretty hard, so had to do my due diligence in voicing the things that went well.

Although I had been looking forward to this season finally arriving, I did wait a while before watching it because I wanted to do so when all the fan-fuss had calmed down. I've seen others comment on how the Rick & Morty fanbase seems very toxic, and it is hard to deny when so much hate poured out over this season. Some of it I agree with, just not to the extent that I would call someone Judas etc. A comment complaint is the lack of depth, and I would agree that these first run of episodes don't link to anything bigger than the moment, or have a great deal going on with the characters and relationships in the way that the best of the previous seasons did. However it is hard to be so upset at this, because the show keeps moving on its profane imagination and delivery.

This element has always been part of the show, so it is not some big change to have crudity, swearwords, or randomness - indeed it is a consistent theme. There is a gap where more should be built on top, but even without this the episodes are smart, slick, reactive, and funny. I do hope that the next set of episodes have more character and heft in them, but it wasn't a concern as I was laughing alone to this short season.

Still not on the tier of Season 3's best episodes but this was about the best one so far in season 4. This actually had me laughing out loud in parts and I loved the time paradox story line. Classic Rick and Morty episode.

Don't get me wrong, this is a really solid episode, but I can't help but feel something is still a little off. The show just feels... different to watch. Which is probably due to the new writers. Still, I feel like the certain quirks and drama that made Rick and Morty stand out from other shows is now missing/watered down. I don't get that same feeling of impact/deeper message that I used to get from the show. The show's witty writing, dark humor and charming personality is still there, but the weird character antics, deep emotional drama and shocking nature of the show, I feel although not gone completely, has been toned down. The moments it does try to be dark/impactful, it just doesn't hit the same way and feels like it's being forced/rushed. The character's personalities have also been altered/toned down. Like Rick and Morty's toxic sides feel muted this season such as Rick's cynical, sociopathic, narcissistic behavior and Morty's insecure, passive behavior. Which is a bit of a shame, because their toxic sides are what made them a great duo to watch. I know shows tend to evolve over time, but it's core elements need to evolve too, not slowly fade away. It's just little nitpicks like this that start to slowly, gradually make a show decline in quality and become a shadow of its former self. The show is still going strong right now, but I unfortunately have to say, it's starting to decline a bit. This was one of the more stronger episodes of this season, just slightly behind the first but just not quite there on the same level with the good episodes from the older seasons.

Looks like the writers finally opened that box on the garage shelf labeled "time travel stuff", which was intended to be their subtle message to the viewers that they would avoid that topic in their episodes to avoid confusion/cliché. I'm glad they decided to take the leap in this episode, though, because I think they really pulled off a clever and original time travel plot. The episode had some really hilarious parts and the B story was a lot of fun to watch.