The Jerrick Trap

I'm shocked that after so much vitriol and calamity levied at this show after Justin Roiland's ousting that they wouldn't have started this season with it's best foot forward, and last week's mid-to-poor outing had me VERY worried. If that was the best they could do now, I guess Rick and Morty's over, right?

WRONG, thankfully - this episode was a fantastic true to form sci fi tour de force that, aping Star Trek Voyager's abomination "Tuvix", maintains a level of hilarity and jokes per minute that rival excellent episodes from seasons of old. The two new voice actors bring their a-game to this (especially Rick, who's uniformly spot on) - if you transported this back four years and shoved it into season 4 there's no way I would have noticed the change.

Let's hope the rest of the season is more like "The Jerrick Trap", and light on poopy buttholes.

I've never written a review before but felt compelled to for this. The whole episode just felt - off. I actually really enjoyed the previous episode but this one just felt like very well-done fan-fiction. The humour wasn't quite there, the plot didn't quite gel, and the characters didn't quite feel like themselves. That and Rick's voice is ever so slightly jarring which takes you out of the experience. It was entertaining enough, but even then it wasn't an entirely satisfactory watch. Rick and Morty has had bad episodes before (looking at you, incest baby), but even they have "felt" like Rick and Morty. This episode has a sort of uncanny valley feel to it. Whether it's the loss of Roiland as voice actor, scriptwriter or producer is irrelevant - his presence is missing.

Last week I wrote a short and pretty scathing review of the first episode of series 7...and for good reason, poor plot, no morty...and the voices. Rick was too high, Mr PB was like a bad parody and it felt like an AI generated version of the show.

This week however, miles different, not only an engaging plot but we got to see some beautiful shots with some really funny characters...and the voices...WERE GOOD! I though Rick was close to being spot on. I wonder if Ian Cardoni filmed this episode towards the end of the series 7 production because it really does feel like he's grown into rick here.

Have to say I'm surprised, maybe Rick and Morty isn't dead. Maybe it's just beginning...Either way I'll be here next week to tune in!

So nice to have the show back at its prime... Hell, you could even say that Rick and Jerry together was MORE than the sum of their parts... Literally.

This reminds me of the first few seasons where every character, regardless of their "alignment" were likeable without the sort of sourness that seeped in to some of the previous episodes... And where Rick had to solve a conundrum whilst paying homage to a movie or series franchise on the sly..

For me, this was a clear homage to John Wick and Morty was the Dead Puppy....

As the best episodes do, this one escalated quickly and stratospherically before being brought back to Earth with a well placed plot item rather than a late-series R&M Ex Machina.

Yet another idea that really goes nowhere interesting. What has happened to this series' strength, the creative development of an interesting or even mediocre premise?

This is better than last week with its who-cares premise. This one is more interesting, because it tackles the Rick/Jerry dynamic, always one of the more interesting pairings in this show.

It riffs on a hoary old sci fi trope, the mind-switch, but mixes up the rules in a new chaotic way. The problem is, it just continues the chaos, and doesn't really develop these new rules into something unexpected but logical if not inevitable.