The Curicksous Case of Bethjamin Button

I said in my review of the last episode of "Rick and Morty" that season eight had, in my opinion, served two poor episodes, two good ones and one that was 50/50, so this episode would be the one to break tie and I'm happy to say that I thought this was a real return to form.

Both feeling a sense of dissatisfaction with their lives, Beth and Space Beth (Sarah Chalke) use an anti-aging booth to revert to their ten-year-old selves, having forgotten that, at that age, they were psychotic tearaways. Meanwhile, Rick (Ian Cardoni), Morty (Harry Belden), Summer (Spencer Grammer) and Jerry (Chris Parnell) head to "Earth World" a notoriously low rent and dangerous Earth themed theme park that Rick has visited before. He's disgusted to learn that the park has had a corporate makeover since his last visit and the creator Dr. Dogballs (Danny DeVito) has been removed.

In every episode of this season, I've be-moaned the departure from the classic "A" and "B" storyline model that was utilised so well in earlier seasons, well finally it's back! And used to good effect in this one where Rick is the only real crossover between the two adventures. Admittedly the Earth World storyline, of a theme park gone awry is one that the show has done before, more than once, but there was some decent comedy in this one with random 'mascots' becoming crazed killers.

It's not a first few season classic, by any means, but it's another tick in season eights "good" column.

This was very enjoyable because it had a unique plot. It featured everyone except Beth and Space Beth going to an Earth themed amusement park. That is, a theme park made by an alien with his representation of Earth. It's a cool idea. The Beths end up de-aging each other. Rick comes back and the Beths actually put up a good fight against him.

I knew that was Danny DeVito's voice. It was hard to recognize all of the giant headed mascots. I recognized Hitler and Count Chocula. It's an episode with a lot going on and an original plot. The kid's voices were pretty funny too. This season doesn't seem quite as continuity heavy as most. ***1/2.

Before we begin, this episode was exactly what I expected.

As Rick himself said during the episode, most viewers-including me-aren't particularly invested in Beth-centric stories. Beth simply isn't a character who can be written meaningfully outside the overused theme of "My father never showed us love." No matter how they try, her character seems permanently limited, and it feels nearly impossible for a Beth-focused episode to ever earn an 8.0+ rating at this point.

That said, the episode wasn't all that bad.

However, the second plotline was unnecessary. I think it would have been more entertaining if Rick, Summer, Morty, and Jerry had stayed home watching TV while events unfolded among the Beths. Still, I really liked the final scene between Rick and Beth.

As many people have pointed out (and I agree), this season seems designed to remind us of Rick's humanity, that he still has a soul beneath all that cynicism. Unfortunately, they haven't managed to pull it off very well so far.

And then... the references. 9/11? Really?

There was absolutely no need for such cheap shots in Rick and Morty. It felt ridiculous-cheap even. What reaction did they expect from the audience? Shock? Laughter? I didn't feel any of that.

These kinds of 9/11 references are everywhere these days, and not only are they no longer edgy-they were never that clever to begin with.

Looking ahead at this season-and future ones-I think this will be the average quality going forward.

Seasons 9, 10, 11, and even 12 might decline further. Of course, we can't expect every episode to be canon, but the creativity in filler episodes has dropped significantly.

The last high-quality filler episode I remember enjoying was probably "That's Amorte." So here's the truth: our expectations for R&M should be adjusted. There will still be a few brilliant episodes from time to time, sure-but filler episodes simply aren't what they used to be.

All we can do now is try to enjoy what we get-or at least give it a fair shot.

Like most of the episodes this season I feel like this one sort of lacked any of the heart previous seasons of Rick and Morty had. The Earth World b-plot was a funny concept but I just didn't feel it honestly. I did however like Mr. Dogballs. (I like anything Danny Devito lol)

BUT the thing that really made me like this episode was the main plot focusing on Rick and Beth(s) relationship. Though I just feel like the b-plot should've been cut shorter to give more time to this one because it needed some more focus, but regardless it was nice seeing some good character development.

Solid 7.5/10.

Seriously, what? Who writes this stuff? Is this supposed to be fun or cool or what? Rick & Morty always had a level of violence but things are different now. Things just feel off. It's a cheapened version of what it used to be. I get more disappointed with each episode. Hoping for better to come. But it's clear that won't happen, and we're not getting back what we used to have. Every week is just a let-down and I get less and less excited or interested in the show. I don't even watch it anymore, I just play it while I do something else. R&M used to captivate my attention, now it's mostly background stuff.