SnakesVengence

If it wasn't obvious then, it should be obvious now. The characters felt more alive, and the show felt more dynamic and authentic when Justin Roiland was still writing for the show. You can try to downplay his creative contributions all you want, but you can never downplay his results. With those results being 3 seasons (season 1-3) of some of the best written TV out there.

Multiple people working there have said Dan and Justin turn into creative geniuses when they are working together. This is just as much Justin's show as it is Dan's and like it or not, the show falls apart when one is without the other. They both have different strengths, weaknesses and approaches that when mixed together, turns the show into the iconic, explosive success that it became. With Dan having the more methodical approach, and Roiland having the more "throwing darts/ideas and seeing what sticks" approach. In other words, Dan was the "stick to your guns" type of writer, and Roiland was the "high risk, high reward" type of writer when it came to the show.

Dan provided the amazing narrative structure, character driven storytelliing, and the philosophical depth/complexity each episode had. While Roiland provided the chaotic energy, amazing character dialogue that sounded like improv at times, and character depth/complexity each episode had. He was also responsible for the world building and the crazy sci-fi creativity of the show. Like for example, the idea of a Galactic Federation full of insects, and the idea of a Mr. Meeseeks box where Meeseeks can't die unless they perform their task. In other words, Dan laid the foundation for the show, while Roiland gave life to that foundation.

Finally, this is just a personal gripe of mine. But I hate how Rick uses these over the top, tech gadgets that turns him into a god to solve his problems. Where as before, he used to use his witts/genius, invent stuff/solutions to his problems instead of already having them, and got lucky in tough situations instead of being essentially indestructible. It's just a lazy way of writing solutions to your problems.

Would be a 10/10 if not for the occasional meta commentary in this episode. I can't be the only one who felt kinda sucked out of the moment when they do that. Regardless, this is a very good lore centric episode with tons of backstory that'll satisfy even the most hardcore of fans. Good pacing, good dialogue, good emotion, good character building, good everything that sets Rick and Morty apart from other shows. Simply a must watch.

This season so far feels like an alternate dimension where Netflix has acquired Rick and Morty and replaced some of the writers with their own. Tonight's episode was unfortunately a miss for me.