The superhero episode was a solid spoof, questioning the notion of goodness (and the Israel joke still cracks me up). It still has a lot of things going for it. Woah woah woah, calm down the show isn’t ruined. Tension also expertly fuels the Unity episode, where Rick and Unity seem to be going along great, but they’re inching towards a feeling of disaster. And that’s exactly what happens with the Giant and Mister Jelly Bean. Things seemed to be going too well and there was chaos on the horizon. Second, Morty’s whole “peaceful adventure” had underlying tension. First, the story at home with the Meeseeks was extremely compelling with clear goals. Yes! So there were two devices to offset that.
“What about the Mister Jelly Bean episode? For the front half, they were on a totally peaceful adventure. And the stories in the family are so underdeveloped that there isn’t time to see a struggle. Success in the sci-fi story is too easy so Rick no longer has strong wants. The show even made a joke of how easily Rick defeated Worldender. Satan and The Purge worked well, but S3 hasn’t really had any of these. Since Rick is such a powerful force, his opposition needs to be just as powerful. Specific wants pull an entire story together, like trying to improve a golf swing or wanting to restore a car battery. Summer trapped in the spaceship, Pickle Rick fighting through the embassy). There are broad wants like survival and security, but those often make characters reactive (e.g. The stronger the want is, the more compelling the story. In almost all stories, the main character wants to get something but they’re having trouble getting it and you like the main character so you’re engaged in seeing how they’re going to get the thing that they want. Goals and Tension: How do stories keep you glued to the screen? Goals.
#RICK AND MORTY BRAIN PARASITES SERIES#
It’s similar to what happened in Doctor Who Series 9 where the Doctor and Clara just went on adventurous romps without the danger or disagreements that plagued them in Series 8. There doesn’t even seem to be a risk to the people around him anymore. We get to enjoy the art of Rick’s victory, but we’re certain that he will triumph. The audience knows he’s a genius who can do virtually anything, and the show is endorsing that. Then season 3 opened with Rick bringing an entire government down. From being unable to fix the Cronenbergs to being stuck in a teenage body, Rick’s problems can spiral out of his control.
If everything goes his way and he has no problems then there’s no story. Meeseeks going wrong, raising an alien psychopath, and memory parasites are good examples.Įven Rick has streaks of Jerry.
Jerry represents two important factors: people being incompetent idiots trying to survive, and the juxtaposition between mundane family and sci-fi wackiness. In fact the show needs Jerry in all of the characters. He’s a useless blob of a man, but the show needs him. Summer’s body transformation horror got no development compared to say the Meeseeks. But the show seems to be turning its focus away from this. One of the most comedy-rich fields of the show is the juxtaposition between family and sci-fi madness. The therapy thread was interesting, but can you really call that a story? The B-stories at home are underdeveloped to almost not being there.
The sci-fi A-story is padded with more zany action sequences. Some S3 episodes try to compensate with LOTS of different threads going at once (I’m looking at you, Citadel episode and Mind-Blowers episode) but it still doesn’t quite have the dense satisfaction of a single narrative twisting and turning. The S3 episodes don’t have as much going on. Not necessarily! I love Jane the Virgin, but the episodes always feel longer because each one is packed with a million plot points. “Isn’t that a good thing? Time flies when you’re having fun!” But the new episodes seemed to end really abruptly. The show goes to surprising depths with dark rapid humour. A lot of them haven’t changed… but a few key ones have.ĭensity: The first thing I noticed was that the S3 episodes felt shorter. So what makes Rick and Morty work?Ī lot of things. So I rewatched a few episodes from seasons 1 and 2, ones I didn’t remember fondly, and they showed me what makes Rick and Morty work and what’s changed. It’s obviously just because you came into Season 3 with such high expectations, and if any of these episodes came out in Seasons 1 or 2 you’d like them! Or maybe you’re only remembering the good parts of those seasons!” But there’s a stark difference to the episodes in Seasons 1 and 2.
#RICK AND MORTY BRAIN PARASITES TV#
This season’s episodes are still pretty good, still unique gems in the TV landscape. I felt it early on in the season, but just dismissed it as a one-off episode fluke. I’ve been watching the episodes of Rick and Morty Season 3, but I’ve had a pervading feeling that something was… off.