What a strange journey it has been for the show Rick and Morty. From cropping up and struggling to convince the good folks at Adult Swim to retain them, to an enormous amount of success once Adult Swim knew what they had, and only to have a huge downswing once creator/voice actor Justin Roiland was removed from the show sending into a spiral, and now the first season without Justin Roiland and new voice actors Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty). To say it has been a roller coaster ride would be a huge understatement.
But here we are with season seven. The infamous first season with the new Rick and Morty voice actors, and without the creative input of Roiland. How did the show land? Well, it certainly had its moments, some even sincere, but it certainly seemed like a tumble with the overall narrative. That doesn’t mean it’s a total disaster, but it’s certainly not as powerful as the previous one.
Let’s talk about this adventure.
Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden
Before we dig into the spaghetti of this season, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way first – the voice actors. While most of us have been imitating Roiland’s brutal character dialogue for some years, two actors nearly perfected it. Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden are fantastic replacements for Roiland’s voice-acting duties. While it can be said that Cardoni’s Rick probably needs to be a bit more abrupt and demeaning, something that Roiland nailed during previous seasons, I think that the actor will get there. It’s a tough role to take over and the majority of the sarcasm and humor is led by Rick during episodes. Cardoni certainly started to get in that groove mid-way through season seven, and eventually settled in by the last episode. I’m sure over time he will get there and perfect the character, but for the first time out, he did a superb job with room to grow.
As for Harry Belden, he didn’t miss a beat with Morty. Belden captured that jadedness that Morty has developed over the years in the story, and brought his best to pick up where Roiland left off. He truly didn’t miss a beat in capturing and delivering the edgy cynicism that Morty builds and delivers delightfully through the story.
Overall, if you’re looking for perfection the first time out with both Cardoni and Belden, then you’re going to be disappointed. Any actor will tell you that settling into their character takes time, something that the pair of voice actors didn’t have a lot of when they signed on for Rick and Morty Season 7. What they delivered was good, if not really good by the end. I bet we won’t tell the difference by the start of the next season.
Shakiness in Season 7
The big issue I have with the seventh season of Rick and Morty isn’t from the amount of effort coming from actors or the lewdness that the show usually carries with it, rather it’s the consistency and chances the show has established and failed to completely deliver in this season. The season and its narrative feel like they were a bit lost, though occasionally finding its magic but not nearly to the extent that previous seasons found it.
The seventh season starts with the failed life of Mr. Poopybutthole and his need for intervention from his friends. The episode is good-natured for the most part, though the inclusion of Hugh Jackman (yes, the real one) interrupting said intervention and driving Mr. PBH to try and track down his kid and ex-wife seems a bit too gimmicky and shifts too hard. It’s still a humorous opener for the seventh season, but not as connected to the overall body of work as previous seasons seem to be. Typically, the first episode of every season has some meaningful impact on Rick and Morty. It could be connecting them together to Rick’s past life. It could be Rick and Morty trying to find their own individual journey. It could be anything vital and impactful to the series’ overarching story. This one seemed a bit too throwaway, as a side character was the lead, and the leads took the back seat. Even Hugh Jackman’s inclusion didn’t push the story beyond goofy and gross, and believe me, it seemed like he tried. It was a disappointing way to start the season seven.
The second episode, “The Jerrick Trap”, makes up for that first episode’s falter, with Rick and Jerry mixing their minds together to create a solid relationship. It’s a quirky episode that is more of a buddy comedy, something that Rick and Jerry don’t experience in any season, and it’s a refreshing take on their relationship. As you may know, their relationship is abusive, with much of the abuse stemming from Rick’s disappointment with the man who married his daughter. The episode begins that way but soon pivots to show a better, kinder, funnier relationship between the two that makes for meaningful content. I enjoyed the hell out of this episode. I felt like it was a huge chance taken and the payoff was well worth that chance.
When the show hits the third episode, “Air Force Wong”, it begins to revisit some past characters directly affecting Rick’s life. The first character is his therapist, Dr. Helen Wong (Susan Sarandon), who starts to play a part in Rick’s life beyond his therapy, thanks in part to the President of the United States (Keith David), who is constantly assigning Rick duties just to get close to Wong. When the episode hits its stride, mainly when the state of Virginia takes its motto “For Lovers” too literally, Rick’s need to rectify the situation hits hard with his need to keep the president away from his therapist. It’s an odd episode that drags itself out way too long on a silly concept. While I do appreciate the humor driven by Virginia’s motto, and the grounded-ness that Rick gets when protecting his therapist, and what that means to him, it seems light on a lot of narrative structure. I wish the writers had gotten to the core of Rick’s disdain for his therapist’s interest in someone he knows, but it never quite delves too deep. It’s a shame because it was a missed opportunity.
The fourth episode, “That’s Amorte” is just gross and warped. I’m not sure I will eat spaghetti again. It’s one of those episodes that has nothing to do with anything except how far it can push the show’s boundaries. Spoiler alert, it pushes them far. Moving on.
The fifth episode, “Unmortricken” brings back Rick Prime for a final showdown with Rick. It also brings back Evil Morty and expands his character a bit. While I don’t want to spoil anything, I did find this episode a bit brutal, and rightfully so, as well as impactful and caring. This might be the best episode of the seventh season, although it needed a bit more time to cook more narrative to wrap things up. It’s brutal folks, but it works with the overall body of work with Rick and Morty. This probably should have been the final episode of the season. It needed more minutes.
Episodes six, seven, eight, and nine, much like the fourth episode, were throwaways, as the content didn’t truly affect a bigger storyline, unlike what the fifth episode delivered. One episode was basically a clip-reel, while another was about letters versus numbers in an intergalactic war. Yet another was about Summer and Morty fusing together like Kuato from Total Recall (the good one). And the last of the four revolved around Rick obtaining limitless power and traveling to Valhalla. The latter of the bunch was amusing and well-built, but the formers were really more shock than special. I know not every episode can run deep like the fifth one in this season, but it would have been nice to get a tad more substance from them.
The last episode of season seven was interesting. The episode was titled, “Fear No Mort”, and revolved around an established hole in a Denny’s restaurant that fed off the fears of those who fell into it. The episode was purposely confusing, dug up some past storylines from previous seasons, including Rick and his ex-wife, and played with people’s minds for about 45 minutes. It was a worthy show to end the season on but it was closed-ended with its conclusion, which means it was very self-contained in its delivery. It seemed like it wanted to be something bigger, something that bleeds over to the eighth season, but it quickly just wrapped and concluded. Again, the fifth episode should have been in this spot, but this one was just a tug below that episode.
Maybe previous seasons established a rhythm that was not easily achievable, or maybe the absence of Roiland was felt and this season’s direction reflected that absence. Whatever the case may have been, the seventh season certainly deserved some criticism in the direction it seemed to be going and how everything was executed story-wise. It’s not as strong as previous and it doesn’t leave you hanging for an eighth season by any means.
Now, that said, it’s not as horrible as people are making it out to be. It probably didn’t meet all the standards of the show up to this point, but it’s not a total disaster. Not even close. I’ve seen those before, and this ain’t it. It still brings gross entertainment, solid characters, and the occasional nudge to past storylines that still need some wrapping.
Special Features
I can’t imagine the chaos of season seven and trying to get it together. It must have been tough. Now, having said that it’s nice to see some special features come out of it. Here’s what you should expect:
- 10 Inside the Episodes (Featurettes) – Take a deeper look into each of the ten episodes from the season.
- Directing Unmortricken (Featurette) – Jacob Hair walks us through the challenges of making one of the most ambitious and action-packed episodes in the series’ history, centered on the climatic showdown between Rick and his arch-nemesis.
- The Characters of Season 7 – A wide-ranging look at how the character team crafted this season’s most impressive and challenging new designs. For example, how did the team create Jerricky, which consists of fusing two iconic characters together.
- Inside Season 7- A deep dive on S7’s biggest story shifts and reveals, plus an overall look at the making of the season from the perspective of various members of the crew.
Conclusion
Not the strongest of seasons, and not the disaster that some are making it out to be. Rick and Morty Season 7 demonstrates that it can bring the humor, the familiar voices, and talent in the absence of Roiland. The edginess and overall story connection that Roiland brought in previous seasons is still a work in progress. Definitely a good season to add to your collection but not as strong as previous.
