Warning: full episode spoilers follow.
The appeal of Rick and Morty isn’t just that the show is so ambitious in its absurdity, but that it’s able to combine all the wacky elements with a conflict that involves real emotional weight. The weaker episodes are those that focus too much on the former without achieving the latter. That’s pretty much the problem “Get Schwifty” ran into this week. There was plenty of bizarre humor, but the story tying it all together was a little flimsy and repetitive.
Rick and Morty Announcer Pack Comes to Dota 2
You really do have to give Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon credit for how far they push their concepts. This episode opened with a giant, floating head arriving on earth, sending civilization into chaos and demanding to be appeased with a catchy pop tune. Most shows would have been content to stop there, with the heroes rocking out and saving the day. Instead, that was just the first seven minutes of the episode.
The problem is that the conflict didn’t escalate from there. Rick and Morty transitioned from having to save the world through the power of music to, well, having to save the world through the power of music. Why not just offer a repeat performance of “Get Schwifty” and leave it at that? It was clearly a better song than anything the rest of the galaxy could conjure up. The idea that Morty’s anxiety was messing with Rick’s groove was fine, but the ultimate lesson “Learn to worry less” doesn’t really hit home the way a lot of the dramatic resolutions do on this show. It also didn’t help that “Get Schwifty” didn’t really have anything new or insightful to add when it comes to poking fun at reality TV culture.
But if the story didn’t really come together this week, there were more than enough weird twists and bits of humor to make the overall experience enjoyable. For one thing, there was the fact that Ice-T was a supporting character. Seeing him kick back, munch Fig Newtons and chill with Rick and Morty was amusing enough, but then came the ridiculously sublime origin story of this immortal water being cursed to wander the galaxy and never care about anything. The closing scene, where Ice-T evolved into Water-T and waged war against the Numbericons, might be the best post-credits sequence the show has offered. The only thing that could have made T’s role better is if he were actually voiced by Ice-T.
A new pop sensation is born.
On the plus side, we got President Keith David busting a groove with Rick and Morty. And the return of Bird-Person, who is apparently still hooking up with Tammy long after the events of “Ricksy Business.” And Rick’s snake-making wristwatch. Again, there were a lot of great, silly moments on tap this week.
This might be the first episode where the subplot was stronger than the main storyline. The episode got a lot of mileage out of humanity’s reaction to being invaded by giant god heads and the religious cult that sprang up as a result. The idea that they would punish thieves, Goths and movie-talkers by sending them sailing into the clouds to return as newborn babies was sublimely ridiculous. Jerry especially was a hoot this week, with lines like:
“Summer, listen carefully. I stole a paperclip and I have it in my cheek, but I don’t know what to do with it, and it hurts!”
“But I am a baby! I’m a baby now!”
The subplot only got better as Rick and Morty started their performance and the cult began misinterpreting the giant heads’ displeasure as a sign to erupt into all-out civil war. I appreciated that the ultimate point this storyline was trying to make wasn’t an indictment of organized religion so much as a reminder that people will ascribe meaning and importance to any old stupid thing.
