Airing only Rickshank Rickdemption would have been a hollow season opener so Adult Swim made the wise decision to drop two episodes of Rick and Morty today. Episode one aired for anyone who hadn’t seen it during its temporary debut on April 1, with episode two Rickmancing the Stone airing directly after.
Season three spoilers ahead.
What’s happened so far- we learned that Rick’s motivation for being arrested in the season two finale wasn’t completely selfless. It was a part of his master plan to get inside the headquarters of the intergalactic government and take it down from the inside. Rick John Malkoviches himself inside the heads of a series of aliens with increasingly high security clearance, making his way up the hierarchy and taking a shit in alien bodies along the way. His plan culminates in transporting the prison into galactic HQ and collapsing the economy. Rick simultaneously dismantles the Council of Ricks. The galactic government removes their presence from Earth and Rick is able to go home. His final coup has him removing Jerry from the family so he can pursue his endeavors unburdened.
Rickmancing the Stone puts us back into Rick and Morty proper. Rick, Morty, and Summer return from an unseen adventure through a portal and into the garage. Jerry stands in the driveway, his meager belongings packed into a moving truck. Morty tells his father goodbye but Summer disregards him, feigning apathy in her parents’ divorce.
In an attempt to shift the conversation to anything else, Summer requests an adventure and Rick is happy to oblige, landing the trio on a Mad Max style planet chock full of radiation, mutated marauders, and glowing rocks that Rick wants to further his goals.
What’s continually impressive about Rick and Morty is the creators’ ability to tell engaging science fiction stories while sliding social commentary into every nook and cranny.
Summer- “Rick, didn’t you say you needed my help on an adventure immediately, somewhere else- I don’t care- even if it might kill us?”
Rick- “I did not, but if you’re really that alienated, I’m as willing to exploit it as the next guy, church, army, or olympics gymnastics trainer.”
What follows is the Rick and Morty we’ve all come to know and love. Summer embraces the darkness, Morty goes all Idol Hands on a whole mess of Death Stalkers, and everyone learns a lesson before the credits roll. Except for Rick, but what are you gonna do?
Episodes one and two of Rick and Morty season three are streaming right now on Adult Swim.