“Rick and Morty” 2.7 “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez” (8 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Starring Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, and Chris Parnell and Sarah Chalke; Run time 22 minutes; Originally aired 09/13/2015.

Tiny Rick!

In the most recent installment of “Rick and Morty” a vampire is discovered at Morty and Summer’s school while Jerry and Beth have marital trouble (surprise). Rick, being his usual charming self, tells Jerry and Beth to either fix their marriage or get divorced already and sends them to couples therapy on another planet with a one hundred percent success rate.

While they’re gone Rick transfers his consciousness into a younger version of himself in order to infiltrate the high school and kill the vampire.

Luckily the vampire premise was short lived as I was immediately concerned we were in for another lackluster episodes. I’m looking at you giant floating head. I saw WHAT YOU GOT, and I wasn’t that impressed.

Tiny Rick is inexplicably and incredibly popular with the kids at school and Rick stays inside his adolescent clone in order to help Morty and Summer with their prospective crushes while the real (read: drunk, depressed, and curmudgeonly) Rick literally begs for help from within his fleshy prison.

This might be the first episode wherein I enjoyed the subplot more than the main one. While the exploits of Tiny Rick were entertaining and would have been sufficient to put the episode above some of its lesser peers on its own, the adventures at couples therapy were surprisingly, more exciting.

Jerry and Beth undergo a procedure that manifests their perceptions of one another as artificially created, but very real, life forms. Jerry imagines Beth as essentially a Xenomorph with her face, and she imagines Jerry as a frightened pink slug. The two entities form a symbiotic relationship and threaten to kill everyone in sight. The way the episode plays with their perceptions as the episode progresses is inspired and of course, Beth and Jerry find a way to love one another again, at least until Morty graduates high school.

One of the most satisfying moments comes at the end of the episode after Rick’s consciousness is transferred back into his real body and he bursts into a gleeful violent rage. The best moments are when Rick throws caution (and societal cues) to the wind and lets his true psychopath out.

Now, I don’t have a doctorate and I’m not really qualified to diagnose psychological problems but I’d venture a guess that happily perpetrating a naked axe murder blood bath qualifies.

I’ll miss you Tiny Rick, we hardly knew ye.

You can catch the latest episode streaming on Adult Swim. New episodes arrive every Sunday night.

Tiny Rick!

Vourbot loves SHMUPS! and guess what…he found one (finally) at Pax Prime 2015. He is back to tell you all about it…

I met with Iamgos Softworks and Adult Swim games at PAX Prime 2015.

They had a few games that rocked my world, one seemed like it was a shmup, and one seems like some kind of action platformer — but that’s not even the half of it. I left feeling so impressed, I got new hope…… In video games.

I’ll start with the game, STAR MAZER.

Every year, I go on the quest for shmups at PAX Prime, and come up empty handed. This year I caught a glimpse of what looked like a baddass Super Nintendo side-scrolling shmup. And it was solid- there were explosions, lazers, blah blah, everything. But, of course, it was too good to be true. The game is actually a POINT AND CLICK ADVENTURE with shmuppy interludes. So my heart sank a bit, but I still went in and talked to the guy, and now I’m going to share my thoughts with you, in list form.

1. The history of this game, I believe, is that Don Thacker has been working on making this amazing game. He did a kickstarter, raised the money, then maybe got hooked up with Turner Network’s Adult Swim, I don’t know. I just know that he’s the mastermind behind it. Check that kickstarter page. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/imagosfilms/starr-mazer

2. It wasn’t the traditional shmup I was looking for, but it is something else- I try and describe: Point and click story with shmup interludes, that drive the narrative a little bit (like if you get shot down, you have to do more point-and-click to get back up, or if you don’t beat the boss, he reappears in the next shmup section). To lay it out fully, on the part I got to play, I started with a point and click intro to the characters and story, got assigned my mission, went on a shmup flight- I think I got shot down a few times and had to do it over, and my employer lost a little faith in me. I finally got to my destination, couldn’t beat the boss, got shot down, then had to point and click a bit, got back in my ship and had to finish the boss in a chase scene back to where whatever was next. Anyways, the shmup sections are integrated into the narrative.

3. This game is POLISHED. I mean, the demo I played wasn’t even new done and crashed and crashed- it was right on Don Thacker’s laptop- not even dongled onto the Adult Swim computer. But after 10 minutes of going through the motions and resetting the crashes, and just playing the first tiny chapter of the game, which he even had to explain the ending of, since I was clicking on the wrong stuff and crashing it, one thing was just INCREDIBLY clear: He has played this game, he has refined the game, he has considered not only every detail of the experience, but also the template on which the experience is built on.

4. The point and click sections are on point. My limited experience with the old PC point and click games leave me with little expertise, but as far as I can tell, the integrity is at level 10. The artwork is just fantastic. Every animation is an indulgent surprise, every bit of dialogue is a pleasure. It is just fantastically done.

5. The shmup sections that I played were also on point. They were a challenge. They were totally balanced. I had to switch weapons, speed up and slow down, and mostly dodge asteroids, not bullets. And the boss was a mundane move up and down laser sweep marathon, but it was balanced. The only reason I even like shmups is that, since their gameplay is so fundamental, it’s easy for the makers to balance the game. I mean, it’s pretty easy to tell inf your shmup sucks. Anyways, I remember the old days, when every games strived for balance. Even Jaws on the Nintendo, the shittiest game in the universe, made an attempt at balanced challenge. And “balanced challenge” means one thing: “Challenge” – like, you can’t do it your first time, or it’s difficult to do, and “balance” means: ANY motivation to give it a 2nd try. And this game motivates you by– well, one thing, the creator played it and tried to put the asteroids in fun spots, based on his own sense of fun, which is not a special thing, but a thing left out of a LOT of games. And the other motivator was….

6. The art style is just totally compelling. It’s like super nintendo versions of 80’s anime sci fi explosion bliss. It’s hard to describe without going back to 1991 and then seeing this game through your crystal ball and then saying, “These are the best graphics I’ve ever seen”. That’s what pushes the game through. It’s got so much retro integrity, presented in a modern pace, it’s just totally impressive. I can’t wait to see more of it.

Check out our exclusive interview with Auston Montville (Imagos Softworks) right here:

https://soundcloud.com/poppundits/starr-mazer-pax-prime-2015-exclusive

“Rick and Morty” 2.6 “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” (8 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Written by Dan Guterman; Starring Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, and Stephen Colbert; Run time 22 minutes; Originally aired 08/30/2015.

Thank the giant floating head, “Rick and Morty” is back. After a lackluster outing last week, this week’s episode “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” came full force to remind us why the show is worth sacrificing precious time to the TV gods.

What starts as a nice family outing with Rick and his grandkids to an alternate reality soon devolves into madness and mayhem when the trio leave a movie theater (for a film franchise of “Ball Fondlers”) and find that the battery in Rick’s ship is dead.

Rick and Morty shrink down and go inside the battery, leaving Summer to watch the ship and the ship to watch Summer. Summer has to convince the ship not to kill or maim everyone who comes within an arm’s reach in a world inhabited by average human beings, award winning ice cream, and giant telepathic spiders.

Meanwhile Rick reveals that the ship’s battery is actually a shrunken (insert bullshit sciencey words) universe in a box. Rick created the universe and waited for a world with life to develop. Then he visited them under the guise of a wise and benevolent alien and gave them the technology to create electricity which he siphons off to power his ship.

As always Morty is the voice of compassion and reason, he suggests that what Rick is doing is tantamount to slavery with extra steps, and as always Rick disregards him. When the duo discover the source of the energy problem, a scientist who has invented his own nested universe to power their world making Rick’s system obsolete, they begin down a fractal rabbit hole that risks their very lives, at least until the end of the episode.

This episode features a cameo performance from Stephen Colbert, as the miniaturized scientist and source of all the trouble, and he is as on point as he always is.

Despite what this may say about me psychologically, my favorite episodes are the ones with dark and depressing implications and this one delivers. While the problems presented to the titular characters are wrapped up in the span of the episode, it leaves us with some heavy implications regarding what Rick is willing to do to accomplish his ends, even if those ends are just getting down the street for ice cream.

You can catch the latest episode streaming on Adult Swim. New episodes arrive every Sunday night.

“Rick and Morty” 2.5 “Get Schwifty” (6 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Starring Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, and Sarah Chalke; Run time: 30 minutes; Originally aired 08/23/2015.

When a giant head arrives in orbit around Earth demanding to hear a new hit song Rick and Morty head off to the Pentagon (not the real Pentagon, the lame one, here on Earth) to save the world. Seismic tremors are wreaking havoc on the planet and an Earthquake during the Grammy’s has killed all of the world’s greatest song writers. What are we to do to survive?

Get Schwifty.

This episode is probably the weakest of the season so far. While the tone and special flavor that makes “Rick and Morty” so continually watchable is still present but lost are any elements that will make you think. Those elements are what make the best episodes rise above.

This episode relies on a wacky premise and Rick’s equally cavalier recklessness to carry the audience and it falls a little short. In truth it was still a fun half-hour, I only hold it to such a high standard because the show almost always meets that standard, this week it didn’t and that’s okay.

There is some entertaining satirical commentary on logical fallacies, specifically causation vs correlation, and mob mentality. When Earth is transported across space to participate in an interplanetary musical reality TV show for its very survival, Morty’s home town begins worshiping the giant floating heads as gods, madness ensues. An entire religion emerges including a hierarchical structure, silly hats, and sacrifice by balloon.

There is also a special appearance by Bird Person as well as Ice-T who is more than he appears and exactly what he claimed. Unfortunately no word on the prognosis of Mr. Poopy Butthole.

New episodes of “Rick and Morty” air every Sunday on Adult Swim. You can catch up on previous episodes right here.

“Rick and Morty” 2.4 “Total Rickall” (8 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Starring Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, Spencer Grammer, Tony Babieri, Keith David, Kevin Michael Richardson, and Matt Walsh; Run time 30 minutes; Originally aired 08/16/2015.

The fourth episode of season two “Total Rickall” is a true return to form for “Rick and Morty.” It would be unfair to call any episode of the show bad but some are stronger than others and this is a great example.

Fair warning to readers, spoilers ahead.

This week’s episode opens with the family around the table reminiscing with Jerry’s brother Steve who has apparently been living with them for over a year, though he’s never appeared in a previous episode. Unannounced, Rick raises a gun and shoots Steve, as he dies his body transforms into an alien parasite and Rick explains that this life form uses false memories to implant itself into your life and multiply.

The trouble here is that each member of the family has clear memories of this person in their lives and as such cannot identify who is real and who isn’t. As Rick explains, a new character appears in the scene, a hot dog shaped little man wearing a top hat called Mr. Poopy Butthole who is obviously a false character implanted into their lives. Only he isn’t, more on that later.

Rick locks the house down behind blast shields to prevent the parasite from getting out of the house and taking over the planet. From here the parasite multiplies, each time one or more members of the family remember back on a time with a false character a new one is created and before long the entire house is filled with all manner of fictional entities including Sleepy Gary, Beth’s true husband and Jerry’s secret lover, Frankenstein’s Monster, and Reverse Giraffe who is exactly what his name implies, a giraffe with a long body but short limbs and neck.

Rick tries his damndest to retain a level of control but is soon overwhelmed by opposing forces and Morty, now aligned with his parasitic false friends, takes Rick to the garage to execute him. When Rick uses his last moments to berate Morty for being a whiny piece of shit, Morty realizes that Rick must be real, as the parasites are only capable of implanting positive memories of which Morty and Rick have a rare few.

“Total Rickall” is another great example of “Rick and Morty” taking a well known sci-fi trope, this time the idea of false memories as well as alien parasites, and turning it on its head. Once the key to identifying the parasites is discovered a blood bath ensues. Soon everyone is dead save for the five core members of the family and Mr. Poopy Butthole.

Last week’s episode, while not the strongest of the “Rick and Morty” portfolio did end strong (in a holy shit that’s dark kind of way) when Rick loses the love of his life for the second time, realizes he is a negative influence on those around him, and tries (but fails) to kill himself. I remarked last week that I hoped the series would have more moments like this, while the major appeal of “Rick and Morty” is the comedy, what sets it apart is the way it balances that humor with the darker elements of the characters. I’m glad to see that wasn’t lost in this week’s episode.

Once the air clears Beth looks around, reviews her memories of Mr. Poopy Butthole and realizes she has nothing but positive experiences with him, then shoots him in the gut. Surprisingly, instead of transforming into an obvious alien parasite, Mr. Poopy Butthole bleeds out on the kitchen floor all the while screaming in pain. In a post credits scene we see him doing rehab and learning to walk again.

This creates a problem with the continuity of the episode. Uncle Steve was the original parasite and was killed at the beginning of the episode, then replaced by Mr. Poopy Butthole who then spawns the myriad of false family and friends. With the revelation that he was real all along the question then becomes, who was the real parasite. Rick mentions that they begin small and could be stuck to the bottom of your shoe, the outbreak could be explained away by an invisible spore that we never see.

However, I’d like to suggest a more interesting possibility, someone else in the family is an imposter. Maybe Morty is really trapped on some other planet or reality, replaced by a doppelganger who instigated the parasitic outbreak and is still implanted in the family. Or maybe one of the other characters has been false all along, biding their time in plain view. With two thirds of the season still in the chute I’d love to see the repercussions of this implication explored down the line. We’ll have to wait and see.

New episodes of “Rick and Morty” air every Sunday on Adult Swim. You can catch up on previous episodes right here.

“Rick and Morty” 2.3 “Auto Erotic Assimilation” (7 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Written by Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon, Ryan Ridley, Mike McMahan, David Phillips, Matt Roller, Eric Acosta, and Wade Randolph; Directed by Bryan Newton and Pete Michels; Starring Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, Christina Hendricks, and Patton Oswalt; Run time: 30 minutes; Rated TV-14; Originally aired August 9, 2015.

“Rick and Morty” is equal parts debauchery, sci-fi tropes, and the breaking of those sci-fi tropes, with maybe a little extra debauchery for good measure. Sticking to a formula can sometimes spell imminent disaster for a series but with Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland’s science fiction love letter that formula makes for animated diamonds forged in the heart of a neutron star, Mega Tree induced euphoria,  solid gold forged in the bowels of a sentient fart.

Season two’s third episode “Auto Erotic Assimilation” is no exception. When Rick, Morty, and Summer pick up a distress signal in deep space they follow it without delay. Rick explains that nine times out of ten a distress signal leads to a bunch of dead aliens with a bunch of cool shit ready for plunder, one time out of ten it’s a trap, and he’s ready to roll those dice.

In any other show this would telegraph a trap being set for the trio but not in this universe. Upon boarding the ship they discover the aliens are still alive and are quickly taken over by a body snatcher type hive mind called Unity (Hendricks) who also happens to be Rick’s ex lover.

A sub plot involving Beth and Jerry discovering an underground alien dungeon is forgettable, even with a cameo from Patton Oswalt. Where this episode really shines is Planet Unity Morty accompanies Summer on her crusade to liberate the assimilated peoples and Rick enjoys a drug addled orgy with the hive mind. By episode’s end Summer has learned that, at least in this case, the loss of individuality was not such a bad thing and in fact, Rick is the only true monster on this world.

After Morty and Summer leave the planet to return home Rick discovers Unity has abandoned him calling into question his humanity and stability in the process. Rick then returns home as well but potentially irrevocable damage has been done. The series has stated in no uncertain terms that Rick is horribly depressed. In the episode “Ricksy Business” Birdperson reveals that in his native language Rick’s trademark catchphrase “Wubba Lubba Dub Dub” actually means “I am in great pain, please help me.”

“Auto Erotic Assimilation” ends with Rick going to the garage and building a machine that will kill him but the machine fails and he passes out. No one liners, no roll on the snare drum. While “Rick and Morty” is consistently one of the funnies shows on television, it isn’t afraid to go to the dark places and is perfectly suited to do so. I hope that the implications of this episode aren’t cast aside when the next episode airs on Sunday, I’d like to see this aspect of Rick’s personality explored further, and while he is objectively a horrible human being, I hope that he is able to find some happiness. But not too much, disfunction, they name is Rick Sanchez, the universe just wouldn’t be as fun without you.

New episodes of “Rick and Morty” air every Sunday on Adult Swim. You can catch up on previous episodes right here.

“Rick and Morty” 2.2 “Mortynight Run” (7 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Written by Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon, Eric Acosta, Mike McMahan, David Phillips, Wade Randolph and Matt Roller; Directed by Dominic Polcino and Pete Michels; Starring Justin Roiland, , Chris Parnell, Jemaine Clement, and Andrew Daly; TV-14.

Season two of “Rick and Morty began last week with the premier episode “A Rickle in Time,” our favorite sci-fi duo is back this week with episode two of the sophomore season “Mortynight Run.”

In this episode Rick sells an antimatter gun to an intergalactic hit man (insect person) in exchange for enough money for he and Morty to spend an entire afternoon at a gigantic space arcade called “Blips and Chitz.”

While Rick is concerned only with beer and high tech video games Morty struggles with the ethical conundrum he finds himself in as an accessory to interstellar assassination. While Rick is distracted in a virtual reality simulation Morty steals the ship and seeks out the assassin, Krombopulous Michael, in an attempt to right the perceived wrong.

Morty succeeds in stopping the assassination and saves the mark, a disembodied telepathic cloud that can poop gold, in a manner of speaking, voiced by Jemaine Clement of “Flight of the Concords” fame. Rick appears just in time to save the two of them from the assembled forces trying to stop the nameless cloud’s escape and they spend the duration of the episode dodging foes while trying to get the cloud, later dubbed “fart,” home.

While this episode wasn’t as strong as the season premiere, the plot did provide plenty of opportunities for Rick to berate Morty for his ill informed decisions, delivering such one liners as-

And a guest appearance by Jemaine Clement wouldn’t be complete without at least one ridiculous yet entertaining musical number.

The adventure of the titular characters is intercut with scenes of Morty’s father Jerry at “Jerryboree,” an unregistered cross-temporal asteroid set up as daycare for the many multi-verse versions of Jerry since, as Rick says, Jerry’s don’t last five minutes off Earth.

While “Mortynight Run” isn’t the best outing for “Rick and Morty” it’s still above par when compared with other programming. It continues to skewer popular sci-fi tropes and showcases the talents of creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland who also provides the voices for both Rick and Morty. At the end of the day this episode only pales in comparisons to other, better episodes of the same show and continues to be an anticipated part of my weekly viewing.

“Rick and Morty” will return with season two episode three “Auto Erotic Assimilation” this Sunday August, 9 on Adult Swim. If you’re a little behind, don’t even trip dog, you can catch up with a free stream of previous episodes here.

“Rick and Morty” 2.1 “A Rickle in Time” (8 out of 10) Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon; Written by Matt Roller; Directed by Wes Archer; Starring Justin Roiland, Spencer Grammer, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, Keegan-Michael Key, and Jordan Peele.

The long awaited return of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty” has finally arrived. For fans of the show it might feel like time has been frozen for the last six months as we patiently waited for new content, and according to the premier episode of season two, that’s exactly what happened.

Season one introduced sentient robotically enhanced dogs, hobo anatomy theme parks, Meeseeks, and Abradolf Lincler. While the universe is already rich with characters to revisit, the show’s creators have promised that season two won’t be retreading old territory and will instead offer all new stories to continue to make the world of “Rick and Morty” even richer.

The final episode of season one had Rick throwing an inter-dimensional party that, in true Rick style, gets way out of hand. When Summer and Morty’s parents return home from a Titanic themed cruise Morty enlists Rick’s help to fix the house from its state of disrepair. With Beth and Jerry a few short steps from the front door Rick freezes time to save them from accountability and a tongue lashing.

Season two’s opening episode “A Rickle in Time” opens from this same point, though everyone else has been frozen in time, Rick, Morty, and Summer have had six months to lounge about and repair the damage unfettered. Rick uses a time crystal to start time again with the warning that the trio’s own timelines might be a little out of whack and, as with most things Rick, this was an understatement.

What follows is a complicated and hilarious splintering of quantum possibilities that threatens to end the adventures and the lives of Rick, Morty, and Summer. Though Rick is certain in all of his actions, the adolescent uncertainty of his two grandchildren causes time to splinter and the three of them must reconcile the broken timelines before it’s too late.

Add in cameos from Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as two testicle faced time cops and what results is a fantastic adventure through familiar science fiction tropes. Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have created the perfect mash up of pop culture, science fiction, and off color humor that makes waiting for the next episode feel like being pulled slowly over the event horizon of a black hole for all eternity. Fortunately, the bizarre world that awaits you on the other side makes it all worth it.

Make sure you stick around through the credits for an appearance from another famous white haired scientist who likes to mess with time.

You can catch up with the last half of season one as well as the opening episode of season two online at Adult Swim.

Caaaan do!

Oblitus follows the tale of a small, spear-wielding creature named Parvus who seeks to discover their purpose and origin within an unfamiliar realm full of huge, ancient terrors. Guest reviewer Steve from the “Entertainment Is Dead” Podcast was good enough to field a review of this title for BigShinyRobot! Among many things that make this game special is the fact that it was developed by less than ten people. Check out the video below, and sound off in the comments!

The Ventures are back! For 1 hour. Yeah, it’s not a lot but we get a 1 hour “Venture Bros.” special January 19th on Adult Swim. I don’t remember the last time I saw the Ventures in a new adventure. Was it 2014? Nope. Maybe 2013. I don’t even care anymore because I’m just happy to see them again.