Rick and Morty is back y'all!!!!!!
Season 8 has begun, and it’s off to a solid start! After last season’s hunt and defeat of Rick Prime, where is this series actually heading? What in the central finite curve (RIP) is going to be the overarching narrative going forward? I don’t know, but one thing is for sure: we’re going to get some “classic Rick and Morty adventures” this year.
If you missed the first two episodes, here is everything you need to know.
Season 8 kicks off with Summer (Spencer Grammer), grown up and the head of a business empire, tracking down Morty (Harry Belden), who has sequestered himself in the wilderness, away from technology and outside influences. Especially people who are obsessed with phone chargers which is apparently the whole freaking world. Don’t worry, this isn’t a multiverse thing… sort of. Rick (Ian Cardoni) has trapped them in a matrix to teach them a lesson. DON’T STEAL HIS GORRAM PHONE CHARGER!
Anyway, after breaking out, the two decide to keep their memories of their lives within the matrix instead of removing them with Rick’s Mind Blower device. Summer becomes friendly with Beth (Sarah Chalke), now feeling like they are equals after living a full life inside the matrix. Morty, on the other hand, helps his grandpa out with building a Mad Max-like death-mobile. But this is a ruse. Morty steals it for himself to attempt to take down the power grid, and traps Rick in a matrix to teach him why he shouldn’t trap people in matrices.
You see, Morty has PTSD from his time in the army in the matrix, having killed Osama bin Chargin and seeing countless of his friends die horrible deaths. If the power grid goes down, then there would be no need for phone chargers! MWAHAHAHAHA. Summer, having dipped out of school because bullying still exists even when you believe you’re above it, joins a pottery class in Zenta Fe. Beth, however, follows with the Mind Blower gun, hoping to get the daughter she knew back. Ultimately, they join forces and stop Morty before it’s too late, leading to both of the Smith children realising it’s better not to remember their matrix lives.
The post-credits scene shows Beth at the pottery class in Zenta Fe, only to realise the instructors are vampires. She escapes into the day and calls them stupid for setting up shop in such a sunny place.
Space Beth blows off a Defiance meeting, an overly bureaucratic revolution fighting against the recurring bad guys, the Gromflomites. She has decided to cut the bullsh*t and assassinate the Gromflomite Queen herself, unsanctioned like a bona fide Jason Statham character. However, when she arrives, the Queen is already dead. Injured, alone, and abandoned by the still-squabbling Defiance, she calls Rick for help.
Who weirdly obliges without any resistance. Huh. That’s so out of character.
Space Beth and Rick discover a mad Gromflomite scientist had arranged for the Queen’s death and hatched a plan to evolve their species using some kind of superserum spores. Think of the gas that creates Kurse in Thor: The Dark World. Yes, I just referenced Thor: The Dark World. Sue me. Anyway, Space Beth and Rick infiltrate the scientist’s lab while Rick’s narration recounts the plan, which was wholly reliant on an inside man called Cisco, who doesn’t show up. Their journey was a lot messier than the narrated plan.
After escaping with their lives, they make a tenuous alliance with a Gromflomite General (Stephen Root), calling him their Slimer from The Real Ghostbusters, to stop the scientist before it’s too late. Along with Birdperson and Birddaughter (who scares the crap out of me), the uneasy alliance takes out the scientist and his overpowered drones, brokering a peace between the remaining Gromflomites and the Defiance.
The post-credits scene shows Cisco awaken from a drug-induced stupor and panic, knowing he let Rick down. He didn’t forget his friend Rick; he’s just sketchy AF.
I enjoyed these first two episodes of Season 8. Although they seem like one-and-done entries, I liked the relationship development between both Birdperson and Birddaughter, and especially Rick and Space Beth. I find Space Beth’s insecurities about perhaps being a clone and what that means with regards to her father really interesting.
These had laughs, shocking moments and the same kind of chaos that I love in Rick and Morty. And it’s always cool to see a few Gromflomites get beheaded from time to time. Because they suck. So bad.
WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUBBBBBB!
What did you think of the start to Season 8? Let us know in the comments!
