Loud, bombastic, chaotic and just a little gory – and this time with video games! If I had to summarise the first two episodes of Rick and Morty season 6, that is precisely how I’d do it. It’s no secret that I’ve been a fan of the show since it first premiered in 2013, and judging from the fact that I’m sitting here nine years later reviewing the sixth season, I’m not alone.
Last week, we at NAG had the amazing opportunity to interview Chris Parnell, who voices Jerry, and Sarah Chalke, the voice of Beth. If you haven’t had a chance to read that yet, then make sure to follow the link here and do that. One of the main selling points of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty is how the show manages to go from high to high, season after season, without running out of momentum.
Listen to any interview with the creators behind the show, and they will say that Season 5 was a low point for the series and their least favourite season. And yet, an episode from season five, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre”, has been nominated for an Emmy this year in the ‘Outstanding Animation Category. Rick and Morty’s low point is the pinnacle that other adult animated shows strive to reach.
When we did the interview last week, we were given early access to the first two episodes of the latest seasons (premiering 4 September 2022 on Adult Swim). While we aren’t allowed to go into any of the core points, we can tell you that season 6 is set up to be one of the show’s best yet. In only two episodes, the sixth season is already an action-packed adventure filled with multiple realities, callbacks to previous seasons, pop culture references, self-aware humour and… video games.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOkeB4ZTjFM
Over the years, Rick and Morty have shamelessly explored every sci-fi trope and setup imaginable. Now, the show takes all the sophisticated hilarity it is known for and tackles new territory by boldly going where no Rick has gone before – into a video game.
It’s only been a year since season 5 of Rick and Morty ended, but it’s felt like a lifetime. I didn’t realise how much I missed it until I binged through the first two episodes without a customary glance at my cellphone. There is just something about the mashup of styles and genres that work so well together and fill my heart and soul with joy and contentment.
Over the years, Rick and Morty have introduced multiple characters, relationships, problems and dramas into the show, in no small part thanks to its reality-jumping ways. And season 6 seems set up to be the season that brings many of these before-seen multiple realities together and unites them.
While I won’t be talking about the series in more detail than I already vaguely have, I will say that if you’re worried the show has been going on for too long or that they must be running short of fresh ideas, don’t be. Rick and Morty season 6 starts you off in the middle of the action and watching it feels like being on a ride at an amusement park that never stops and never does what you’re expecting.
Rick and Morty Season 6 is every bit as “Schwifty” as you’d imagine, and never once does it lose sight of who its characters are or what makes it special. If the remaining episodes are half as good as the first two are, we are in for a treat that only Rick and Morty can provide.