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Posted in: Adult Swim, Max, Review, Rick and Morty, TV | Tagged: Adult Swim, Episode 1, Review, rick and morty, season 7
Rick and Morty S07E01 Review: Hugh Jackman, Predators & Friendship
In the Season 7 opener of Adult Swim's Rick and Morty, Rick learned friendship can hurt, we learned Mr. Poopybutthole's first name, and more!
After a very volatile time between seasons that saw Adult Swim's Emmy Award-winning series parting ways with co-creator Justin Roiland and the hiring of two new voice actors to voice the lead characters, we're going to kick things off by answering the 800 lb Gazorpian in the room. Yes, the dimension-hopping duo looks & sounds as great as ever – so relax. But as relieved as we are to pass that along, that's not the reason why Rick and Morty S07E01: "How Poopy Got His Poop Back" (directed by Lucas Gray and written by Nick Rutherford) worked so well. We're encouraged by what the season has to offer because the opener took the series' core strengths from the previous season and embraced them even more – building upon the changes we saw in the family instead of going the easy route of undercutting their growth for the sake of an episode. With that in mind, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer before throwing out some of our takeaways from the season premiere.
Rick Continues Expanding, Embracing His Circle: One of the things that we appreciated about the sixth season was the ways that Rick, Morty, Beth, Jerry, Summer, and Space Beth evolved – individually and as a family unit. Granted, that evolution wasn't always pretty – and sometimes came with a body count. But hey, "two steps forward, one step back" is still progress. With Rick, we saw someone who seems to have decided to turn away from his "Captain Ahab" complex. Sure, Rick Prime is still his "Moby Dick," -but Rick seems willing to be honest about his obsessions and willing to let others into it. And with his mission to save Birdperson – even with a few basic moral lapses along the way – we saw a Rick who understands that family extends to friends, as well.
So it's not surprising to see Rick feel responsible for Mr. Poopybutthole and his current plight – a broken shadow of his former self. While the argument can be made that Poopy's life began a downward spiral after Beth shot him in S02E04: "Total Rickall" (directed by Juan Meza-León and written by Mike McMahan), it's pretty clear that his life took a nosedive after joining Rick's anti-crew crew in S04E03: "One Crew over the Crewcoo's Morty" (directed by Bryan Newton and written by Caitie Delaney). And since then, we've had random end-credits moments where we see how Poopy's attempted to get his life back on track in all of the worst ways possible. We couldn't help but feel good watching Rick assemble a crew to help get Poopy out of the bad place that he's been in – Squanchy, Birdperson, Gene the Neighbor, and Revolio "Gearhead" Clockberg, Jr. Of course, there's a big difference between an intervention and a mind-blowing bender for the ages…
Okay, for the record? We love how they handled the resolution to the Birdperson/Birddaughter situation – and that Birdperson is now a stressed-out father of a rebellious teen: "Birddaughter is a total bitch. If you're a father, you can say that."
Definitely didn't see the Hugh Jackman swerve – or how Jackman would end up being the "big bad" feeding into all of Poopy's worst urges. But having the group turn on Rick was a nice touch because it was another life lesson for Rick: that sometimes, being a real friend means knowing when & where to draw the line – for their sake as well as your own. That's a heavy rejection for Rick to face – a helluva test for someone just starting to trust the whole concept of "friendship" again.
Look… I know they mentioned Predator. But I didn't actually expect to see a Predator. Or that he would be having an affair with Wayne Poopybutthole's wife, Amy. And did Jackman just kill him? And is it wrong that I actually found that to be a happy ending? Oh, and bonus points for Rick over-explaining the fade effect – though we're still very worried for Poopy.
WTF?!?! What if Poopy's painful fade was him being intercepted by Rick Prime?!?!
Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 1 "How Poopy Got His Poop Back"
8/10
After a very volatile time between seasons that saw Adult Swim's Emmy Award-winning series parting ways with co-creator Justin Roiland and the hiring of two new voice actors to voice the lead characters, we're going to kick things off by answering the 800 lb Gazorpian in the room. Yes, the dimension-hopping duo looks & sounds as great as ever - so relax. But as relieved as we are to pass that along, that's not the reason why Rick and Morty S07E01: "How Poopy Got His Poop Back" (directed by Lucas Gray and written by Nick Rutherford) worked so well. We're encouraged by what the season has to offer because the opener took the series' core strengths from the previous season and embraced them even more - building upon the changes we saw in the family instead of going the easy route of undercutting their growth for the sake of an episode.
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