As always, Justin Roiland’s work voicing both Rick and Morty is impressive, bouncing both characters off each other as if he were actually two people. He lends another layer of comedy to the episode, playing well off Spencer Grammer’s unconcerned and rebellious tone as Summer. The voice acting in the episode is also impressive, with one of Harmon’s regular collaborators, Joel McHale ( Community), providing a guest voice as Hemorrhage, a marauder leader with eloquence issues.
Summer’s involvement in Rick and Morty’s sci-fi escapades is much more engaging this time around. Throughout the episode, Rick’s plot takes a backseat to those of Morty and Summer, whose narratives in this episode are frankly much funnier and more engaging than Rick’s. Summer has increasingly been featured in more of the title characters’ misadventures over the past season rather than being relegated to simple background jokes or B plots, and the writers appear to be continuing that trend. One of the episode’s most surprising standouts is the writers’ approach to Morty’s sister Summer, whose narrative in this episode is both engaging and maddening, with the character serving as a nigh-antihero or pseudo-antagonist. Season three stays true to the series’ successful formula, while continuing to make fun of that same formula. Additionally, Harmon and his crew’s strong grasp of dynamic storytelling shines through once again, as the significant changes made to the family dynamics in the show feel natural and prevent the character moments from becoming stale or repetitive while providing new comedic avenues for the writers to flesh out and explore. It provides many funny moments and flirts with the line between humorous sci-fi anthology and wry situation comedy, poking fun of elements of both genres. WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILERS FOR RICK AND MORTY SEASON 3 TO FOLLOWįrom the opening moments of the episode, the show exhibits superb comedic and narrative momentum. True to the show’s format, episode two toys with the genre from the outset, with Harmon and the writers placing main characters Rick, Morty, and Summer in an apocalyptic wasteland alternate dimension a la Mad Max, an oft-used setting rife with opportunity for the series’ trademark satire of genre conventions.
In fact, the hype was so large that Harmon and Adult Swim staged a wickedly devious prank on April Fool’s Day, quietly releasing the much-demanded first episode of season three online in an unpausable, nonstop loop.Īll that hype and build-up did little to damper the quality of the show, however, as the series returned on July 31 st, and the newest episode, “Rickmancing the Stone,” did not disappoint. After the success of the second season of Rick and Morty, Dan Harmon’s brilliantly irreverent animated sci-fi show was riding an extremely large wave of anticipation prior to the season three premiere.