Anna Daniels
“Never Ricking Morty” dropped an anthology episode on viewers and heroes alike without issuing the standard warning. Unlike past anthology episodes, the Story Train dealt out quick scenes connected neither by a central premise nor unity of effect, but rather by obscure thematic symmetries and non-sequitur allusions.
Around the midway point of any season of Rick and Morty, the creators like to throw in a clip show (of sorts) built from short-form story vignettes. For the first two seasons, the framing device for delivering these vignettes was interdimensional cable. On season 3, Rick and Morty cut the cord and explored Morty’s excised memories, instead, in a classic episode entitled “Morty’s Mind Blowers.” Lest their intentions go unnoticed, Rick (voiced by Roiland) actually breaks the fourth wall at the outset of the episode to tell the audience, “We’re going to be doing this instead of interdimensional cable.”
Last week’s episode contained a similar offhand reference to the OG clip show format. While Rick raged against the contrivance of the Story Train, he pointed out that, if they wanted to do an anthology episode they would have “just done interdimensional cable!”
It’s a good thing Harmon and Roiland didn’t really give their characters a choice, because “Never Ricking Morty” turned out to be a pretty rewarding watch for viewers interested in storycraft or tickled by the challenge of identifying all the references. The guest appearance of one White Witch of Winter while Rick and Morty attempted to escape the narrative labyrinth of the Story Train was perhaps the perfect example of this episode’s chicanery.
Written by: Looper
