AlthoughRick and Morty’s co-creator said the series would steer clear of one sci-fi trope, the Adult Swim hit indulged in this genre staple way earlier than viewers might expect.Rick and Mortyhas never taken itself too seriously, so it is no surprise to learn that the anarchic sci-fi comedy doesn’t follow its own rules.Rick and Morty’s season 7 endingshocked viewers when the episode revealed that Rick wasn’t really part of its story at all, andRick and Mortyseason 8is likely to feature similarly subversive twists that are designed to keep viewers guessing.
Why Rick & Morty’s First Spinoff Was A Failure
Although Rick and Morty’s recent spinoff struggle to find an audience, this wasn’t the first time one of the hit show’s ambitious spinoffs flopped.
However, it is still striking to realize how fastRick and Morty abandoned one rule that had been around since its inception. Series co-creator Dan Harmon has said numerous times that time travel is one sci-fi staple thatRick and Mortyhas no time for, since it enviably becomes convoluted and over-complicated. This is ironic, consideringRick and Mortybegan as a parody of theBack to the Futuremovies, but it is an understandable line of reasoning. What is surprising is the realization thatRick and Mortybegan breaking, or at least fracturing, these rules even in its early years.
Rick and Morty Season 2 Used Time Travel To Parody Stephen King’s The Langoliers
Dan Harmon Famously Said The Show Would Steer Clear Of The Sci-fi Cliché
Rick and Mortybegan bending its famous “No time travel” rule earlier than viewers might expectwhen season 2, episode 1, “A Rickle in Time,” spoofed Stephen King’sThe Langoliers. In King’s original story, the Langoliers are terrifying, unthinking monsters that eat anything unfortunate enough to become unstuck in time. InRick and Morty, they are a pair of perpetually annoyed Time Cops who exist to ensure no one messes with the flow of space-time. While the time travel plot inRick and Morty’s failed spinoffwasn’t well received, “A Rickle in Time” was acclaimed.
Rick and Mortytechnically fractures time instead of traveling back and forth through it.
This is arguably because of the episode’s inspired parody of King’s novella, which converts an eldritch horror into two workaday bureaucrats. The time-splintering story also feels unique and original as it approaches time travel in a way few earlier shows have, asRick and Mortytechnically fractures time instead of traveling back and forth through it. While this distinction might sound needlessly technical, it plays out hilariously in “A Rickle in Time” as countless overlapping realities start to bounce off and blur into each other. Thus, it becomes easy to forgiveRick and Mortyfor breaking its own plot rules.
Rick and Morty’s Two Time Travel Plots Parodied Famous Sci-fi Stories
Season 4’s “Rattlestar Ricklactica” Parodied The Terminator Movies
This was not the only time thatRick and Mortymessed with time travel, either. Long beforeRick and Morty: The Animebrokethe show’s time travel rule, season 4, episode 5, “Rattlestar Ricklactica,” saw Rick and Morty forced to travel through time to avoid snakes taking over the world in a typically bizarre, tangential plot. This Christmas episode owed its inspiration toThe Terminatormovies, much like “A Rickle in Time” parodied Stephen King’s story. This seems to proveRick and Mortycan pull off time travel stories provided the series is simultaneously spoofing existing time travel stories.
