Rick and Morty – ‘A Rickle in Time’

Rick and Morty is back for its second season, and it goes all out in the premiere. ‘A Rickle in Time’ is a classic episode, pushing an interesting sci-fi premise to its limit and mining a lot of laughs in the process, while somehow fitting in a surprising amount of heart.

Rick, Morty and Summer have finished cleaning the house after the events of ‘Ricksy Business’, and now it is time to unfreeze time. But, after six months, time has fallen a little out of sync – Rick warns the grandkids that they have caused an instability in time, and that any uncertainty could result in the universe rupturing. Naturally, Morty and Summer fracture time, leaving the three of them trapped in a timeless purgatory that both is and isn’t. Can Rick fix things before they wind up in a permanent state of isn’t?

‘A Rickle in Time’ is a strong return for the show

I loved the way that ‘A Rickle in Time’ visualised its premise, dividing the frame in half and showing us both parallel timelines simultaneously. This could have been a hard one to narratively follow, but this design choice worked wonders, meaning things were always in check as the situation got worse. It also resulted in some hugely unique sequences, such as the time split Ricks attempting murder their other selves. The writing is sharp and the animation is surprisingly cohesive, putting this in the pantheon of classic Rick and Morty episodes.

Bizarrely for such an out-there episode, I thought the weirdest part was the Beth and Jerry plot (as Rick described it, ‘a grounded plot about their failure of a marriage’). On their way back from the ice cream parlour, Jerry hits a deer with his car, and Beth’s pride forces her to try and save it. Beth comes under increasing pressure from sources with a vested interest in the deer, and Jerry looks for an easy way out – it’s solid enough and it has a really satisfying resolution, emotionally speaking, but it lacked laughs or any real drama. And, funnily enough, it’s the Rick storyline that gets the most emotional mileage, much though he tries to brush it under the carpet.

‘A Rickle in Time’ is a strong return for the show, offering a package of the show’s best traits in a complex yet successful narrative. We’ve got hints of character development, an increased role for the family, a genuinely smart and funny script and a hugely inventive premise – all of this adds up to a series premiere that sets the bar high for this second run, and about that, I am definitely certain.

Best lines:

‘Man, that guy is the Red Grin Grumble to pretending he knows what’s going on’ – Rick proves a point about the grandkids, and the laughs he gets is proof it works.

‘Now listen, I know the two of you are very different from each other in a lot of ways, but you have to understand that, as far as grandpa’s concerned, you’re both pieces of shit. Yeah, I can prove it mathematically. Actually, let me grab a whiteboard – this has been a long time coming’ – grandfatherly affection, as only Rick knows how.

‘If I die in a cage, I lose a bet’ – Rick asks Summer and Morty to set him free

One-off character:

Most people would pick the testicle time police, but I’m going to go for a more obscure answer. The Smiths’ neighbour, Mr Benson, is one of the casualties of time restarting, and his story is told in three silent asides – blink and you’ll miss them moments they may be, but they’re darkly funny ones.

Post-credits scene:

The testicle monster time police decide to get a bit of revenge on Rick, travelling through time to find him and beat him up. Their timing is slightly off, however, and they wind up assaulting an entirely different pointy-haired scientist, warning him not to mess with time. But Albert Einstein is defiant – who knew that this was the origin of general relativity?