Rick and Morty – Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat

It’s time to once again get schwifty as, after two long years, Rick and Morty is back. In ‘Edge of Tomorty’, a simple quest to an alien planet leads to visions of the future and cross-dimensional hopping, in what initially seems like a “classic Rick and Morty adventure” becomes much more. The show has been gone for a while, but now it’s back to doing what it does best.

Rick (Justin Roiland) is now at home, dealing with a world in which he doesn’t always get to win and have his own way (after the events of last season’s ‘The Rickchurian Mortydate’). He’s clearly not happy about having to be nicer, so he decides to take Morty (Roiland) to another planet to mine for Death Crystals – a gem that allows you to see the many ways in which you could die. Morty sees a world in which he dies at an old age with his school crush, and decides to try and follow that path – that it leads to him accidentally killing Rick is just the start of his problems…

In what initially seems like a “classic Rick and Morty adventure” becomes much more

That synopsis only really covers the first five minutes of ‘Edge of Tomorty’, and it’s amazing quite how much has been packed into this episode. Roiland and co-creator Dan Harmon have spoken about how difficult writing this show is, but here, they just make it look easy – it’s funny and very-layered, and it features fully-completed character arcs for both Rick and Morty.

Morty sees his personality vanish in thrall to the crystal, as he is guided only by the future he wants to achieve. As someone who has watched the show from the start, the evolution of the Morty character is so interesting – his complete lack of distress as he deals with Rick’s dead body is a stark reminder of how desensitised he has become to all the violence. He is partnered by a Hologram Rick, intended to help him clone Rick but who spends half of his time getting frustrated about anti-hologram racism. It’s as surreal and brilliant as it sounds.

Rick’s story allows for many of the episode’s laughs, as his consciousness travels through alternate realities and into clone bodies (we get a Shrimp Rick, a Teddy Bear Rick and a Wasp Rick), and he finds himself getting repeatedly killed by Nazis and fascists, angrily asking “when did this shit become the default?”. In a fantastic line, he attempts a fascist comment when waking up in the Wasp universe, only to be told to knock it off as “Wasp Morty’s been on some crazy message boards”.

A stark reminder of how desensitised he has become to all the violence

If you’re a fan of the show, there are a number of call-backs for you. We see the return of Gearhead and fan favourite Mr Meseeks, and maths teacher Mr Goldenfold even gets a good couple of jokes – in one, he is part of a half-wholesome and half-disgusting family meal that could only belong to Rick and Morty. And we have a conclusion that feels like it is taking aim at fans, as Rick and Morty agree to split their time between classic adventures and new things entirely. With writing this good, though, I’m happy to see either (there are some real laugh-out-loud moments here, including Rick’s disgust as Morty’s hand being in his pocket once he realises that he isn’t masturbating).

With ‘Edge of Tomorty’, Rick and Morty steps right back into a finely-tuned groove – it may have been two years since the last instalment, but it feels like no time at all. The show continues to be as rich in plotting, character and humour as ever, and this is perhaps the best series premiere yet. If all of series four is as good as ‘Edge of Tomorty’, we’re in for another fantastic run of TV.