It’s true that the last season of Rick and Morty was the one to replace Justin Roiland’s voice of both titular characters with Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty). However, with allegations against Roiland having come out in January 2023 and the season premiering just nine months later in October 2023, it’s safe to say that work had begun on the season before Roiland’s sacking.
It’s also true that reports have stated that Roiland has done very little work on his own projects for years, beyond his voice roles. So the question for many has been: with two nearly perfect replications of his voiced characters, will there be any noticeable changes to the show?
The answer: absolutely none.
For better or for worse, Rick and Morty season 8 is the same as it’s been for years. It’s nihilistic humor with fun episodic premises and a vague overarching story that’s lost some steam since the last big reveal in its season 5 finale. And yes — it’s still very funny.
If “funny” is all you’re looking for in Rick and Morty, it gets near-full marks. I laughed out loud every few minutes at each episode, often in a wincing, uncomfortable fashion that’s consistent with the show’s grosser tendencies. (I’m so traumatized by Rick and Morty’s multiple past references to incest that I now brace for the worst whenever two family members look at each other for a little too long. It’s usually fine this time around.)
If you’re looking for the emotional core that underlies its gross humor, it’s definitely not gone, but it isn’t the focus of the four episodes I’ve seen, either. The most emotional parts of these episodes are montages that follow a character’s life, almost always cut by something equally terrible and hilarious happening to them at the end of the montage. It’s not a new type of joke for Rick and Morty by any means, but the music selections and nonverbal storytelling are also typically great.
If you’re looking for a greater connection to the overall plot, it’s sprinkled throughout a few bits but isn’t the focus of any the episodes available for review. The most plot-heavy episode, “The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly,” quickly abandons the Rick and Morty we usually follow and instead follows Homesteader Rick, who lives on his own farm in a larger community of Ricks and Mortys living in the rubble of the Citadel after the aforementioned events of season 5.
A clear sequel to season 3’s “Tales from the Citadel,” the episode tells its own story of an abandoned city and how its citizens decide to live in the aftermath. Although doing the same thing a second time will seldom be as impressive, it’s still a great premise with fantastic writing and varied performances from Cardoni and Belden.
The other three episodes aren’t as memorable, but they certainly aren’t bad, either. “Summer of All Fears” appears to have the initial premise revealed minutes in as an embargoed spoiler, so I’ll just say it follows Summer (Spencer Grammer) and Morty as they navigate a world obsessed with giving back phone chargers after you borrow them. It’s always a treat to have an episode focused on Summer and she doesn’t disappoint here, with Grammer putting her all into playing the too-cool-for-school teen.
“The Last Temptation of Jerry” is an Easter-themed episode set to air in June, because why not? It’s also, you guessed it, an episode focused on Jerry (Chris Parnell). I get the impression that Jerry’s the least liked of the Smith family by fans, but I’ve always had a soft spot for the cowardly, aggressively average father, probably because I relate to him the most. Again, the main premise of the episode is embargoed, but Jerry’s insistence on celebrating the religious holiday none of his relatives believe in or care about is endearing.
The last episode of the batch, “Cryo Mort a Rickver,” takes place on a spaceship whose passengers are accidentally woken from cryosleep by Rick and Morty, with Rick assuming an upper-class identity while Morty fits in with the slave-like people who keep the ship running. A bit like Titanic in that it follows class struggles on a big ship, it’s easily the most forgettable of the four but remains easy to watch.
Although Rick and Morty is the kind of cartoon where its teen characters are exactly the same age despite having run for eight seasons with multiple holiday episodes, its characters still grow and evolve to some extent. New characters like Space Beth and Evil Morty add new intrigue to the show, and although it’s stagnated a little bit in the four episodes I’ve seen of season eight, I’d be surprised if there weren’t juicer plot episodes in at least one of the other six.
One thing is for certain, however: Rick and Morty is just fine without Justin Roiland.
Joseph Stanichar is a freelance writer who specializes in videogames and pop culture. He’s written for publications such as Game Informer, Twinfinite and Looper, and currently works as a full-time reporter for The Morrison County Record in Little Falls, Minnesota. He’s on Twitter @JosephStanichar.
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