Time’s Catching Up with Rick and Morty as It Starts Its Eighth Season

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.