This is a spoiler-free review of Rick and Morty Season 9. The first episode will premiere on Adult Swim on May 24 and HBO Max on June 15.
It’s hard to believe that Rick and Morty has been around for nine seasons now (10, if you count Rick and Morty: The Anime). What’s really impressive is how relatively consistent the series has managed to remain in all that time. After all, Season 9 marked the point where even the mighty The Simpsons started its rapid decline.
Fortunately, it doesn’t appear that Rick and Morty will be suffering the same fate just yet. While some Season 9 episodes are certainly stronger than others, the same could be said for every season of the show. It was certainly true for Season 8, which took its sweet time building a sense of momentum and getting to the good stuff. Season 9, by comparison, has real legs out of the gate, and several episodes easily rank among the series’ best. That more than makes up for a couple of installments that don’t quite connect.
Season 9 is strictly business as usual for the series. Chronically drunk uber-genius Rick Sanchez (Ian Cardoni) and his skittish grandson Morty (Harry Belden) are still going off on various sci-fi adventures throughout the multiverse, all while their family members periodically get into their own antics. Since the Rick-Prime situation was summarily dealt with back in Season 7, the series hasn’t really bothered to establish a new overarching conflict. Season 9 does little to change that, with only a minor subplot about the Smiths getting a backyard pool offering anything in the way of connective tissue between episodes.
That is, admittedly, a little disappointing. No, serialized narratives have never been a huge priority for the series, but it was always nice having some sort of backbone driving the show forward. Season 9 only has one “mythology episode,” for lack of a better term, and it’s not one that does much to change the overall status quo for Rick or establish a larger threat to his hedonistic existence. In fact, fans might take umbrage with how that episode handles a long-running character.
Fortunately, we don’t have to wait long for the good stuff. Season 9 peaks early in Episode 2, “Ricks Days, Seven Nights,” which reveals what happens when Rick’s annual getaway vacation goes horribly wrong. That and Episode 6, “Erickerhead,” both deal with Rick being in direct conflict with himself and find both comedic gold and dramatic meat as a result. Even after all these years, the series still finds new ways to illustrate how much Rick is his own worst enemy, both literally and figuratively.
Season 9 also has several strong Morty-driven episodes, as we continue to see the character try to pull away from Rick’s malignant influence and become his own man. There’s Episode 7, “Mortgully: The Last Rickforest,” a fun episode that forces the duo to become part of an alien ecosystem and literally evolve or die, prompting two very different journeys. There’s also Episode 8, “Rickuiem Mort a Dream,” which explores the concept of empathy and forces the duo into a complete role reversal that yields very entertaining results.
Episode 2 may be my personal favorite of the season, but it’s followed closely by the season finale, “Field of Dreams,” which is easily the most significant Morty-centric chapter of the season. Without giving too much away, it’s a multiverse-focused chapter that shows Morty a world where his life might have played out differently, and it’s very poignant in its exploration of how toxic and destructive the Rick/Morty dynamic truly is. A sobering way to cap off Season 9.
Again, there are some relatively weaker episodes to be found in Season 9, if no outright duds. Episode 3, “Rick Fu Hustle,” starts out as an amusing parody of martial arts movies, but it never really builds to anything particularly compelling (though the anime-style fight sequence later on is pretty amusing). Episode 5, “Jer Bud,” is another underwhelming installment. While it’s fun to see the series hearken back to one of its earliest episodes, this is one Morty-focused conflict that never quite connects.
As ever, the series is mostly preoccupied with its two title characters, but there are various subplots focused on the rest of the Smith family. That said, fans of Summer (Spencer Grammer) and especially the two Beths (Sarah Chalke) may feel a bit let down by Season 9. None of these characters really gets the attention they deserve. Space Beth, in particular, barely factors into the plot of the new season at all and is relegated to a glorified cameo role. Summer does move to the forefront in the latter half of the season, generally to entertaining results, but there still seems to be a lot of untapped potential with her character.
Luckily, we can always count on Jerry (Chris Parnell) to carry the day. Several Season 9 episodes benefit from memorable Jerry subplots. The aforementioned “Jer Bud” may be mostly disappointing on the Morty front, but it benefits from a highly entertaining Jerry B-plot where we learn just how dangerous the Smith family patriarch can be when his confidence levels are unnaturally boosted. “Rickuiem Mort a Dream” is also a high point in this regard, as Jerry unwittingly bonds with a local serial killer and things spiral from there. Jerry continues to be the show’s most consistently amusing character and its secret MVP.
Visually and sonically, Season 9 never really disappoints. Several episodes (like the aforementioned “Rick Fu Hustle”) benefit from epic scenes of bombastic action and sci-fi chaos. “Mortgully: The Last Rickforest” is also a highlight here, with its inventive visuals and unusual jungle setting. The series handles its spectacle very well, far eclipsing what we normally expect from Adult Swim shows. Granted, it’s also far more successful than most Adult Swim shows, so it has the benefit of those extra resources and a much bigger budget.
And when it comes to the main voice cast, there really are no complaints to be had. It’s impressive just how much Cardoni and Belden have managed to make these characters their own over the past couple of seasons. Never does it feel as though the two are doing a pale imitation of the departed Justin Roiland, even as their voices are so similar you’d really have to compare audio samples side-by-side to even notice the difference at this point. Vocally, the only complaint to lodge is that Season 9 doesn’t have many standout guest stars. Only Owen Wilson leaves an especially strong impression with his guest role in “A Ricker Runs Through It.”
Probably the best that can be said for Rick and Morty Season 9 is that it never really feels stale. Yes, some episodes work better than others. Yes, some characters feel underutilized. But the storytelling still has a freshness and a bite that persists after all these years. Compared to Season 8, which too often seemed to retread past ideas, Season 9 feels more novel and inventive. It’s a very good sign that Rick and Morty can still feel fresh after nearly 100 episodes, particularly as the series has now been renewed through Season 12. 100 years of Rick and Morty, indeed.
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