Rick and Morty returns this Sunday, and whereas the Adult Swim present is used to loads of fanfare heralding every new season, its seventh is beneath specific scrutiny for one massive cause: it marks the debut of Rick and Morty’s new voices after Justin Roiland’s departure made recasting urgently vital.
As followers nicely know, Roiland’s repertoire additionally included supporting characters, most of whom have been one-offs (Mr. Frundles, Eyeholes Man, the Cromulons), but in addition the likes of Mr. Meeseeks and, most importantly, Mr. Poopybutthole. This is a vital be aware in relation to season seven, as one of many two episodes io9 was supplied for evaluation—“How Poopy Got His Poop Back”—places the endearing ne’er-do-well useless heart, as its title suggests. The different episode, “The Jerrick Trap,” focuses extra on the Smith household, which implies all informed we’re given ample alternative to listen to loads of Rick and Morty’s new voices, together with the brand new Mr. Poopybutthole.
The screeners supplied by Adult Swim got here with out credit, so it’s unclear how many individuals have been truly employed as soundalike Roiland replacements, and even what their names are. (This is a notably completely different tactic than the one taken by Hulu, which changed Roiland on Solar Opposites with Dan Stevens and made an entire story level out of it.) Before this evaluation goes any additional, nonetheless, it should be addressed: except you might be particularly listening for it, you may not even discover there are completely different actors offering the voice-overs, particularly in Morty’s case. A couple of occasions, Rick sounds… much less excitable and manic than he has up to now? Maybe just a bit?
“How Poopy Got His Poop Back” begins with a fourth-wall break from Mr. PB, one thing he likes to do virtually as a lot as he likes to say his ooo-weee catch phrase. His life has continued to spiral since we final noticed him within the season-five finale; Rick has allowed him to crash on the Smith household sofa, out of a sense of loyalty or possibly guilt, since Poopybutthole’s decline is technically his fault, not that he’d ever admit it.
When Beth (Sarah Chalke), Jerry (Chris Parnell), Summer (Spencer Grammer), and Morty tire of getting a booze-soaked home visitor of their midst, Rick’s tasked with tossing him out—however a deliberate intervention turns right into a debauched, portal-hopping celebration that features a oddly timed Hugh Jackman “cameo” and an array of Rick’s mates we’ve met over time, together with Bird Person—voiced by Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon. It’s a visually dynamic episode full of pop-culture references and peculiar alien worlds, in addition to a musical montage and a narrative with a surprisingly healthful theme about friendship beneath all of the barf, insults, and poop.
While “Poopy” largely focuses on Poopybutthole’s emotional arc, there are just a few mythology-moving moments; Space Beth is seen nonchalantly eating with the household on the episode’s begin, which can be after we get a really temporary glimpse of Rick persevering with his search for Rick Prime—“the version of me that killed my wife.” Thanks to season six, we all know he’ll be a serious villain shifting ahead, however that’s clearly a confrontation being saved for a later episode.
Another antagonistic relationship takes heart stage in “The Jerrick Trap,” which sees Rick and Jerry doing a kind of Rick and Morty riff on Freaky Friday—though, in usually subversive trend, it’s not a clear physique swap, however somewhat what appears like a intentionally complicated jumble of minds (the road “stop doing this terrible impression of me!” feels meta sufficient to say). A subsequent entanglement with alien gangsters morphs into an outlaw-buddies-on-the-run montage, then shifts into a mix of physique horror and probably the most Jerry-Rick bonding we’ve seen since season three’s “The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy.”
It’ll doubtless take watching all of season seven to kind a definitive opinion on the brand new voices, however followers who aren’t diehard Roiland defenders are doubtless going to be nice with accepting this new period for the sequence. As it stands, there’s further stress on Rick and Morty’s writers and manufacturing workforce to ship, lest the present be met with criticism from its extra fiery devotees saying the present can’t climate the lack of Roiland (regardless of how a lot or how little he was truly contributing behind the scenes). There is definitely a hater narrative ready within the wings—but when the primary two episodes are any indication, Rick and Morty’s standing as a fan favourite feels extraordinarily stable.
Rick and Morty season seven premieres globally starting Sunday, October 15 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on Adult Swim.
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