The long wait in between Rick and Morty seasons is basically just part of the experience at this point–whatever creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon may promise about taking less time between future seasons. But that makes it even sweeter when new episodes finally arrive. And with the Season 4 premiere airing this weekend on November 10, Rick and Morty fans have plenty to look forward to.
The episode, titled “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat,” sends the titular characters on two distinct adventures, separate from one another (sort of). In one, Morty uses a “death crystal” that lets him see how he’ll die to reverse-engineer a future in which he winds up with his crush, Jessica. Meanwhile, Rick’s consciousness gets re-routed to other Ricks’ back-up clone pods in a series of increasingly strange alternate realities.
In many ways, these types of stories are what pass for “standard” Rick and Morty fare. Bonkers alien technology, Morty’s adolescent obsessions, alternate realities in which the characters are giant shrimp-people or everyone is a Nazi–or both; this is the baseline level of fun-filled chaos that Rick and Morty fans expect at this point. The show’s Season 4 premiere doesn’t do anything so outlandish that we haven’t seen its match (or better) before; it doesn’t expand Rick and Morty’s horizons or open up a whole new dimension, like Rick Potion No. 9 or anything involving the Citadel of Ricks have in the past.
If you’re disappointed by that, your expectations are too high. What “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” does is showcase Rick and Morty at the top of its game: This is an episode made by Roiland and Harmon at their most confident and assured. They’ve explained over and over again how taxing and challenging Rick and Morty is for them to make, but in the Season 4 premiere, they make it look easy. The episode gives off the impression of two creators who know exactly what they’re doing and what they want to say.
And this is exactly what they set themselves up for with the Season 3 finale. This show has gone down some astonishing, horrific wormholes over the years, but in that finale, they somehow managed to maneuver themselves into something of a reset. The question of whether Beth is a clone was never really answered–but does it matter? Jerry and Beth are back together, and about as happy as they’ve ever been; Rick grudgingly remains with the family instead of jettisoning their baggage so he can live up to his infinite potential. Morty and Summer have experienced so much and grown as people, but in the end, they too are right back where they started.
From that springboard, the show can embark on more Rick and Morty adventures, and with the Season 4 premiere, that’s exactly what we get. “Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat” doesn’t tear any new holes in space-time, send the duo down any particularly existential tangents, or span entire galaxies with a story that redefines reality itself as a simulation inside a car battery or a VR game at a galactic arcade. It’s just a solid, disgusting, shocking, disturbing, and hilarious episode of Rick and Morty. And isn’t that what everyone really wants?
