Rick and Morty Season 5: New Hero and More References Than Before

Recall that the plot of the animated series is tied around the cynical scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty. Together, partners travel between worlds and always get into trouble. Sometimes they manage to put the whole Universe on the brink of destruction, or they themselves find themselves in the balance of death. But every time they manage to fix everything.

Each episode usually has a separate, complete script, but Rick and Morty also has end-to-end storylines. One of them concerns the character, which fans dubbed "Evil Morty", the other concerns the wife of Rick, from whom he once left, leaving her with his daughter Beth. And such a move makes viewers come up with the craziest theories.

Rich storyline and new pop-cultural references

The first episode of the fifth season begins with Morty rescuing his dying grandfather during another mess. The heroes make an emergency landing in the ocean and meet Rick's nemesis - the eccentric sea lord Mr. Nimbus. It turns out that the scientist, by touching the water, violated the ancient agreement between land and ocean.

Now Rick needs to organize peace talks. To make them successful, the hero instructs his grandson to take bottles of wine to a world where time passes faster, thereby making the drink a couple of centuries old. But just one careless action Morty turns into dire consequences for the inhabitants of that universe.

Shot from the 5th season of the animated series "Rick and Morty", 1st episode

In many episodes of "Rick and Morty" (especially in the later seasons) there are two story arcs at once - the main one and the side one. However, episodes as concentrated in terms of events as this one, it seems, have not yet been in the animated series. Rick is trying to negotiate with a capricious guest, Morty is trying to save his date with Jessica, and Beth and Jerry are preoccupied with their personal lives (this storyline is far from the main one, but it will definitely make you smile).

Immediately after watching the series, I want to turn it on again so as not to miss anything. After all, the authors ridiculed and turned inside out an incredible amount of pop cultural phenomena and clichés. And even in passing, they touched on the problem of ethical non-monogamy and open relationships in marriage.

Much of the episode is based on derision of science fiction films and fantasy. This time the distribution included "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Game of Thrones", "Cloud Atlas" and even "Fountain" by Darren Aronofsky. These jokes, as always, are not at all evil, because the authors of the show, Dan Harmon and Justin Royland, are real geeks and movie lovers. Is that the pretentious "Fountain" creators mouth Morty responded not too flattering.

Playing with time and breaking the fourth wall

The script for the first episode was written by Jeff Loveness. He also wrote the fourth episode of the fourth season "Corral and Order: The Place of Entry", where his own desire to get a dragon turned against Morty. There, the plot also ridiculed fantasy, as well as classic board games and everything connected with them, but by and large it was quite simple.

But this time the script is striking inventiveness. The hero, in this case Morty, is faced with the usual task of obtaining wine for negotiations and seducing the girl. But one fatal accident entails another, and each step pulls the character deeper into this swamp.

By the way, although Rick and Morty was conceived as a thrash parody of Back to the Future, Harmon and Royland avoided time-trip plots for a very long time. Rick even had a box in his garage that said "Time Travel Bullshit", as if hinting that moving between different eras didn't really bother the creators. Nevertheless, the fifth season begins with a mockery of the typical chrono-sci-fi, and this is something new.

And the series still pleases with Rick's meta-comments. Most likely, this is how the authors express a special sense of humor, although the fans even put forward a theory because of this: supposedly the hero knows what is in the show. For example, Rick remarks that spoiling everything is Morty's thing. And at another moment he shouts to Mr. Nimbus not to dare to develop a "canon backstory" concerning his wife Diane. Or openly sneers at the fact that he again acts as a god from the machine (this is the name of a plot cliché when a difficult situation is unexpectedly resolved with the help of someone's sudden intervention).

New charismatic hero and hints of Rick's past

The very first episode of the season gave us a new funny character with crazy charisma - Mr. Nimbus. He looks like David Bowie in the image of Ziggy Stardust, if he was a parody of Aquaman. Although the appearance of Nimbus was rather taken from the unpopular Marvel Comics character Namor, also known as the Submariner.

Despite all the comics of Mr. Nimbus, there are hints in the episode that he and Rick are associated with some important events in the past. One appearance of the hero was enough to unsettle the scientist. At some point, it even becomes clear that Rick and Mr. Nimbus were once friends, but quarreled.

In addition, Nimbus is the first and so far the only character in the series to call Rick by his full name, Richard. And in the company of Sanchez's motley friends (just remember the Bird Personality and Squonchi), the sea king, preoccupied with sex, fits perfectly.

The fourth season of "Rick and Morty" was described by critics and audiences as rather uneven. It had both successful series and passed ones. Be that as it may, the beginning of the fifth season is still very happy. It has it all: chic jokes, clever pop cultural references, and even a catchy new hero. But most importantly, the episode makes you want to pause or even revise everything from the beginning. But this is exactly what Rick Sanchez fans expect from their favorite show.