The long wait for Rick and Morty season 3 is over and the season has come to an epic, albeit off beat end. From superhero references to a pseudo return of Inter-Dimensional Cable. Season three was full of character development, in and out references, and surprising returns.

Rick and Morty is a 2013 science fiction sitcom, it is produced by Williams Street and distributed by WB Television, seasons one and two are currently available on DVD, Blu-Ray, and streaming services.

The series’ third season premiered on April Fools Day of all things.

Rick and Morty season three had a number of new and returning story threads to attend to including the return of Evil Morty, Beth and Jerry’s divorce, Rick’s crumbling relationship with Morty, among others. While a lot of the stories were established more so than others, the little nods we did get from these storylines were still significant, and given Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland’s obsession with continuity they’ll likely be re-addressed down the road.

From Back to the Future to Mad Max, season three of Rick and Morty wasn’t shy of film, TV, and comic references.

THE GOOD: If you can say one thing about season three of Rick and Morty, it’s the fact that it was based around two things: risks and family. While the Smith family aren’t exactly the most functional of families even when compared to some of the worst TV families, they at the very least stick by each other to the bitter end (even Rick returns after 20 years of being gone). A prime example of this is Beth opting to re-marry Jerry after the big divorce in the season premiere, having previously debating to herself and her father if she was a clone (in the penultimate episode Beth was given an option of going away and being replaced by a clone), the audience is never really given a full on confirmation of if this Beth was our’s, beyond Rick continuously suggesting otherwise, but we all know Rick is a damn good liar.

Pickle Rick!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking on the season’s riskier escapades Harmon and Roiland are always willing to take new leaps with Rick and Morty, it’s one of the many reasons why the show is able to stay fresh and why each season increases in it’s Rotten Tomatoes score. One such risk happened to be replacing fan favorite “Inter-Dimensional Cable” with “Morty’s Mind Blowers”; an episode almost completely dedicated to Morty’s requested erased memories throughout the years and some Rick himself removed out of spite/embarrassment. Another risky move was having Rick ultimately lose out on his battle for supremacy over the Smith family. Most Rick and Morty fans by now know that Rick has a great disdain for Beth’s husband Jerry, because he views him as parasitic filth holding back Beth, Summer, and Morty’s full potential. Rick has done all he can to usurp Jerry’s role as man of the house, and in the season finale not only does he fail at that, but he also is somewhat designated as the punching bag of the Smith family, thus making a complete 180 in the two characters roles in the family.

Things get toxic for Rick in season three.

THE BAD: Outside of a limited focus on Beth and Jerry’s divorce, absolutely nothing.

Rick may not have gotten his precious Szechuan Sauce, but a lucky few Americans did for one day only.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Rick and Morty’s third season provided some closure and new information on past and present story threads, while introducing some new ideas into the craziness of it all. The references from obvious to obscure brought some laughs and thought processing, and it’ll be interesting to see how C-137 Rick deals with losing for probably the first time since losing his wife. Comparatively, Morty is clearly growing to be more independent from his grandfather, so I’m really looking forward to seeing how Harmon & Roiland deal with his supposed independence & how Rick deals with Jerry being an equal to him in terms of Smith family ruling. Otaku Dome gives Rick & Morty Season 3 a 97 out of 100.