Yeah, I See Where You're Coming From. Season 5 Was A MESS, It Was The Weakest Season In Terms Of Episodic

yeah, i see where you're coming from. season 5 was a MESS, it was the weakest season in terms of episodic adventures but also horrible to serialization and the storyline. i see what they tried to do but it was so rushed i didn't feel anything at all besides maybe anger? their toxic relationship deserved an actual discussion about it, not some half assed metaphor with crows or something. i think they didn't want to be too sappy but when you're literally discussing the basis of their dynamic you kind of need to assert that it goes both ways and not just Morty being unhealthy clingy to his grandpa.

also, i don't want to judge too fast the fact that Morty lost his assertiveness because the creators did say it's going to be one of the main storylines this season, so I'm hoping the dive more into Morty's character and his codependency. i dislike his characterization in season 5 as well but overall i really like his development. he became smart and clever enough to survive most situations and I've been noticing how recently they try to treat Morty more like a kid than a horny stupid sidekick. most of his actions makes sense once you think that he's 14 and extremely traumatized to the point of no return, he literally have no choice now but to embrace his life of adventures and ocasional murder, but he still feel adolescence emotions and honestly I'm glad. i really disliked Morty in season 1, honestly, because of his passive role, and while his relationship with Rick became more complicated over time, Morty still his own person even if deeply dependent on someone.

youve made very good points about rick's new passive role and i agree, although i dont think they try to make rick redeemable. its never going to be a perfect family and hes always going to intoxicate the people around him with his crazy bullshit, but the message they tried to convey, at least in season 5 and 4 (and keep talking in season 6) is that they choose rick even with his fucked up self. instead of making rick double down to a regular grandfather, they just made the whole family interdimensional fuckers while rick doubled down to be more loving towards them. which its not by any means a good or normal thing, but the word family has been used a lot in the latest seasons and honestly, if i had to pick, the new family dynamics overall was what saved season 5 to me. choosen family, considering they all had their opportunities to walk away but still they decide to stick close to each other. its not a healthy dynamic, they are all horrible people (especially rick) but i think thats kinda the point.

and yeah, they fucked up big in season 5, but s6 seems so refreshing and new that i really do think they are going to fix this stuff that left bitter tastes in our mouths.

your analysis is very good as well!! i tried not to think too hard about the last season's flaws but i guess some things we have to adress, it was a shit show. i remember distinctly thinking "oh season 6 is out? ill watch ironically because rick and morty has becoming so bad recently" and then i was positively surprised. im aware things can go really bad this season but im hopeful

ok but rick prime was conceptually a genious move by the writers, i think. i know jack shit abouy writing but hear me out

our s6 C-137 rick is not the same as season 1 or s2 rick, he has matured, regressed, getting softer, angrier, older. it has been a commom complain by the dudebros that rick is not that badass emotionless characters that he was before, because in the latest seasons the writers are trying to explore how miserable and lonely the smartest man in the universe really is. he’s not a god anymore, hes a pretty fucking sad dude that tries desperately to stay in control, and that has been getting on some fans nerves, apparently

some people really miss nihilistic asshole rick. but instead of regressing his character, they decided to create prime rick.

prime rick is everything C-137 tried to be. he’s funny, unhinged, heartless, brutal, and the list goes on and on. he’s what we thought season 1 rick was. and i think thats genious because now not only we can explore this new contrast between two ricks, but also is a huge opportunity for more badass cool fights

at the same time that we can keep developing c-137 rick as a character, we can also have a heartless, god-like amazing (prime) rick that was what we had in season 1 and 2. it’s a nice throwback, especially because so far this season seems so much similar to the first seasons, except now our perception of the smith family has changed drastically. and now that we got this far, we can finally see them by old lights

it both pleases the character bunnies such as me but also brings in renewed philosophical tropes to the nihilistic tone enjoyers that also made a huge part of the fanbase. the dudebros can have their rick back

in season 4 and 5 the writers seemed confused with what they wanted to do with our beloved rick and morty - are they regressing or evolving? are they serialized? are they episodic? - and while i think s5 suffered more with pacing issues due to this indecision, i think they finally got the tone right. this season is so promising!! we only have 2 episodes so far (another one tonight) but i already have the urge to re-watch them, such a thing i didn’t have every since season 3

not to mention an “evil rick” being our next villain right after “evil morty” is so damn cool, especially because prime rick is evil because he doesn’t gives a damn, while evil morty is evil because he grew up in a system that does not give a damn. evil morty wasn’t the real evil, he was a product of it. and now we are facing the true evil himself, and i cant wait!!

so, overall. good play on the contrast, rick and morty writers, yall rock.

(also, at the same time they obligy our rick to confront his worst, “regressed” version, we also have our morty confronting his regressing version too, hence the second episode A Mort Well Lived. something tells me they are going to really deep dive into their development this season)

((they really seems to be making this parallels to season 1 and 2, ANOTHER EXAMPLE BEING THE WHOLE FAMILY BURING THEIR BODIES IN THE BACKYARD LIKE THAT SCENE WAS SO COOL I LOVE THEIR FOUND FAMILY SO MUCH WHAT IS THIS))