Cry of the Week: 'Rick and Morty' is over, with only our tears to tide us over until Season 4
Well, we hope those 10 episodes of Rick and Morty Season 3 were enough to sate your need for nihilism, familial abuse, and absurdist humor. Because now we only have the agonizing wait and our own pool of tears to comfort us until the as-yet-unannounced release of Season 4.
Oh, and of course Mr. Poopybutthole's cheery assurance that he'll "see you for Season 4 in like ... a really long time!"
The creators behind Rick and Morty, Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, are notoriously slow to deliver. Famously, the After Credits of Season 2 found a Mr. Poopybutthole, still recovering from his traumatic gunshot wound, and asking fans to tune "in like a year and a half ... or longer! To see how we unravel this mess, ooo-wee!"
But, he was also rolling around in a pile of pizza and high on pharmaceutical drugs, so not the most reliable source.
The joke was that it couldn't possibly take the creators that long for the next season to come out, right? Hah. It did. And then some. Actually, just to troll their suffering rabid fans, they released the Season 3 premiere on April Fools day. Not only did it allow them to keep Mr. Poopybutthole's year and a half promise, but also ensured cynical fans would disregard the surprise episode as a prank.
By then, we though, the wait was surely over. But nope. Four months later, Season 3 started in earnest on July 30th.
And now, our wait begins. Again.
The Rick and Morty fan subreddit is already in tears, and trying to pretend everything will be OK if they just make enough memes about it:
Others are peddling conspiracy theories, like the fact that Mr. Poopybutthole's mention of returning with a "Santa Claus beard" hinted at a Holiday special.
As the theory goes, Dan Harmon mentioned in an earlier interview that they had originally planned on a 14-episode season. So, in our withdrawal fever dream, we concluded that this meant there was extra Rick and Morty content lying around for the taking. And that must mean that the "true" season finale would coming later, right? RIGHT?!
Honestly, probably not. The Santa Claus beard thing was, in all likelihood, a random improvisation on Roiland's part, who also voices Mr. Poopybutthole as well as the show's two main characters.
But while cynical about all other aspects of life, Rick and Morty remain eternally optimistic about the show itself.
Enough to even delude themselves that we have anything more than pure torment. But maybe we can take this as a call to action. I mean, just look at Mr. Poopybutthole, who took all that time in between seasons to get his life together.
Or, put more directly, the creators probably hope that "you didn't just fuck around and waste your life," while waiting.
But who are we kidding. I'll take Rick and Morty reruns with a side of unending tears, please.
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
