Blu-Ray Review: Rick and Morty Season Four

In 2020, we will remember a year for a pretty important feature…the return of home media. We might not know it yet, but Blu-Rays and DVDs are the last bastion of hope and freedom as it pertains to content. It seems like every day another series or movie is picked apart for various reasons by a discerning public eye and then put back together so that it can pass whatever test is being doled out by religious conservatives, PC police, or million moms rather than letting producers and creators being assertive and doing what they do best which is to entertain us.

Enter the fourth season of Rick and Morty on Blu-Ray. An already stellar season capped off by an Emmy win for “The Vat of Acid Episode”, we don’t know if and when any of these mostly uncensored episodes will be frowned upon in the future so you might as well get this release to remind yourself what were the standards of an Emmy in 2020. Now, I say mostly uncensored because the series isn’t 100 percent uncensored. For example, while the home release version of the series allows for uncensored language, nudity appears to be frowned upon at Adult Swim. So, if you were hoping to see Rick’s dong or any other naked members of the Smith family, you’ll be sadly disappointed.

Also, other than the decent “Inside Rick and Morty” featurette, the special features are all on Adult Swim’s Youtube page, including the deep dives into episodes, the creation of the “Snake Jazz” scenes, and more. In reference to the one exclusive documentary, the aforementioned “Inside” piece, the result is that of Adult Swim’s somewhat biased look at it’s own franchises. While we get an excellent look at what it’s like to be a member of the animation pipeline (albeit, the American portion of it), we don’t really get that inside of the series and instead we leave out potentially exciting behind-the-scenes looks at the voice production, writing, and other areas of the show’s production that would have made for a more wholesome and well-mannered documentary.

But, the value here is going to be the continued preservation of a legendary franchise. Five years from now, something about Rick and Morty is going to piss off somebody and this home release is going to be re-scrubbed for Christ knows what to satisfy Christ knows who. Even the American home for the streaming rights, HBO MAX, is known for putting silly warnings and preludes to better help educate people for modern day standards. Recall, Gone with the Wind was selected to the Library of Congress and is part of the National Film Registry only to be taken down then replaced with a ridiculous opening monologue to satiate modern-day sensitivities. One-day, don’t be surprised if Rick and Morty is put under the same microscope.