Review: Rick and Morty “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
After successfully completing a mission, Morty gets a talking dragon. Things start off peacefully but go a bit astray once Rick becomes attached to the dragon. The two end up soul-bonding together, a violation of the human-dragon code. As such, the wizard sentences the dragon to death. Unfortunately for Rick though, everything that happens to the dragon happens to him. A race against the clock ensues to save the dragon from the wizard’s clutches before Rick gets wrecked.

Meanwhile, Jerry has a no-thinking, just-doing adventure with an out-of-nowhere appearing talking cat.

Our Take
This was quite the wild ride, I’ll admit. The plot starts off slow-paced and rather uninteresting, but once things get going with Rick and the dragon, the fun begins. It’s a fun-paced, comedic-loaded adventure that rivals some of Rick and Morty’s best.

It never ceases to amaze me just how much creativity can come shining through this series. I most certainly was not at all expecting the various madcaps that occurred throughout the main plotline. To be fair, who would expect Morty getting a dragon to somehow derail into a race to save two soul-bonded individuals in a world where magic is king? My initial thoughts made me worry regarding whether or not the episode would stay within the bounds of reality (which, honestly, probably would have made for a dry installment). Thankfully, the unique, surprising adventure we did receive is well worth its weight in gold (or Hi-C Ecto Cooler containers, that works too).

The main plotline really lends itself to a lot of imaginative moments and comedic timing. So many creatures and elements here really add to the atmosphere of the overall episode. Each new element introduced lends itself quite well to a number of laughable moments throughout. In addition, there’s a lot of raunchy humor here, but the absurdity of it all makes them work. It keeps things instantly fresh. I mean, raunchy humor involving dragons, can’t say I’ve seen that done before! This was, in all honesty, another hilariously creative adventure from the Rick and Morty universe.

What drags the episode down, however, is the B-plot. The entirety of it feels like filler (which I guess one could argue is the point of a B-plot). However, even if the B-plot is filler, it should still be written with the same love and care that the main plot receives. Everything within this plot feels boring, stiff, and uninteresting. I didn’t really laugh at any of the banter between Jerry and the talking cat. The entire plot feels slapped together at a moment’s notice, with little time to perfect anything. While I will admit the payoff gag at the end was in a class of its own, it’s not enough to excuse a rather unamusing side quest.

To conclude, this installment honestly astonished me. For an episode with such a basic start as “Morty gets a dragon,” the laughable moments and creative atmosphere seriously kept the ball rolling. The B-plot, however, is a bit of stinker. I’d personally ditch it in favor of throwing all my marbles on the main plot. Overall though, another well-done edition to the Rick and Morty universe.