Season Review: Rick and Morty Season Six

Seth MacFarlane once said in an interview that really after seven seasons is when most television series start to lose their focus, and as such, should probably shut it all down. Even with his venerable franchise Family Guy now readying to soar past 400 episodes, Seth has actually begged constantly to let viewers allow him to end the show and move on to whatever else he wants to do.

It seems like yesterday when Rick and Morty was premiering it’s first season, and here we are talking six friggin’ seasons later. Since then, Justin Roiland has surpassed co-creator Dan Harmon as the household name to derive from the franchise, numerous writers have gone on to produce MCU movies, and Rick and Morty has successfully surpassed the peak fame the franchise had attained that almost turned into lunacy, in favor of solid episodes that should be ripe for pickings for potential Emmy noms next year. Despite Adult Swim marketing’s best efforts, the series has decreased in the ratings compared to prior seasons on a network that was JUST ranked as being far lower in total viewership whence compared to competitors like Comedy Central and FXX, clearly, the marketing department has failed in promoting it’s content, even it’s biggest franchise.

It’s certainly not for lack of quality, I actually think Rick and Morty’s sixth season was overall better than both the show’s second and fifth with excellent entries like “Solaricks”, “Night Family”, “Analyze Piss”, and the show’s sixth season finale. Add in the fact that we had as stacked of a season for guest stars than we’ve ever had featuring the returns of Susan Sarandon, Chris Meloni, Paul Giamatti, and Keith David to go along with Jack Black, Peter Dinklage, and Will Forte.

In a lot of ways Rick and Morty season six sets up the show’s seventh season, but I kinda like not everything being biblical in terms of canon. I like the freedom of the episodes that DON’T mean anything as it gives us some solid efforts. When the writers become more self-serving, clearly evidenced in episodes like “Rick: A Mort Well Lived” and “Full Meta Jackrick”, those are the episodes that bother me the most, but I guess I’m willing to sacrifice a couple of lambs now and again if it allows the producers to recharge their batteries and get on with the good stuff.

The future of Rick and Morty looks positive, judging by the finale there’s a big story on the horizon. But in reality, next year is going to be a pivotal year for the franchise. With a new anime on the way inspired by the show, Adult Swim is going to be put to the test for the franchise’s viability. There’s a rumor that the anime series will NOT be dubbed for English, and if that’s the case, this network clearly will show it just does NOT give a shit about it’s fan base. If it DOES get dubbed, then we’ve got a chance.