Rick and Morty season five left us off on a hell of a cliffhanger. President Morty steps through a yellow portal to an unknown destination, Rick is no longer the “smartest man in the universe” in any universe he travels to, and The Citadel is destroyed by a black hole. It’s a grim end to a wonderful season of television. However, that only means that Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, and Co. on the Rick and Morty writing team have to get themselves out of it. The premiere episode of season six gives us lots of details and follows closely the relationship between Rick and his family.

This is a spoiler-free review from here on out for Rick and Morty season six episode one.

Tying Up Loose Ends, Kicking Off With A Bang

Rick and Morty season six premiere.

The premieres for Rick and Morty seasons are usually among the highlights. They really like to kick off with a bang and this premiere is no different. You get plenty of various versions of Morty, Rick, Summer, Jerry, and Beth all trying to unclutter what has happened to the universe because of the events of the last season. It unfolds in a very Rick and Morty way that might beg the question of “how many more times can they seemingly destroy the vast universe”?

If this episode is any indication, it’s plenty more times (at least for Earth being taken over or destroyed).

The biggest development here though is the expansion of what we know about Rick Sanchez and his family. We’ve gotten bits and pieces about what happened to Rick’s wife before, but never like in this episode. It’s not a huge portion of the episode, but a welcome expansion of his narrative. At this point in Rick and Morty, the story should be the center and it’s nice to see them continuing the arc.

As for the action in the episode, there’s plenty of it. you get lots of Morty trying to fight his way back to the original universe, and Rick doing the same. For an episode of Rick and Morty, this episode is light on the references, the pop culture gags, and it really just focuses on the characters that we know and love. After coming off such a huge event in the season five finale, outside of the last couple minutes of this episode, this is a pretty “small” story.

Expectations Checked

Overall, this was a really solid premiere episode for Rick and Morty. The expectation is that it needs to be big and boisterous like the other premieres in the series (besides Bushworld Adventures), but this was a more character-driven story. It still combines the Rick and Morty feeling but for a series that feels like it’s on to something ditching the frivolous expansive feel of some of the episodes.

Rick and Morty season six premieres on Adult Swim on September 4th at 11:00 pm ET/8:00 pm PT.

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