Oh jeez Rick, are you breaking up with me? After a couple of weeks of layoff, Adult Swim came back with a two-episode premiere of its final installments for its hit animated series’ fifth season, Rick and Morty. In a clear parody of the Jason Segel romantic comedy film Forgetting Sarah Marshall, the fifth season demonstrates a seemingly final end to the titular duo.
After a mess up from Morty, Rick gives the proclamation that he can use anything or anyone as a duo on his adventures, landing on a pair of crows from the roulette wheel he invented for this occasion. Morty, now enriched with the power of shared bodily portals to a Mental asylum patient, goes on depression and separation-induced side adventure with this dangerous counterpart. Rick goes on to train and live out adventures with the crows he now adopted as sidekicks.
The episode saw two distinct versions of break-up emotions. Morty attempts to regain similar success only to come to the realization that there is only one partner, his grandpa Rick. Meanwhile, Rick pursues a greater war with the crows and engages in some fun crow badass technology and weapons. “Forgetting Sarick Marshall” takes on the therapeutic side of the relationship between the titular characters. Their separation and slow growth away from one another have been a central theme on their adventures throughout the entire season. In this episode, the separation has been acknowledged and the viewer finally sees what the duo can do on their own.
In Rick’s case, he is adept at being independent, albeit using these birds as socialization. Rick has an adventure filled with violence, slaughter, and high-tech battles with fellow enlightened crows, upset with him for engaging with these two young crows to do his bidding. Morty, on the other hand, sees the counter experience to his familial breakup with his adventure filled with destruction and disappointment. Upon their reunion at the conclusion of the episode, Morty is excited to come back to the years of Rick and Morty while Rick finds fascination with his newfound sidekicks and wants to pursue life and adventures sin Morty.
It is a heart-crushing result of an otherwise toxic relationship built on genetics. Yet, it can leave the door open to new storylines and set up the next season right? Problem is, there is one more episode left in the season. Rather this episode serves as a toss-up to lead into a season finale that deals with their separation and how that would ultimately impact the series as a whole. Combining the season’s overarching theme of one-off adventure with a set up to intense canon for the overall series, “Forgetting Sarick Mortshall” offered a new insight on the series and a refreshing breath of air into the series as viewers prepared for the next thirty minutes of their Sunday night of entertainment. The episode did not veer too far away from the norm but allowed for a new development with Rick and Morty’s relationship that has often been acknowledged, but not acted upon.
Rating: 8.0/10