There Are Infinitely Many Titles by Henry Gruber
Surprise! You’re a movie star that makes millions of dollars… or at least you are in another dimension. This is one of the main premises in “Rick and Morty,” my favorite TV show about a normal, 14 year old boy named Morty and his genius, wash-up, grandfather named Rick. The TV show has so many premises that all combine to make a very unique, very fascinating story. I like “Rick and Morty” as my favorite TV show are because of the basic ideas and concepts behind it, the amazing characters that drive it, and the underlying emotional story that leaves a lot of importance and lasting impact.
One of the core qualities in “Rick and Morty” is his basic ideas and concepts from which it was built and that set it apart from the beginning. “Rick and Morty” is often described as cynical humor, meaning that it’s quite dark, If an alien explodes they don’t cut back on gore. Oftentimes there are innocent beings hurt or killed due to unforeseen events, and many times it’s directly the main characters’ faults. While this might seem cruel being described, characters are killed or hurt in ways that make it seem funny or interesting, this sets the cartoon show in a very unique position. What you’d normally expect to happen on the show rarely does. Another special thing about the show is its depiction of science, or rather how Rick, the most advanced scientist on Earth uses it. Rick is shown to think of many challenges scientifically, he uses science not for the advancement of humanity but only his personal gain, he doesn’t believe in a god, and instead of using the scientific method, he uses what is called scientific anarchism, which has no set roles safety or ethical considerations. This might seem like a minor detail but it brings up almost all of the stories as a result of Rick’s use of advanced technology with no real procedure. Possibly the most important backbone idea of the show is that (as mentioned before) there are infinitely many dimensions that are all separated by what happens in them, this is a popular scientific theory and while “Rick and Morty” rarely refers to actual science, they take this theory to its full extent. Rick and Morty visit many different dimensions, some that are very similar and many that are nothing alike our own. They even run into different versions of themselves from other dimensions. These ideas are not very unique alone, but all together they provide an excellent template for a show with great potential.
Any good show needs great characters to move the plot along and get people interested and invested in it, and “Rick and Morty” is no exception. The catalyst for all of the misadventures that his family has is Rick, an unparalleled scientist who has a wide array of futuristic technology that allows him to do almost anything. Rick moves back into his family’s house and lives there, drinking, developing new technology, and taking Morty on adventures with him throughout the universe. Rick doesn’t really seem to care about anything at all, from his grandkids ideas to destroying entire worlds and his own death, except for expanding his work, and thwarting any kind of authority, which he resents. The rest of Rick’s family is quite normal and was very generic before Rick moved in. His somewhat gifted grandson, Morty is a pretty close to a normal 14 year old; except he is dragged on Rick’s adventures to do the hazardous work and help Rick with things he couldn’t normally do alone. Morty tries to do the morally right thing, even though his grandfather usually doesn’t care. Morty is also unique because he really grows and becomes more capable over the course of the series by learning from Rick. Morty’s sister and Rick’s granddaughter, Summer, is an overdramatic, 17 year old who seems to be an exact opposite of Rick in almost every way… so you could pretty much just say she’s a typical teenaged girl. Summer adds a lot of contrast from Rick and lots of humor. Morty and Summer’s parents, Jerry and Beth are generic parents except that Beth is quite a bit smarter than Jerry and their marriage is hanging by a thread, creating a lot of hilarious drama. Jerry and Beth are usually in their own separate place while Rick and Morty are on adventures, this creates an interesting view of what’s going on and provides lots of humor. With all these characters, their strong points and flaws that make them so interesting and really animate the show, which is an undeniable reason why Rick and Morty is my favorite TV show.
One of the most special parts in Rick and Morty is the emotional story in the background of the show that is very powerful and meaningful when it comes into the light. As a naturally cynical, and sometimes dark show, you wouldn’t expect much emotion, and while it’s true it isn’t shown much, however, when it is shown, it makes an impact. As said before, Rick seems not to care about his family or other people but this proved not to be the case, when Morty leaves him to free an “innocent” alien, Rick leaves without a care, but comes back, unceremoniously saving Morty twice when he had no reason to. When Rick and Morty are falling toward oblivion, Rick is prepared to sacrifice himself and gives Morty the only working device that lets him out. Rick accepts it and begins praying, which is extremely unlike him, until he finds another device and escapes oblivion, after which he tries to act like it never happened. It has been revealed that through his vast understanding of the universe, Rick came to believe that nothing he did really mattered. This thought put him in constant pain of thinking that he was meaningless, and his uncaring mentality developed as a result not leaving him shocked at anything. While very little of this ever makes it to the surface of the show, it truly adds depth to a the cynical comedy and sets it above the rest.
A sci-fi cartoon focused on humor would normally seem one dimensional, but with all these factors that help the show and make it unique and interesting to watch, Rick and Morty has become my favorite TV show. It has great ideas, characters, and emotional development, all of which are presented in a unique way to the show. If you could live an infinite number of different dimensions with unlimited possibilities, which would you go to?
