Justin Roiland’s swift dismissal from Rick and Morty (in addition to the remainder of his multimedia empire) earlier this yr instantly raised questions on whether or not the collection may be in jeopardy. Followers / aspiring voice actors have been all too able to burp out their greatest “oh, geez,” and Grownup Swim assured everybody that it had a plan. But it surely was exhausting to think about the present persevering with with out the voice behind its titular duo and so many different of its messed-up weirdos.
Within the months since Warner Bros. Discovery / Grownup Swim introduced Rick and Morty would completely be returning, particulars about Roiland’s replacements — plural — have been stored quiet, which made it not possible to know what to anticipate. However as involved as longtime loyalists of Rick and Morty might need been concerning the present falling off post-Roiland, the present’s season 7 premiere ought to put these fears to relaxation.
Rick and Morty’s final season ended with a grotesque snap as an uncharacteristically jacked Mr. Poopybutthole broke each of his legs trying to squat sufficient weight to distract him from the ache of being left by his ex-wife. On the time, Mr. Poopybutthole’s post-credits accident appeared like a miserable throwaway gag bolted onto a season of plots involving Rick begrudgingly accepting the reality about loving his household. However quite than leaving Mr. Poopybutthole to languish off-camera, Rick and Morty’s season 7 premiere places him entrance and heart as a part of an addiction-focused story that, at occasions, feels a bit just like the present acknowledging the issues from its previous that it’s attempting to go away behind.
Although Mr. Poopybutthole’s straight-to-camera catch-up within the opening scene of “How Poopy Acquired His Poop Again” gives some perception into what the Smith household’s been as much as since we final noticed them, it’s additionally the present’s manner of building how little Rick and Morty’s modified now that new actors have joined the solid. As all the time, it falls to Summer season (Spencer Grammer) and the 2 Beths (Sarah Chalke) to scrub up everybody’s messes whereas Jerry (Chris Parnell) does the whole lot he can to assist, which solely makes issues worse.
Even with the emotional maturing Rick’s gone by way of, he nonetheless has a tough time coping with folks he sees as his mental lessers, and Morty is aware of that numerous his grandfather’s act is only a entrance. Nearly the whole lot concerning the chilly open of “How Poopy Acquired His Poop Again” — particularly the voices of Rick, Morty, and Mr. PB — screams traditional Rick and Morty, and what’s sort of wild concerning the premiere is how folks used to having the present on within the background would possibly initially be uncertain whether or not they’re watching a brand new episode or a rerun.
A lot of that’s as a result of abilities of the brand new voice actors (whose names have been faraway from press screeners, and Grownup Swim declined to share for evaluation functions) as greater than succesful voiceover artists who step into their roles seamlessly with performances that make it sound as if Rick and Morty have cleared their throats and brought to enunciating a bit extra clearly. But it surely’s additionally a testomony to Rick and Morty’s writing employees being in uncommon type as they open the season with a narrative that feels prefer it’s concurrently attempting to deal with the elephant within the room and present viewers that little or no about how the present performs has actually modified.
“How Poopy Acquired His Poop Again” doesn’t explicitly tackle the truth that Mr. Poopybutthole, like all the Rick and Morty characters Roiland used to voice, sounds ever so barely completely different than he used to. In its give attention to habit and folks coping with the implications of their very own (and their mates’) ordinary poor impulse management, although, it feels just like the episode’s attempting to make some extent concerning the risks of enabling folks to be their worst selves.
That idea carries fairly a little bit of weight, particularly on a present with Rick and Morty’s previous. However as self-aware as this season feels, there’s little or no within the two episodes we’ve seen to counsel that the present’s misplaced any of its nihilistic edge or its skill to mood that very same edge with absurdist, gross-out humor.