Review: Rick and Morty “Rattlestar Ricklactica”

Overview (Spoilers Below)
Morty royally screws things up when he kills a snake civilization’s last monument of hope. He sends a snake from Earth to the snake planet to make up for this mistake. However, this ends up making the situation ten times worse. In the tradition of holiday specials though, Morty learns a valuable lesson. He really should have stayed in the car.

Meanwhile, Jerry ends up floating everywhere thanks to Rick making him lighter than air and Jerry abusing his newfound powers.

Our Take
Snake wars and aimless floating. That’s this surprise holiday special in a nutshell. Unfortunately, that nutshell became sentient and went coo-coo. All of that is just a roundabout way of saying, this episode probably should have toned down the absurdity of it all.

As alluded to above, the absurdist comedy in this episode is all over the place. The entirety of the plot seemed utterly random with little payoff to show for itself. Episode 3’s insanity at least had numerous payoffs and commentary to keep the ball rolling. This episode, however, is by and large a mish-mash of whatever the heck it wants to be. While I chuckled here and there, it ultimately isn’t enough to excuse the random for the sake of being random humor here.

Thankfully, the creativity still shines like the sun here. The exploration into the snake planet was quite fascinating and provided some enchanting humor in places. I really appreciated how some scenes at the snake planet spoke to the audience through visuals alone. That element alone helped create an experience worth going on. I only wish the episode had done more with that concept. If done right, a story within the Rick and Morty universe driven purely by visuals would definitely make for an enticing watch.

Additionally, the return of the Time Police was an interesting sight to see. They were most definitely integrated well into the story, with their contributions taking a major role. As a result, their appearance felt more purposeful than the reappearances seen back in Episode 1. Unfortunately, their schtick is exactly the same as back in the Season 2 premiere. The duo can only beat the crap out of their target so many times before the joke grows stale. It largely feels uninspired and resembles a cop-out in all shapes and forms. The scenario could have been a lot more unique in execution rather than the same old trodden path of a bygone season. All in all, while serving a purpose, the Time Police’s return was, unfortunately, a lackluster affair.

Overall, this was nowhere near a terrible outing, but not a best in show either. There’s just little to laugh at here when everything feels pieced together at random just to be absurd. A lot of potential was shown here but unfortunately wasn’t executed in the best way. I can only hope that the series comes back in full force once Season 4’s had a bit of holiday rest.