#Rick and morty season 1 episode 1 adultswim series
But the main charm of the pilot is that it has a bit of a scrappier feel that allows for Roiland to adlib for lengthy periods and doesn’t mind expending a portion of the running time holding on a shot of Morty writhing in agony after breaking his legs.Īll in all, a simple, yet solid episode to start a series with. It was this sort of thing that initially turned some people away from the show and, especially as it grew more plot-heavy, it made sense to scale this stuff back. As Rick, he ends just about every sentence with “Morty” and horrible belches interrupt his speech, like, a lot. It’s got a lot more Justin Roiland adlibbing and stumbling over lines than the show would go on to have. Speaking of, a few of the series’ all-time best one-liners are in this too, like when Rick tells Morty the Gromflomites he’s shooting at are robots and then, after Morty shoots one and witnesses him clearly bleeding to death, Rick explains, “It’s a figure of speech, Morty! They’re bureaucrats! I don’t respect them!”Īnd, of course, we also get the iconic “Rick and Morty forever, 100 years” ramble at the end, which is emblematic of what I enjoyed about rewatching this pilot.
We get the show’s first ever (duh) chase sequence, featuring the amazing bit of animation where Morty accidentally inhales an alien drug and coughs up a humanoid creature that instantly ages through its entire life cycle and then dies. Summer doesn’t get too deeply fleshed out beyond “teenage girl,” but we at least get a good feel for Beth and Jerry’s dysfunctional union (honestly, their plot is kind of tiresome and based a lot around watching them bicker, which is a problem that plagues Beth and Jerry plots regularly).īut, again, aside from establishing the show’s framework, the pilot is mostly a vehicle for fucked-up jokes and sci-fi sight gags.
It’s not exactly an integral series plotline Rick is generically ruining Morty’s life for his own gain (specifically he wants him to smuggle alien super seeds from another dimension up his butt), but the dynamic of their relationship is well-established and a lot of other groundwork is laid.