Rick and Morty declares independence from shame in “Rickdependence Spray”

Rick and Morty returns with a classic grandpa-grandson adventure featuring the President of the United States, subterranean horsemen, and sperm monsters.

Those of us with weak stomachs and guilty consciences may want to look away from the latest episode of Rick and Morty, “Rickdependence Spray,” as it explores the depths of true shame. Don’t judge, guys.

In the cold open, Morty is dealing with his break-up from the last episode about as well as you’d expect. He’s hanging out with Beth at the horse hospital when he finds a device used for collecting “reproductive material.” Curious, Morty flicks the switch and becomes enchanted by an idea. However, as is often the case with Morty, there are no consequence-free actions, as Rick later uses a vat of what he presumes is horse sperm (and fair enough, it was labeled as such) to create a bioweapon. The story only gets sillier from there, as Rick’s creations wreck havoc on the country to the point that the President has to call Rick and Morty in.

“Rickdependence Spray” returns to the classic Rick and Morty formula that so far has been absent this season, with the grandfather-grandson duo tackling a problem together as the main story. With all the variations we’ve seen so far this year, I would call this return to form “refreshing” if only it wasn’t so, how shall I say, sticky?

The episode comes through with a lot of wonderful jokes, both visual and verbal. Rick and Morty have fun banter, especially when discussing their “teammates” on the flight to the grand canyon. We also meet some new interesting characters like Blazen, an incredibly cool swordsman who dies as he lived: wearing women’s underwear. Again, no judgments here.

While the main plot goes on, the rest of the Smiths interact with the President, which is definitely the weaker part of the episode. It serves to set things up for the climax, the jokes here leave something to be desired. Jerry happily serves everyone water and does nothing else, which is great, while Summer takes issue with the President’s sexism. That lost me a bit in the delivery. For instance, there’s a moment where Summer suggests an idea to deal with the sperm monsters. No one listens, and then a male character repeats the same idea and it is met with applause. I’ve seen that joke done on TV I can’t even tell you how many times before.

“Rickdependence Spray” keeps you guessing throughout. My only problem with it might be the sudden appearance of the Chuds. The Chuds, lovingly named after 80’s horror film C.H.U.D, are a race of subterranean horsemen. I say they appear suddenly, but to the writers’ credit they do foreshadow them at the start of the episode. Although we’ve never seen them before, Rick mentions them as being a constant menace to him and Morty. So it’s sort of like the introduction of Mr. Poopybutthole, who turned up out of the blue but who had apparently been there the whole time, just not as clever. But hey, we get some good jokes from them and they push the story along, so I can’t fret all that much.

Overall, I’d say that “Rickdependence Spray” delivers your standard Rick and Morty adventure. An innocent (not really) beginning morphs into a larger and wilder middle, before climaxing in a grand battle between sperm monsters, Chuds, Marines and Cirque du Soleil performers. It’s a little weak at some points, but quite strong in others.

Episode Grade: B

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