Rick and Morty hits the mark in “Analyze Piss”
Rick and Morty effectively mixes piss jokes and a compelling emotional journey for Rick in another solid episode.
Growing weary of constantly having to fight off villains and troublemakers, Rick decides to make a change and ignore their calls to battle. His absence leaves a power vacuum that, surprisingly, gets filled by Jerry, after he has a successful encounter with a hero/villain named Piss Master. As Jerry gains great acclaim, Rick contemplates a change in this week’s e-piss-ode, “Analyze Piss.”
This episode has a lot of things going for it, one of which is the unpredictable script. The show starts with a fun cameo by everyone’s favorite oceanic orgy enthusiast, Mr. Nimbus, locked in battled with Rick over a trifling issue, as per usual. Once the dust settles, even more wacky characters arrive to stir trouble, which both Rick and Morty have had enough of. In another callback, Rick heeds the advice of thera-piss-t Dr. Wong and resolves to ignore all challengers.
The first act has the audience thinking that the episode will focus on Rick. However, when Piss Master comes to call on the Smith house, only Jerry is there to confront him. In the biggest upset of the century, Jerry wins the fight, leading to great success as a superhero. So now I’m thinking that this is a Jerry episode, and I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop (as it always does with Jerry). The episode then turns its focus back to Rick, who after a surprisingly emotional sequence decides to take up the mantle of Piss Master, reinvigorating the name with heroic deeds.
For me, that’s what makes this episode so fun. Not only do we get some more Jerry misadventures (I just never get tired of seeing him getting up to fall down), but we also get a Rick story that isn’t about his nihilism. For the first time in I-don’t-know-how-long, I was truly gripped by a solo Rick story.
The key difference may be that his objective isn’t about getting something or fighting someone, but rather emotional. I’m glad to see the writers take the character down that route without a lot of winks and side-jabs about the fact that they’re doing it.
Beyond the story, there was a lot of great humor this week. I throughly enjoyed all jokes about Piss Master, right down to his signature ending. The fights that pepper the episode are wonderfully animated, even the ones between randos like green bean man and belt man.
All together, this is another throughly enjoyable episode of Rick and Morty. With two great episodes in a row, things are looking up.
Episode Grade: B+
dark. Next. Rick and Morty build a house with three walls in “Full Meta Jackrick”
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