It’s been a long-time since fans watched a new episode of Rick and Morty — 18 months to be exact since the season two finale aired on October 4, 2015. At the Sundance Film Festival in January, creator Dan Harmon spoke to IndieWire and took full responsibility for the delay… though he couldn’t really explain why it was taking so long. A month later, season three began production and released a YouTube video promising the opening scene from a new episode. Instead, creators “Rick-rolled” fans with a cruel but awesome video compilation of scenes put together to comprise the lyrics of Rick Astley’s hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up.”
Therefore, on this past April Fool’s Day, when the Rick and Morty Twitter account claimed they were streaming the first episode of the new season on Adult Swim’s website repeatedly until midnight, fans were skeptical. They’ve been burned before and waited SO long. But when their curiosity got the better of them, they were rewarded — the first full-length episode of season three really was playing over and over again on the website… and it was glorious.
New Episode of RICK AND MORTY airing NOW thru MIDNIGHT (ET/PT) and ONLINE at PwQX7WJQhW
— Rick (((and Morty))) (@RickandMorty) April 2, 2017
Having turned himself in to the galactic federation to save the family at the end of season two, Rick begins season three in the custody of Earth’s new alien-bug overlords. They have been putting him through a series of simulations in the hopes of gaining the formula for his portal gun, but to no avail — Rick is just too smart to fall for such antics. However, his interrogator (brilliantly voiced by Nathan Fillion) is ecstatic to see Rick’s sentimentality lead him to return to the memory of the day he invented the device in order to see Beth and her mother once more. This teases confirmation of a fan theory that Rick had a tragic start to his time-travelling adventures, but the scene’s actual purpose refutes this… though some insist it may still hold an inkling of truth. In the meantime, Summer is trying to rally the family into helping her break Rick out of intergalactic jail while Morty tries to convince her he’s not worth the effort. All of their efforts culminate in a catastrophic visit to the Citadel of Ricks, where Ricks from various universes have opted to hide from the authorities. The episode ends with an even harsher confession followed by Rick declaring his love for McDonald’s limited-time Szechuan dipping sauce and a vow to spend the next nine seasons searching for it — petitions for McDonald’s to bring back the sauce immediately flooded social media.
It’ll probably be a while before the full season is ready, but this sneak peek into what’s to come suggests it’s definitely going to be worth the wait.
RickandMorty .RickandMorty McNugga Lubba Dub Dub.
— McDonald’s (@McDonalds) April 2, 2017
