Season 7 of Rick and Morty kicked off on Adult Swim for the first time without Justin Roiland after the creator was (understandably) fired from his own series following his trouble with the law. While many were hoping that showrunner Dan Harmon (Community) would be able to keep the train running after reportedly handling most of Season 6 on his own those reports came into question following the dip in quality in the new season's premiere, however, with episode one receiving the lowest Rotten Tomatoes score of any Rick and Morty episode to date. Still, some fans were hoping for the quality dip to disappear after the disappointing Hugh Jackman-centric episode, and those who tuned in last night were likely met with at least some comfort.
Titled The Jerrick Trap, Season 7 Episode 2 does indeed improve upon the first outing of the season, even if it may only be a minor boost in quality. The biggest thing that was missing from the season's premiere was the lack of chemistry between the two titular characters in Rick and Morty, with the focus instead having been on Rick's inner circle - Gear Head, Mr. Poopy Butthole, Bird Person, and Squanchy, (plus the aforementioned Jackman voicing himself).
This episode remedies that by allowing these characters to interact and actually giving the audience a glimpse of the two new voice actors sharing scenes together. Still, while it improves in the fact that it brings Morty into the spotlight, the episode is actually a Jerry/Rick-centric adventure, leaving the remainder of the season to hopefully be left to proper grandfather-grandson adventures in the way things were during the early seasons of the animated series.
Taking a step in the right direction, the episode allows Rick to be intelligent, which is where the character thrives. Despite missing his dynamic with Morty, we are still able to see the dissonance between his smarts and Jerry's lack thereof, which helps the vibe feel more intellectual like in the old days, whereas the prior week's episode felt more as if the characters were lagging behind the audience instead of the opposite way around as fans have grown accustomed to over the years.
This episode does well to remind you that even though we haven't seen them this season, there are adventures that are beyond the rest of the family and only applicable to Rick and Morty themselves, and Harmon and the team do well to chronicle an adventure based on Morty's willingness to do the illegal and immoral things his grandfather expects him not to question with the youngster selling "crystals" to alien gang members and getting caught up in a turf war.
Beth's nagging in episode one was purely for plot while in this episode it has returned to questioning the relationship between her father and grandson and for good reason, there are actually interesting things happening between them once more. Chris Parnell shines in the adventure as well, with the plot seeing Rick and Jerry fail miserably at a Freaky Friday situation and creating two mixtures of their minds melded in both bodies. Interestingly enough this shows that Parnell is just as good at the delivery of the mash-up character as the newly hired Rick voice actor is, and leaning on the comedic chops and voice talent of the Saturday Night Live alum is something that likely helps explain the uptick in quality over the premiere.
Going forward, if the season is to reclaim a fraction of the series' former glory, the creative team will want to deliver more adventures in the vein of The Jerrick Trap and not whatever How Poopy Got His Poop Back was supposed to be. Still, episode two has proven that there is a chance for the show to regain its former glory and still a semblance of the same series it used to be, which is good because it would take a lot for Warner Bros and Adult Swim to abandon their flagship animated series, and none of the fans are looking forward to three more seasons of what viewers experienced in the premiere. We're just here to say that there is more to what makes the show than the voice actor and a glimpse of that got out in this adventure.