Rick & Morty Season 8 Could Skip A Long-Running Trend After Season 7's Worst Episode
While Rick and Morty season 8 is likely to follow the show’s successful formula, the upcoming outing of the Adult Swim series may need to change one trend after season 7’s biggest disappointment. Rick and Morty season 8 is set to arrive later in 2025, and the show’s return will be highly anticipated. Rick and Morty’s season 7 finale was the show’s highest-rated episode in years on IMDb for good reason, with season 7, episode 10, “Fear No Mort,” telling a clever, poignant, and hilarious story that centered Morty instead of Rick for once.
“Fear No Mort“ proved that Rick and Morty season 8 could give Morty as much focus as Rick and deepen his character arc in the process. However, not all of season 7’s experiments were so well-received. Despite how popular “Fear No Mort” proved, one of Rick and Morty season 7’s biggest mistakes also centered on the show’s eponymous deuteragonist. Episode 8, “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie,” was the most hated Rick and Morty outing in years, even though the episode continued a story that was established by a fan-favorite outing.
Rick & Morty Season 7's "Get Schwifty" Sequel Failed To Impress
“Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” Earned A Mere 4.5 On IMDb
"Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was a sequel to season 2, episode 5, “Get Schwifty,” but the season 7 episode fails to recapture the magic of that acclaimed earlier outing. The sequel story of "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” failed to impress viewers, earning a series-low IMDb rating of only 4.5. This could have been due to Morty’s comparatively minor role in the episode, which focused primarily on Ice-T and Morty’s teacher, Mr Goldenfold. It may also have been a result of "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” sidelining Rick, who doesn’t appear at all.
While this was the first time that Rick didn’t appear in an episode of Rick and Morty, it is worth noting how the episode’s sequel status impacted its reception. "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” felt less like an original standalone story than an extension of an existing episode. Where Rick and Morty’s season 7 ending worked on its own, episode 8’s plot was a lot more legible for viewers who remembered the post-credits stinger of “Get Schwifty” than new viewers or anyone who had forgotten about the season 2 outing.
Rick and Morty Season 8 Is Unlikely To Include Further Sequel Episodes
Seasons 2, 5, and 7 Featured Other Rick and Morty Sequel Episodes
Sequel episodes have been relatively common throughout Rick and Morty’s seven seasons, but they aren’t always guaranteed to succeed. Although season 2, episode 8, “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate,” was well-liked, this could be attributed to the fact that the "Interdimensional Cable" episodes are composed of loosely linked, improvised vignettes rather than an overarching storyline. In contrast, season 5, episode 7, “Gotron Jerry’s Rickvangelion,” was a straightforward sequel to episode 4, “Rickdependence Spray,” and these were the only two season 5 episodes to dip below an IMDb rating of 7.0.
Rick and Morty season 7 changed the show in many ways, but the outing also relied on its well-worn formula.
Despite this, season 7 relied on sequel episodes a lot. Season 7, episode 1, “How Poopy Got His Poop Back,” followed up Rick and Morty’s longstanding Mr. Poopybutthole storyline, while episode 3, “Air Force Wong,” reintroduced both Rick’s feud with the President and his contentious relationship with his therapist from season 3, episode 3, ”Pickle Rick.”Rick and Morty season 7 changed the show in many ways, but the outing also relied on its well-worn formula.
Rick & Morty Season 8's Not Having Any Sequel Episodes Would Be Good News
Season 7 Relied Heavily On Existing Storylines
Since Rick and Morty season 7 replaced the original voice actors of both title characters, it is perhaps unsurprising that the show’s creators opted to continue many existing storylines. This helped create a sense of continuity between season 7 and earlier outings, ensuring Rick and Morty still felt the same despite behind-the-scenes reshuffles. However, now that the show’s voice actor replacements have proven a success, Rick and Morty season 8 should rely less on sequel episodes. These storylines can make it feel like Rick and Morty is running low on inspiration.
Rick and Morty season 8 must feel less reliant on formula.
Mr. Poopybutthole’s divorce and Ice-T’s storyline got two separate entire episodes in season 7, not to mention “Air Force Wong” providing an unnecessary follow-up to Unity’s first outing, season 2, episode 3, “Auto Erotic Assimilation”. Considering "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was also a sequel, that is a lot of callbacks for a 10-episode season. Rick and Morty season 8 must feel less reliant on formula.
Sequel episodes like season 7, episode 5, “Unmortricken,” are a welcome surprise since they expand on a major storyline and resolve a lingering mystery. However, "Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” didn’t offer viewers anything quite so concrete. As a result, Rick and Morty season 7’s worst outing felt redundant and repetitive, something season 8 should strive to avoid.
- Network
- Adult Swim
- Cast
- Spencer Grammer, Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke, Kari Wahlgren, Dan Harmon, Maurice LaMarche, Tom Kenny, Dustin Ybarra, Dana Carvey, john oliver, Werner Herzog, Stephen Colbert, Nathan Fillion, Danny Trejo, Christian Slater, Logic, Jordan Peele, Nathan Fielder, Melique Berger, Tony Hale, Joel McHale, Ian Cardoni, Harry Belden
- Writers
- Tom Kauffman, Wade Randolph, Eric Acosta, David Phillips, Erica Rosbe, Sarah Carbiener, Matt Roller, Michael Waldron, Caitie Delaney
- Franchise(s)
- Rick and Morty
- Creator(s)
- Justin Roiland, Dan Harmon
- Seasons
- 8
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu
