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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/32/Rick_and_Morty_opening_credits.jpeg

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I just finished re-watching  the entirety of [*Rick and Morty,*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_and_Morty) an animated television program from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim.  Its dialogue is vulgar and laced with profanity. The animation is shoddy, sloppy, and ugly. It's a strange blend of comedy and science fiction like [Futurama,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futurama) but with all the class and sophistication of [South Park](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Park)—namely, none. It revels in sophomoric humor.

And yet, I love it! There are moments of poignancy. There are political and philosophical ideas. There are clever questions about the nature of reality, morality, identity, and other deep concepts beneath the veneer of fart jokes and f-bombs.

Rick Sanchez is an old man with an ambiguous past. He espouses a nihilist philosophy about life, the universe, and everything, yet he loves his daughter and has on occasion acted in self-sacrifice when his family is in danger. He actively opposes external authority, but he also has deep abusive and authoritarian flaws himself. He claims to be a wholly rational and dispassionate individual, yet he is the mad scientist stereotype to a T, too. It is eventually revealed that there are innumerable alternate realities, and the Ricks of these other realities have coordinated across time and space. Rick from Dimension C-137 is an outlier among Ricks, though, and various episodes revolve around this point of contention.

Morty Smith is a 14-year-old boy, and Rick's grandson. He is timid, awkward, and rarely assertive. When he does take a stand, it either results in acting as Rick's moral compass over Rick's objections, or in drastic unintended consequences s matters spiral out of control. The stress and trauma of accompanying Rick on adventures through space and interdimensional chaos doesn't tend to help his anxiety. Over the course of the show, Morty's parents and sister are developed as characters, and episodes build on their relationships, too. Meanwhile, Morty C-137 struggles to balance middle school, family drama, and saving the universe with his crazy grampa.

Conflicts don't always end well for anyone, and there is a lot of conflict. It *is* the essence of drama, they say. Beyond the family drama, there are interstellar alien threats, a galactic empire, an evil Morty, and a whole heaping helping of silliness. I do recommend this show, but not to everyone. It may be a cartoon, but it is *not* for kids. It's irreverent, violent, crude, immature, absurd, and devoid of good role models for anyone. But there's only one thing to say in the end:

# <center>WUBBA-LUBBA-DUB-DUB!</center>

<center><sub>Also, I need some Szechuan Sauce and Chicken McNuggets.</sub>

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<center>[Image credit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_and_Morty)</center>