Rick and Morty: Season 4

America's favorite crazy scientist and his grandson return for more misadventures when the latest season of Adult Swim's hit series Rick and Morty: Season 4 arrive on Blu-Ray and DVD on September 22, 2020. I got the opportunity to check this season out ahead of its general release and I'm here to let you know if it's worth picking up.

Let's start with the positives about the Rick and Morty: Season 4 Blu-Ray release, that being the bonus features. The powers-that-be were extremely generous and provided a variety of bonus features on the Blu-Ray set, including: A Day at Rick and Morty: Inside Season 4, Inside the Episode for each episode, Creating Snake Jazz, Directing Rick and Morty, Samurai and Shogun, Prop Process, Character Creation, and Animation Challenges. If you're a super-fan of Rick and Morty, you will likely love all of this, as it's a great look at how the season was put together.

As for the rest...having never seen Rick and Morty before I swear I did my best to go in with an open mind. I feel I'm pretty receptive to animated content, even with adult themes, so I was somewhat hopeful that I might like finding out what Rick and Morty is all about.

The problem is, I don't.

I tried several episodes of season 4 and I just could not get into Rick and Morty at all. The humor in this show, for me at least, is way too crude to be funny (the poop jokes are not funny). The unending (and unrelenting) f-bombs are a distraction, as well. I don't mind the foul language in general, but there's way too much of it. And what's most frustrating is that there are flashes of brilliance where the show almost seems fun to watch, only for the moment to quickly fall apart in a crude twist that just ruins it. Also, I wasn't expecting the show to be so...gory. There's an especially bloody moment in the early part of the season that left me feeling disgusted. It was just so...unnecessary.

Beyond that, I find I can't connect to Rick or Morty on any level. I find Rick to be extremely unlikable and Morty is a close second in that regard. And if it's impossible to connect with the main characters of a series...then you can't connect to the secondary characters or any other plot device offered by the show. And speaking of the minor characters, I cannot stand most of Morty's family, they are just as unlikable...except for Beth (Morty's mom). She's the one character I found myself kind of liking, though not enough to continue watching the show.

So on that note, would I recommend Rick and Morty: Season 4? Honestly, no, I wouldn't. I feel like there are way better animated shows out there that can be funny in an adult way without spewing profanities every few seconds. This show has no redeeming qualities in my eyes, and I can't in good conscience recommend it.