"Makers of 'Rick and Morty' discuss creating a western-themed Citadel episode: 'With its own set of difficulties, it was enjoyable to conquer'"
In the Wild West of the Multiverse:
A fresh adventure in the unpredictable world of Rick and Morty unfolds in the third episode of Season 8, "The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly." Taking inspiration from Western revenge stories, this spiritual successor to Season 3's "The Ricklantis Mixup" is a daring attempt to recapture the magic. Co-creator, co-showrunner, and executive producer Dan Harmon shared this insight over a Zoom call.
According to IMDb, "The Ricklantis Mixup" ranks as the highest-rated episode of Rick and Morty to date, impressing viewers with a clever bait-and-switch. Harmon explains that the episode was all about tricking the audience with unexpected twists, stating, "We dropped the audience into this unexpected meta joke of, 'I bet you didn't know we were going to spend the entire episode focusing on this thing.'"
"The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly," penned by Albro Lundy, James Siciliano, and Michael Kellner, kicks off after the fall of the Citadel and Rick's decision to reset his portal fluid, a move that sent all Rick and Mortys back to their origins. This outcome leaves only the Citadel-bred clones, used for a variety of purposes, to survive amid the debris. These duplicates have rebuilt a Wild West society from the remnants of their former lives.
Scott Marder, co-showrunner and executive producer, explains their rationale for the western concept, "We got excited about doing something that was a Western, and it felt like it brought out a lot of life when we tapped into the Citadel and all the human shrapnel that came with it."
The episode opens with our titular duo, voiced by Ian Cordoni and Harry Belden, navigating the Citadel's wreckage. As they confront personal adversaries, the story centers around a lone homesteader Rick, who becomes the main focus following a betrayal by Morty-kidnapping Rick marauders. Led by a flamboyantly Southern Rick, these marauders are clone Ricks operating within a nefarious gumbo franchise. Together with a couple of Mortys on a quest to rescue their missing friends, the homesteader Rick embarks on a vengeful journey.
Harmon concludes, "Our advantage with 'The Ricklantis Mixup' was that we could deliver a city genre story, jumping between tales, offering a bustling atmosphere. This episode, however, presents a frontier story instead. It's a different sort of challenge because it's like, 'We're doing this again, and now we're making a western?' That was a fun challenge. It's like, 'How do we make this feel right and keep the audience hooked?'Tune in every Sunday night at 11:00 p.m. ET on Adult Swim for new episodes of Rick and Morty Season 8.
Behind the Scenes Insights:
The episode explores themes of centralized power, social roles, and the psychological effects of clone independence within the wild and unpredictable world of Rick and Morty.
Key Aspects:- Setting: A post-apocalyptic western-style wasteland, where clone Ricks and Mortys have constructed a ranch-style society.- Plot: Focused on Homesteader Rick's quest for vengeance against the exploitative Rick clone marauders.- Themes: Speculative morality, oppressive systems, and the psychological impact of clone independence serve as the backdrop for thought-provoking narrative development.*
In "The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly," the main focus shifts from the journey of Rick C-137 and Morty to the lives of the clone characters operating within the remnants of the Citadel.*
- "Interviews with Dan Harmon, the co-creator of Rick and Morty, reveal that the third episode of Season 8, 'The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly', is a television animation venture under Adult Swim, and it delves into the western comedy genre, as Harmon shares his insights over a Zoom call."
- "In the entertainment industry, Rick and Morty Season 8's 'The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly' stands out as a Western-themed episode, with Scott Marder, the co-showrunner, explaining their rationale for this choice during their behind-the-scenes interviews."
