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RICK AND MORTY Season 2 Comes to Blu-ray in Squanchy Fashion

A year and a half ago, the first season of Rick and Morty came to Blu-ray and that is when my life changed for the better. Friends of mine were telling me “you gotta watch this show!” but like most recommendations like that, I drug my feet. As a result, I was blindsided by the brilliance, the intelligence, the comedic glory that was Rick and Morty. Now, the second season is on Blu-ray and it’s just as transcendent as the first. Wubba lubba and, indeed, dub dub.

All ten episodes of the second season are present on the disc, which you’d hope for in a series set. What, like they’re just gonna put SOME of the episodes on there? There are some positively killer episodes among them, starting right away with “A Rickle in Time,” in which Rick, Morty, and Summer split into infinite versions thanks to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. That’s the way to begin your season! It also, instead of just starting as a brand new year, picks up right after the season one finale, with the three of them able to move and do anything they want while the rest of the universe is stuck in time. The theme for this series is continuity and rewarding longtime viewers.

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As with season one’s “Rick Potion #9” which completely changed the show we thought we were watching, season two’s game-changer was “Total Rickall,” in which memory parasites infect the Sanchez/Smith household, meaning any time someone has a flashback, the parasites spread and manifests in a new character who claims always to have been there. It features some of the silliest characters Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland have come up with to date–like Ghost in a Jar, Reverse Giraffe, and Pencilvester–but also said a lot of deep and troubling things about family. You know someone’s real if you have bad memories of them, because the parasites only infest you with good memories. It’s very sad, actually. Which leads to the weird, dimensional-twisting quandary that is the real, not-fake Mr. Poopy Butthole.

Also like last season, we get another venture through the television of other worlds with “Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate.” While I don’t think it’s quite as funny an episode overall, the standout moments are just as great. “Jan Quadrant Vincent 16” is an all-time favorite of mine now, as are “Personal Space” and “Eye Holes.” Plus, aren’t you glad to now know how Plumbuses are made? The B-story there, involving Jerry possibly donating his penis to the intergalactic freedom fighter Shrimply Pibbles also offers some great stuff, and a very funny, very weird cameo by Werner Herzog.

The extras on the disc are just as excellent as last year, with animatics on every single episode and behind-the-scenes featurettes, but the highlight again is the copious audio commentaries. While this season’s batch of guest commentators didn’t really do much for me, the main commentaries featuring Harmon, Roiland, Ryan Ridley, and usually another member of the crew were routinely hilarious and enlightening. The group reveals the inherent difference between Harmon’s style of humor and Roiland and Ridley’s–which basically boils down to having a punchline come from left field versus having it be exactly what you expect but a billion times more graphic.

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There are also answers to several of the questions and theories people have had about season two buried in the commentary. For instance, the crew acknowledges the green memory crystals from “Total Rickall” were indeed picked up by Rick at the end of “Mortynight Run.” They do NOT, however, acknowledge or even address the theory that the Rick and Morty from “Rickall” are from a different universe than we saw before, hence producing a world where Mr. Poopy Butthole could exist. But it IS very possible that the Jerry they pick up from Jerry Daycare is a different Jerry entirely.

We also find out why the season ended on a cliffhanger: originally, “The Wedding Squanchers” would have been the penultimate episode and the finale would have been the culmination. They had the first episode down, but they couldn’t decide on how to wrap it up satisfactorily. Instead, they created the episode “Look Who’s Purging Now,” which they said was very easy, relatively, to write and pushed “Squanchers” to the finale spot, giving them a year or so to think about how to tackle the end of the cliffhanger. That shows an attention to detail and a devotion to good storytelling that few shows possess. It’s really no wonder Rick and Morty is so good, both as a comedy and as a proper sci-fi show.

If you’re a fan of Rick and Morty, you’ve no doubt already been thinking about picking it up, but if you’re on the fence, let me assure you it’s 100% worth it, and you’ll find hours to enjoy more than simply the episodes themselves.

A CONTEST?!?!?

Because we’re good friends, you and I, we’ve got a super awesome giveaway for you! We’re giving away a copy of the Blu-ray along with a limited edition Rick and Morty hoodie which is not available in stores. Only 150 such hoodies have been made, and each one is numbered for authenticity. The interior lining as the web of Mortys, designed to keep you–the Rick wearing it–safe from all other Ricks. Check out the hoodie in the gallery below!

Now, you probably want to know how to enter, yeah? Well, all you have to do is click this link to tweet to us what your favorite episode of Rick and Morty season 2 is. That’s it! Once you’ve done that, you’re entered to win. There will be only one (1) winner, and you must have your tweets to us by 11:59pm on Thursday, June 9, 2016. No time jumping, okay?!

Images: Adult Swim/Warner Bros Home Entertainment


Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find more of his film and TV reviews here.Follow him on Twitter!

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