Rick and Morty’sshowrunner couldn’t manage to craft a time loop episode, but this is territory that the franchise has already breached in the comics. It’s been a rule for the show to never cover time travel, largely because it’s considered a worn-out trope, but also because it’s such a complicated one to fully delve into.The show seldom breaks this rule, but never enough for a full-fledged A-story.
In an interview withPolygon,Rick and Mortycreator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder further discussed their difficulties with trying to create a time loop episode of the television series. When asked if there are any concepts in season 8 that they struggled to do for years and have only now found a way, they responded with the following:
Harmon:My frustrating answer to that question is that the answer to that question is one that happens in season 9! [A thing] I’ve actually been wanting to do in television or in movies forever, and we figured out how to do it.
There are definitely things in every episode, but it’s hard to tell which ones. We have a shoebox of “Oh, this idea can’t be done now,” but it’s like a cow’s digestive system. Ideas for seasons just keep getting passed down.
Marder:There are a few that are magnetic that we can’t crack, and that we kind of leave on the board, hoping that maybe a new guy will come in and see it comedically. I feel like every season, a new person will come in and see that we have “time loop” up on the board, and they’ll crack their knuckles and be like, “I’m going to break the time loop.” And then we all spend three days trying to break “time loop.” Then it goes back on the board, and we’re reminded why we don’t do time loops.
Harmon:That is so funny. That is the reality, and it’s funny how mythical it is. It’s like an island on a pre-Columbian map in a ship’s galley, and some new deckhand comes in going, “What’s the Galapagos?” And we’re like, “Yarr, you little piece of shit, sit down and I’ll tell you a tale!” And they’ll either be successfully warned off, or they’ll go, “I’m going to take it.”
Marder:It’s always like, “I can’t remember why that one made it back on the board… I can’t remember why we couldn’t crack it…” And then three days later, you’re like, “I remember why we couldn’t crack it.” Now an eager young writer is seasoned and grizzled. “It was a mistake to go to the time loop.”
What Harmon and Marder overlook is thatthe franchise already covered time loops inRick and Morty #49 by Kyle Starks and Marc Ellerby.The comic book’s creative team were able to crack the code foraGroundhog Dayparody.
Fans Have Already Got Their Long-Awaited-Time Loop Episode in the Rick and Morty Comics
“Ricktroactive,” Written by Kyle Starks; Illustrated by Marc Ellerby; Colored by Sarah Stern; and Lettered by Crank! for Rick and Morty #49
Ricky and Morty#49’s first story begins with the elder of the two waking up to find him and his grandson’s spaceship made of garbage on the verge of crashing. Upon crash-landing on another planet, they eerily find two dead bodies that resemble themselves crashed from a ship that looks just like theirs. Rick shrugs it off in favor of exiting the planet, but when he awakens from another nap, he awakens to the exact same scenario, except Morty has no memory of finding their counterpart’s dead bodies the first time. Sanchez comes to the conclusion thatRick and Morty are “inGroundhog Day,boyeeeeeee!”
Rick’s excitement about finally living out hisGroundhog Dayfantasy almost feels meta on behalf of a fanbase and creative team who have waited years to seesuch a time loop storyline unfoldfor Rick and Morty. Rick spends the rest of the comic taking advantage of the time loop by drinking without the risk of a hangover, learning to juggle, gambling, playing video games, binging TV seasons, and other activities. Eventually, he gets bored with this life, but miraculously discovers the time loop is caused by a Fracture Quantum Anomaly Crystal. Once the crystal’s destroyed, everything’s back to normal.
Rick and Morty’s Time Loop Highlights the Importance of the Comics
The Comics Can Do What The TV Show Can’t
Not everyRick and Mortyviewer reads the comics, but this isa prime example why theRick and Mortycomic books are essential to the franchise. Story-wise,the comics are canon to the series, so audiences are missing out on vital and forgotten stories like this by not reading the comics. Additionally, the comics getting to do a time loop episode first shows how ideas that may not translate to the screen or are difficult to create for the screen have an easier transition with the comics.Rick and Morty’scomics are as must-read as the must-see TV show.
