This was an improvement on the first episode of the present season, and for the first time in awhile there were a couple of laugh-out-loud scenes (particularly the Jewish dad bit), but once again the Summer side-plot was very weak, and the whole 'Die Hard' premise/"homage"/ whatever was tired, misjudged and overdone. The references to other films no longer feel at all done out of love for those films, but rather convey the strong impression that a list is being ticked off of classic sci-fi/action movies that workers have been instructed to work their way through.
What was nice about the episode was its imaginative premise, of a videogame constructed from the fragmented mind of Morty, but, except for a couple of decent jokes, almost nothing of substance was done with it and it ended up feeling a very poor imitation of The Ricklantis Mix-Up.
It's hard to precisely know where to lay the blame for the dramatic drop in quality the past couple of seasons, except that it must obviously lay somewhere in the writing. I've not checked, but have heard other people online say most of the original staff writers are no longer with the show, and that new writers who aren't funny, aren't anywhere near clever enough, don't like the characters, or get what made the show work so perfectly before, have been drafted in instead.
Rick now seldom feels like Rick, and Morty seldom seems like Morty, and the whole thing feels made by committee, with clumsy plotting, chaotic pacing, and lots and lots of loose ends that don't add up to anything. Whereas in the old episodes, each story was full of loving detail that was self-contained and complete, and one could dwell upon the fictional worlds and lives they presented, and imagine all sorts of other developments taking place offscreen. There's none of that here, just a bunch of half-thought-out pop culture references, awkwardly and joylessly clashing together.
Like I say, this one really wasn't all that bad, and still better than most cartoon shows out there, but the magic is still gone and I now don't believe it's coming back.
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