Fans of the hit animated sci-fi series Rick and Morty have it harder than most other fandoms out there. Yes, the series is hilarious and going on its fourth season. Yes, the quality is unerringly high across its entire run. And yes, it single-handedly brought back McDonald’s Szechuan Sauce.
The problem with being a Rick and Morty fan, though, is that it maintain this ultra-high level of quality in every episode of every season, the series creators understandably have to take their time. They don’t maintain a standardized, seasonal release schedule because it gives them the breadth necessary to make every last episode the best it could possibly be: from The Ricklantis Mixup to Pickle Rick to The Vindicators.
And even though the show as released is undoubtedly better for it, it’s a pretty big ask of any fandom to go upwards of two years between seasons with nothing to show for it. Between the end of Season 1 (Ricksy Business) and the start of Season 2 (A Rickle in Time), fans waited for more than fifteen months. Between Season 2 (The Wedding Squanchers) and Season 3 (The Rickshank Rickdemption), nearly two years had gone by. Even then, between the first and second episodes of the third season, fans had to wait an additional four months. What’s more is that the end of the Season 3 finale (The Rickchurian Mortydate), one character teased another year-and-a-half before the start of the next season.
To help take the edge off between fixes, Adult Swim has gotten into the habit of releasing shorts and other “mini-sodes” during the series’ frequent hiatuses. This began with the series’ so-called Non-Canonical Adventures, each episode of which last less than half a minute and parodied a variety of sci-fi and horror movies.
The latest hold-over for franchise fanatics is an animated music video for the hip-hop duo Run the Jewels’ song Oh Mama, from their third self-titled album. The video follows Rick and Morty, dressed to the nines in a manner reminiscent of Men in Black agents, chasing and gunning down insectoid aliens before returning home and Rick turning off Morty, who is revealed to have been a robot.
It might not fully make up for a lack of new episodes every week, but it’s a fun diversion that is bound to at least scratch that Rick and Morty itch, if nothing else. And with a presumably long stretch ahead before Season 4 comes out, that will have to be enough for now.