Rick’s Baggage: The Only Weight We Carry in…

Rick and Morty continues to impress with its whirlwind of inventive chaos. After previewing several episodes from the upcoming season 8, which debuts on Sunday, March 25 with a Matrix-inspired plot revolving around the theft of a phone charger, I was left with that delightful “How do they come up with this?” sensation reminiscent of the show’s premiere over a decade ago. While the characters have evolved—Morty now possesses a sharper edge from his countless intergalactic adventures and Rick, though still manically unpredictable, bears the burden of having cloned his daughter Beth in the past—there’s a comforting familiarity that remains.

However, the amount of wild sci-fi humor that creator Dan Harmon, showrunner Scott Marder, and their writing team inject into each episode is as striking as ever. This season promises a range of absurdities, from a body-horror rendition of the Easter Bunny to what Harmon calls a “spiritual sequel” to the fan-favorite Citadel episode “The Ricklantis Mixup” from season 3.

So, what does it take to kick off another season of Rick and Morty? And what objectives must this new season fulfill? Polygon sat down with Harmon and Marder, who worked on seasons 8, 9, and 10 all at once, to discuss the complexities of crafting this Adult Swim series rich with a legacy of madness.

Polygon: How do you even begin writing a new episode when your show can roam wildly in numerous fantastical directions or delve deep into its own lore?

Scott Marder: You may be surprised to learn that we don’t kick off a season by asking, “What’s the canon we need to adhere to?” That’s the heavy lifting that doesn’t necessarily form our starting point. There are always team members who are acutely aware of the overarching narrative throughout the series, but like any writers’ room, people come in eager to share ideas they’re excited about. You can see it on their faces, feel the energy, and then the creative juices start flowing. We avoid setting strict rules. Occasionally there are seasons where we feel a need to address something from the prior season, but in season 8, we found the freedom of not having that obligation, which was a luxury.