5 Reasons Rick And Morty Fans Will Love Netflix's Inside Job
"Rick and Morty" is still a popular, beloved show, but the wait between seasons can be frustrating. Although season 7 has already been written, it doesn't seem like fans will get to see season 6 until around October of this year. If you're sick of rewatching your favorite "Rick and Morty" episodes but are still looking for something to scratch that same itch, Netflix's animated sitcom "Inside Job" might be worth checking out.
Created by Alex Hirsh and Shion Takeuchi, both known for their work on the acclaimed "Gravity Falls," "Inside Job" is a workplace comedy set around the incompetent employees of the Deep State, who are responsible for keeping all the world's conspiracies safe from the public's knowledge. Received with positive reviews and renewed for a second season, this show has a lot to offer to "Rick and Morty" fans in search of a new animated comedy.
Inside Job shares the same sense of nihilism
One of the more memorable aspects of "Rick and Morty" is the show's nihilistic streak. Tragedy strikes at every turn in the show, but the writers make that a source of comedy. When Rick accidentally destroys the whole planet in "Rick Potion #9," he and Morty simply hop over to a different dimension and go back to living their lives like normal. When Morty experiences the entire life and death of Roy, he shrugs it off and forgets about it within a couple of seconds. For the most part, the messed up stuff that happens on "Rick and Morty" is absurdly quick and treated with indifference.
"Inside Job" is no different. People get brutally murdered on this show as quick gag. Every famous conspiracy theory in our world is revealed to be true in this one, and none of the characters are concerned. A lot of the humor in "Inside Job" comes down to how it should be horrifying to find out that everything in the world is being controlled by an actual Deep State, but the main characters simply don't care. They play puppet master of the whole world with the same level of gravitas as someone going into any boring nine-to-five job. If embracing the humor of meaninglessness is something you're into, "Inside Job" is a show for you.
Inside Job's Reagan could (almost) give Rick a run for his money
Rick Sanchez is a grouchy, anti-social old man who is extremely smart and world-weary. Reagan Ridley (Lizzy Caplan), the protagonist of "Inside Job," is a grouchy, anti-social young woman with the same basic traits. Although Reagan never quite reaches the status of being the smartest person in the universe, she gets pretty damn close. In the first episode alone, she creates a robot clone of the President in what's deemed a mastery of artificial intelligence. (Admittedly the robot soon malfunctions and tries to nuke the planet, but it was nice while it lasted.)
One big difference between the two leads is that while Rick simply wants to be left alone and go on fun, self-contained adventures, Reagan has clear goals. Rick avoids responsibility like the plague, while Reagan badly wants to run her department, to be responsible for everything that happens at her job. This difference in the characters' ambitions help Reagan feel like a fresh character, allowing the show to tackle fresh ground.
Brett is a less mean-spirited Jerry
One of the most divisive characters in "Rick and Morty" is Jerry Smith (Chris Parnell), who spends the early seasons as the show's punching bag. His wife doesn't respect him, his kids don't respect him, and Rick himself seems to despise everything about the guy. Despite all this, the show still takes the stance that Jerry's seemingly boring, uninspiring way of life is preferable to Rick's arrogance and contempt for normality.
This is solidified in the season 3 finale where Beth (Sarah Chalke) chooses to get back together with Jerry despite Rick's wishes. As cool as Rick may act, Jerry's general decency and sincerity is what wins the family over to him. While Jerry's still the butt of a lot of jokes on the show, "Rick and Morty" has in recent seasons embraced the idea that being a basic person with basic interests is admirable in its own way, and the people who make fun of that (mainly Beth and Rick) aren't exactly role models.
This is part of what makes Brett Hand (Clark Duke) from "Inside Job" such a fun character. Like Jerry, he's an uninspiring, incompetent person who simply wants to be liked. Unlike Jerry, the characters on "Inside Job" genuinely do appreciate him. Although Ridley is frustrated by his lack of intelligence, she too learns to appreciate his kind-hearted, straightforward nature. For "Rick and Morty" fans who wish Jerry could've been treated a little more kindly, Brett provides some much-needed catharsis.
Aliens and monsters are real and normal
One fun aspect of "Rick and Morty" is how little the show holds the audience's hand when it comes to the sci-fi elements. Aliens exist in their world, and even if they don't have much to do with Rick's intergalactic adventures, all the other human characters are pretty much cool with that. Aliens and other supernatural beings will often walk casually out in public without any trouble. It's part of the show's charm.
The non-human characters of "Inside Job" are treated with that same level of normalcy. Non-human characters include Magic Myk (Brett Gelman), a psychic mushroom, and Glenn Dolphin (John DiMaggio), a human-dolphin hybrid soldier. When new guy Brent shows up on his first day, there's no scene where he's shocked or thrown off by their existence, no moment where the show seems concerned over the audience's suspension of disbelief. These characters are simply written and treated like normal people, no explanations needed.
Inside Job has the same lightning-fast pace
In one interview, "Rick and Morty" staff writer Siobhan Thompson talked about how uniquely fast-paced the show was, saying, "I feel like you burn five to ten premises in every episode." Whereas most sitcoms are content to base its episodes around one or two premises max, every episode of "Rick and Morty" feels like it's throwing a dozen different sci-fi concepts at you at once. The show's ability to juggle all these different ideas while still keeping coherent arcs for its main characters is part of what's made it such a hit.
"Inside Job" is the same way, except its focus is more on exploring and playing on famous conspiracy theories, rather than on sci-fi concepts. Every episode feels like there's so much going on at once, and yet the show never feels like it's anywhere close to running out of ideas.
With "Rick and Morty" season 6 being a long way off (and with Justin Roiland raising the idea of having a month-long gap between episodes), you're going to need a show to fill in the time. So please: give this absurd new show a shot.