President Curtis is Repeating Rick and Morty’s Biggest Mistake

On the Rick and Morty spin-off President Curtis last Sunday, viewers learned a bit more about Special Agent Francis O’Doyle. Jim Rash voices O’Doyle, the top Secret Service agent guarding President Curtis, played by Keith David. While fans knew he was half-leprechaun, most other details about his background remained hidden until the episode titled “Knox.” In that episode, O’Doyle’s mom steals all the gold in Fort Knox and frames him for the crime. O’Doyle goes on the run and works with White House Chief of Staff Rho Banks, voiced by Stephanie Beatriz, to clear his name.

That episode also missed the mark.

Just eight episodes into its 10-episode first season, President Curtis holds a lot of promise. Curtis is the one Rick and Morty character who can stand on his own two feet for a spin-off, as it makes sense for the President to have his own stories that do not constantly rely on Rick and Morty. Keith David makes a spectacular lead. For the most part, the show differentiates itself from Rick and Morty by playing to its strengths. It tells stories deeply woven into American history, such as an episode where Abraham Lincoln’s ghost tries to reclaim the presidency and another where Curtis fights an evil entity residing at Camp David.

The show occasionally falters. In an episode where Curtis and members of his administration venture into Hollow Earth and meet weird creatures, the plotline felt like a leftover idea from the Rick and Morty writers’ room repurposed for President Curtis. However, any show deserves forgiveness for an occasional bad episode. The problem with last Sunday’s episode, along with another from earlier this season, is that it repeats Rick and Morty’s worst mistake. It does so even worse by focusing on characters viewers do not care about yet.

Ever since Rick and Morty began, the writers seemed caught in a tug-of-war over whether the show should be episodic or serialized. Some seasons went heavy on stories about Rick’s background, the multiverse, and the Citadel of Ricks, where thousands of Ricks and Mortys reside. Those stories offered fun moments and interesting lore, but they often felt like too much of a good thing. Fans lamented the loss of the standalone adventures found in earlier seasons, and the show itself poked fun at this by having the main characters state they should go on classic adventures unrelated to the Citadel.

Recent seasons largely solved this problem. With the destruction of the Citadel in season 5, subsequent seasons achieved better balance, featuring only two or three episodes per season that dove deep into the show’s mythos. Most episodes delivered standalone stories that did not require viewers to remember heavy lore.

Despite the struggles Rick and Morty faced with its own lore, President Curtis has dedicated significant time to building complex backstories for its new characters, particularly O’Doyle and Banks.

Aside from “Knox,” the episode titled “Ghosts” earlier this season suffered from a similar issue. While the B story featured the fantastic plotline about Lincoln’s ghost, the A story focused entirely on Banks’ origins as a cyborg. To eliminate malware in her systems, she ventured into her memory banks to confront past demons. Much like “Knox,” the story focused heavily on world-building and mythos while remaining frustratingly light on laughs.

This creates a major problem for a new show that is still finding its footing. While President Curtis makes a strong lead, the supporting characters have yet to prove themselves in the comedy department. Rick and Morty faced growing pains, but its supporting players remained hilarious. Jerry’s status as a hapless loser made him the ultimate punching bag, and Summer’s snarky comebacks made her quotable. President Curtis lacks a Jerry, a Summer, or even a Gene. The show relies on its three leads, and all the best stories and biggest laughs come directly from Curtis.

Perhaps the writers will eventually find the humor in O’Doyle and Banks. Until then, building complex lore around them produces the debut season’s weakest episodes. At least when Rick and Morty built mythology, it focused on Rick and Morty. President Curtis has received some backstory development, such as the details regarding his ex-wife, but his staff currently receives more attention than he does.

A minimalist approach to mythology works better for this show, even when applied to the titular character. The strengths of President Curtis lie in the present moment and in the bizarre backstories of past U.S. presidents, such as the secret son of JFK living on the Moon introduced in the first episode. That type of material should serve as the lore of the series, rather than plots about cyborgs and leprechauns. Fans only somewhat tolerated myth-building in Rick and Morty, and this newer show may not weather that storm as easily. Although the series secured a renewal for a second season, fewer cyborgs and leprechauns combined with more ghosts of dead presidents would improve the experience.

Source: Polygon