Rick and Morty Co-Creator Says Train Episode Is This Season's "Interdimensional Cable"

Rick and Morty returned to television this past Sunday with the first episode in the back half of Season 4, with four more to follow in the coming weeks. It was a total departure from a "normal" episode of the animated series, spending its entire runtime on a toy train and dunking on elaborate fan theories. It was an incredibly self-aware bit of satire from the Rick and Morty team, and it also looks as though it will essentially take the place of the annual "Interdimensional Cable" episode this season.

Fans have come to love the one-off adventures through Rick's interdimensional cable, but that won't be happening anytime during Season 4. During an interview with ComicBook.com, Rick and Morty co-creator and star Justin Roiland admitted that the recent episode was a big departure from the show's usual storytelling, and will act as Season 4's version of the narrative-hopping cable episode.

"I actually thought that was going to be the second one in this back pod," Roiland told us. "We called it episode seven for so long that I kept thinking it was going to come after six. And six is actually coming next. And we kind of get back to the show as people know it. You know, adventures with some continuity. But I feel like this train episode is kind of this season's 'Interdimensional Cable.' Sort of this seasons kind of crazy, inconsequential but insane little crazy episode."

So if you're hoping one of these final four episodes of the season will see Rick Sanchez and his grandson watching weird things unfold on their TV, don't get your hopes up. It doesn't look like it's happening this time around. However, Roiland did say that the next episode will "get back to the show as people know it," so it will likely remain a little more driven by narrative through the final stretch.

Rick and Morty is back in full swing and racing toward the conclusion of its fourth season, but that's not the only animated project on the way from Roiland. He and Rick and Morty writer Mike McMahan co-created a new series called Solar Opposites, which arrives on Hulu this Friday, May 8th.

Are you looking forward to seeing how Rick and Morty concludes Season 4? Are you disappointed there won't be an "Interdimensional Cable" episode? Let us know in the comments!