Rick and Morty creators tease season 3 story lines for Beth, Summer

Beth and Jerry's separation will have big effects when the new season premieres July 30

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With only days remaining before Rick and Morty season 3 officially premieres on Comedy Central (following that one-off April Fool’s premiere), details about new story lines are in high demand. Luckily for fans, the Rick and Morty crew — creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, actresses Sarah Chalke and Spencer Grammer, and writer Ryan Ridley — stopped by EW’s studio at San Diego Comic-Con to tease details about the new season.

“That first episode of season 3 was about getting everything back to somewhat of a normal rhythm, with a few exceptions,” Roiland told EW’s Jessica Shaw. “Jerry and Beth are splitting, and that’s gonna add a different kind of flavor to the season. But it’s still the same show. There are gonna be some great standalone episodes that are ‘evergreen,’ as they say in the industry. And then there will be some about continuity and canon and consequences that will live with us for many seasons to come.”

Aside from Rick escaping space jail, the premiere was notable for another major plot point: Morty’s parents Beth (Chalke) and Jerry Smith (Chris Parnell) officially separating. As a result, Chalke teased, fans will see a new side of Beth this season.

“She’s going wild,” Chalke said. “You’re gonna see more of what happened with her and Rick, you’ll dive into her childhood, and you see why she is the way she is and can’t fill this bottomless hole in herself.”

The divorce will have similarly life-changing consequences for Summer, Grammer added.

“Yeah, there’s good stuff that happens with her,” Grammer said. “The dynamic of the family starts to change, and especially as a teenager, that starts to affect you as a person, and different things then happen within that reality.”

“It’s safe to say that Summer has a story where her body image issues take a sci-fi turn,” Harmon promised.

Watch the full video above. Rick and Morty season 3 premieres July 30 on Comedy Central at 11:30 p.m. ET.

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