There are numerous ways to view the role of art in relation to society. Sometimes art is for nothing more than for art’s sake. Other times, art is a gift given to the audience, so they can project thought, feeling and meaning to the art. In any case, there is no clear answer for the relationship between art and audiences.

A curious example of these two conflicting ideas is the continuous shifting of a release date for the long-awaited third season of Adult Swim’s “Rick and Morty.” The series follows the misadventures of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, both voiced by co-creator Justin Roiland, as they venture across the universe and alternate dimensions.

The series finished its second season in October 2015 to critical and commercial praise. Almost instantly, the show was renewed for a third season, and a tentative date was set for season three. Adult Swim and co-creator and showrunner Dan Harmon stated that the show would receive a premiere date by the end of 2016.

As the leaves changed and the temperature outside dropped, news of season three was sparse. It wasn’t until December of 2016 that it was announced there wouldn’t be a release for season three until early 2017. Fast forward to today, and there is still no definite release date set for “Rick and Morty,” only promises that the show will be ready “soon.”

The question is are creators, Harmon and Roiland, to blame or does the blame lie somewhere else, with the studio or animators?

The final answer to that question is complicated. Film and television is an inherently collaborative media. It is impossible for a professional series to be the sole vision of a single person. There are hundreds of people who work on a single episode of “Rick and Morty.”

That is makes it impossible to point at one person in the large system of people and single one out. While one group might hold one another up, the only process that holds the entire production back is the writing. Even the writing, however, is a collaborative process. In the writers room, there can be anywhere from five to 15 writers working on a script. That means that a disagreement between the writers can halt the process, but again there is not a sole entity who can be held accountable.

But even if you could single out someone to blame, should fingers be pointed? Do the creators of the series owe the audience a rushed product or a developed one? Or should the creators worry about setting a deadline and meet that mark, even if the product is not nearly as good as previous seasons?

There is no inherent responsibility for the creator to bend to the will of the audience. Instead, a creator’s job is to make their art as close to their vision as possible. hows like “Rick and Morty” are successful and strike a chord with audiences because of that attention to detail and the willingness to work to create.

While “Rick and Morty” is a critical and darling series, the creators owe nothing to the audience, other than to tell the best story they can. So, it is not wrong that the release date keeps pushing back. Instead, it should be taken as a good sign that the writers are taking time to make sure they put out the best final product they can.