Honestly, I find that stuff pretty easy to remember. And is it that ugly, in the grand scheme of ugly shell syntax? :)

I mean, what about [[ ]] vs. (( )) vs. [ ]? Or the beginning of a case statement? Those always get me since I don't use them often enough for them to stick.

[ ] is easy. It's just the 'test' command.[1]

  % which \[
  /usr/bin/[

All of the other syntax is shell-specific (run via built-ins), so that can vary, and be a little more obtuse.

[1] Albiet with some minor differences:

  % if [ -d /tmp ]; then echo "TRUE"; fi
  TRUE
  
  % if test -d /tmp ]; then echo "TRUE"; fi
  test: too many arguments
  
  % if test -d /tmp; then echo "TRUE"; fi 
  TRUE

  % diff /usr/bin/{test,\[}
  Binary files /usr/bin/test and /usr/bin/[ differ

  % man \[
  No manual entry for [

Yes. rc has less of it, fewer edge cases, etc. Even though it still has lists implemented sanely, a full set of redirects, etc:

    $ 9 man rc | wc -l
    496
    $ man bash | wc -l
    4890

Fewer interactive features as well, unfortunately. But it's small enough to keep in your head, and I find that makes it far more pleasant to use.