Rick and Morty S8 Ep 9 Review
So back during the first season of Rick and Morty, Morty talked Rick into buying him a sexbot as a gift, because…Morty’s a teenage boy. Except it turned out to be an alien robot created by a race of women to help them reproduce with the hyper-violent males of their species. It wound up creating a half-alien son that Morty named Morty Jr who grew up to hate his dad so much that he wrote a best-selling novel about it. It was something so weird and out of the ordinary, even by the show’s standards, that it’s never come up again…until now. The penultimate episode of this season opts for a deep callback with the return of Morty Jr.
Morty Jr is Back
The episode starts off with Morty getting a call from his now-elderly son from the hospital. Naturally, Morty assumes that Jr is dying and, wanting to make amends, decides to pay him a visit. This is much to the protests of his family, who all vocally agree that Morty Junior sucks. The funniest part is the fact that Jerry is the most vocal about his disapproval, due to him writing a book trashing Morty. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it made him and Beth look like bad parents.
I don’t have kids yet myself, but I’m old enough to understand that parents are never going to be perfect. Even the ones that are genuinely trying to be good parents are going to screw up, but won’t want to admit it. So I found Jerry’s complaining about Junior to be funny, especially later in the episode, as it’s revealed that his assessment of Morty’s son was accurate.
Morty Junior. Just as Bad as his Old Man
Morty Junior reached out to his dad because he wanted to find closure with his “mom,” who Morty had long since thrown away. So the two jump into the pocket dimension Rick created to hold all his trash, and wind up getting trapped there. Then, it’s revealed that Morty Junior was never dying. He just wanted more material for another book about Morty because his others didn’t sell well and he has child support payments! He just let Morty assume he was dying and never corrected him!
I have to admit, I went into this episode with every expectation that Morty Junior would die by the end. However, the reveal that he was just as bad and irresponsible as Morty was way funnier! And even though they do end up bonding, the ending shows that they haven’t really learned anything. Morty bails the second Rick gets home, while Morty Junior writes that sequel bashing him. Nothing was learned, and sometimes that’s the funniest outcome!
To be honest, though, I was more interested in the B-plot with the Rick and Summer adventure.
A fun Rick and Summer Adventure
So, Summer gets reservations for her and Rick at this high-class alien restaurant. Their gimmick is that the chefs are pre-cogs who know what customers want before they do. Except they wind up giving Summer avocado toast. Incensed, Summer insists on complaining to the Cogs, only for things to escalate when she kidnaps them. And what’s worse is that, despite saying that she shouldn’t get involved, Rick does just that!
Rick and Summer are among my favorite pairings throughout the show’s run, and for good reason. While Morty has grown into being Rick’s partner and equal in adventuring, Summer arguably did that first. She’s more confident, self-assured, and more ready to stand up to her grandpa and call him out on his BS…most of the time. But it was nice to see the two have another adventure. Especially since this turned out to be a plot by the Cogs to start their own food truck due to being burnt out from the restaurant thing. I don’t know why, but it reminded me of the backstory behind The Menu.
There’s only one episode left in this season of Rick and Morty, and I doubt I will remember this adventure with Morty Junior for long. But I don’t have to; it was just a fun callback to the early days of the series.
