Rick and Morty S9 Ep 8 Review
I try to be an empathetic person every day. I think that the world can be too mean as it is for us to not feel bad for each other. But like many many things in life, Rick and Morty took this to its logical extreme, and therefore, showed us why it can be bad. And the worst part of it? It’s the fact that everything that happened this episode is mostly Morty’s fault.
Morty, this was all on you!
In this episode, we learn that Rick has a secret distillery where he creates his own alcohol as a hobby, and he seems to genuinely enjoy it. He’s happily making beer by himself and having a good time. But then Morty chooses to ignore the ‘Do not disturb’ sign he put on the door to bother him about something that is pretty pointless. I mean, it might not seem pointless to him, but in the grand scheme of things, bothering your grandpa during his personal time to help him get some Pokémon cards is a pretty stupid thing.
Normally, I would be on Morty’s side and say that Rick is being too hard on him. However, considering how the boy ignored the VERY VISIBLE sign asking not to be disturbed, and then destroying his grandpa’s distillery? Rick had every right to be mad at him. So, rather than deal with their usual arguments this time, Rick takes a shortcut by implanting Morty with a parasite that makes him emphathize with everyone, no matter how awful they are.
The effects of this parasite are actually pretty interesting to look at. Throughout the time Morty has it in his side, we are given almost context as to what is actually happening in his life, instead only seeing through his warped perspective of the world. For all we know, the way he tried to “help” everyone at his school was either making them feel worse or was just them yelling at him for acting inappropriately. Part of me wants to know what really happened, but a bigger part thinks it would be funnier not knowing!
Empathy can be a bad thing, I guess
Things come to a head when the pair head out to buy something, and Morty empathizes with an explosion that blows his arm off. By the time Rick pulls the parasite out of him, his empathy has been digested, turning him into the same stone-cold kind of guy Rick is. Karma sucks, though, because the parasite infests Rick’s brain, making him empathize with the guys trying to kill them! It’s a complete reversal of their usual dynamic, and one that is necessary for them to understand each other’s viewpoint…or something. I don’t really know or care.
It doesn’t care about the lotion!
Meanwhile, we have this subplot going on where Summer and Jerry are trying to get the supplies that Rick needs to rebuild, and find out these drums are being hoarded by a serial killer. Jerry is left to distract the guy while Summer gets the drums and frees this girl who was held captive in a pit out of Silence of the Lambs and…oh, who am I kidding? I wasn’t really paying attention to what was happening. I didn’t care about that part of the episode. I didn’t like that part of the episode. And I didn’t care when the serial killer got shot to death by the cops. It wasn’t that interesting for me.
So, in the end, Rick kills the parasite with beer, and Morty is left without any empathy until the next episode. Whoopdy-freaking-doo. This was honestly one of the weaker episodes for me, and I’m probably going to forget about it by next week. I know should have some empathy for Morty, but remember that this was largely because he ignored the dang sign.
