RJ Writing Ink

Rick and Morty S8 Ep 10 Review

When it comes to Rick and Morty, it can be hard to predict how an episode will turn out. The previews are often made to be vague or misleading to keep audiences unsure how things will go (or at least me.) For the season eight finale of Rick and Morty, though, not only was I able to figure out what was going on pretty quickly, but it also led to another emotional moment for the series. In this case, Rick manages to find some sort of closure about the loss of his beloved wife, Diane.

Memory Rick is Back!

If the preview for the finale didn’t make it obvious, someone has been monkeying with Jerry’s memories, and it doesn’t take long for anyone to figure out who it is. The culprit is none other than Memory Rick, the sentient memory of Rick Sanchez created from Birdperson’s memories. He hitched a ride into Rick’s mind, but wound up in Jerry’s when they got scrambled together. Since then, he’s been re-writing Jerry’s memories in an effort to live the family life that Rick never got…until Rick pulls him out and traps him in a mind prison as punishment. Memory or not, though, Rick is still Rick, and Memory Rick is determined to get out.

Meanwhile, our Rick is inspired by the incident to become more emotionally open, and the only way to do that is let go of the memory of his late wife, Diane. So he literally extracts the memory and puts it into another mind prison, allowing him to open up to others. That leads to its own difficulties, though, as he winds up fighting a bug prince in a gladiator fight.

What matters more, though, is how even after avenging his wife and original Beth and trying to move on, Rick is still unable to let go of Diane. What makes it even darker, though, is how Rick reveals that he can’t even fully recall what Diane was like anymore. Not because it’s been so long, but because the device Rick Prime used to erase all Dianes messed with his memories of her. Rick is loving a shadow at this point, and he can’t even let go of that.

Rick’s Biggest Flaw: He Can’t Let Go

This inability to let go is on full display with Memory Rick. Being a younger version of Rick, he comes up with a plan to reunite with Memory Diane. Unfortunately, his plan involves hijacking Beth’s memories and mentally training her to mount a rescue mission. It works, but it has disastrous consequences: Space Beth almost dies!

When I saw Beth snap her twin’s neck, I was speechless. Throughout the commercial break, I was convinced Space Beth might be permanently dead! Thankfully she wasn’t, but it only gets worse from there. Beth proceeds to have a mental breakdown as the memory versions of her rebel and try to kill Memory Rick and Diane. Because of Rick’s inability to let go, it almost gets his daughter killed. Thankfully, he’s able to reset her mind just in time.

Another Season Wrapped Up

Ultimately, the episode ends with Rick letting everyone believe that he got rid of Memory Rick and Diane for good. In reality, he didn’t; he gave them a new mindscape for them to live in for all eternity and set them free into deep space. So while he may not get his happy ending with Diane, there’s at least one version of him that does. The sad thing is, he plans to wipe his memory of the entire thing, meaning he won’t learn anything.

I had a feeling that the season finale of Rick and Morty was going to be an emotional one, and it turns out I was right. It’s not as shocking as some previous finales, but that doesn’t change the fact that it advanced Rick’s story a little. That, and we saw the return of Mr. Poopybutthole. It was a good finale, overall, for a season that feels more laid-back than the show’s been in recent years.

I Give “Hot Rick” a 4/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff.

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.

I Give “Morty Daddy” a 3/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff. 

Rick and Morty S8 Ep 8 Review

The Citadel of Ricks might be gone, but the concept of multiversal variants of the Smith-Sanchez family interacting lives on. I’ve actually been wanting to see different versions of the family follow in Rick’s footsteps and build their own organizations and alliances. Imagine my surprise when this season’s eighth episode not only granted my wish, but it did it with the main cast’s most normal character: Jerry Smith. This entire episode is a Jerry episode, and I loved it!

Jerry and…Another Jerry

The episode seemingly starts off on a normal morning in the Smith-Sanchez home. Everyone’s going about their day while Jerry’s eating some cereal. The only difference is that he has some stubble, but that could be chalked up to him not shaving yet. As the teaser reveals, though, this isn’t our Jerry.

After cornering this other Jerry, our Jerry learns that this variant of himself, nicknamed “Mooch,” is a Jerry who left his home dimension to travel the multiverse. As it turns out, other Jerries have learned how to use cracks and ratlines that they’ve dubbed “The Road” to travel across the multiverse. Since Jerry is usually beneath notice, their families have remained none the wiser! And at the encouragement of Mooch, Jerry decides to join him on The Road for a while.

Jerry on the Road

It wasn’t until I read a review on Bubbleblabber that I realized that this was the third episode of the season that didn’t focus on our main Rick and Morty. Instead, it focused on the supporting cast; in this case, Jerry, a character that wasn’t even present until the season’s fourth episode. As a result, this episode feels like a culmination of what Jerry’s capable of doing because he can fly under the radar.

His counterparts have figured out their own clever way of traveling the multiverse without attracting Rick’s attention, and his family remains none the wiser. It gets to the point where Jerry’s like Mooch opt to never return home, choosing to live a life on The Road. There’s always been a bit of romanticism about living life as a wanderer, and this episode feels like an attempt to tap into that. In the end, though, Jerry is still Jerry, and that means the universe is going to throw him a curveball.

After missing their main stop back, Jerry and Mooch have to travel to Grand Central, a dimension that acts as a hub for Jerries traveling on The Road. Unfortunately, our Jerry, emboldened by his experiences, mouths off to Boss Jerry, and he blacklists them from The Road altogether. Then to top it off, Jerry reveals the reason why he’s living on The Road: he got lost and by the time he got back, he thought his family hadn’t noticed or cared. His Beth had even remarried some random guy from the Jerryboree Day-Care!

Jerry Might be the Best Jerry

This is where our Jerry steps up and starts to show his character growth, calling Mooch out for being a spineless wuss. His experiences since joining his current Smith family have helped him grow a spine. Case in point, he forces Mooch to return home and reconcile with his family, who, as it turns out, had been worried about him. As an aside, the reveal that everyone in Mooch’s home dimension has five o’clock shadow was funny.

In the end, Jerry and Mooch make it back to Grand Central and lead Boss Jerry and his flunkies on a chase across The Road that ends with Boss Jerry either dead or trapped between dimensions. Mooch seems ready to return to his family while The Road is now free for all Jerries, and Jerry returns to his family. And much like with Mooch, the Smith-Sanchez family was worried about him, showing how they truly value him.

However, it looks like Rick now knows about The Road, but likely won’t do anything about it. And we got to see more of the show’s potential to use the multiverse for having characters interact with each other. And Jerry got to see who he could’ve been like if he hadn’t gotten his character growth. I guess him and Beth getting divorced for a while was the best thing that could’ve happened to him.

I Give “Nomortland” a 4/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff. 

Rick and Morty Season 8 Ep 2 Review

Rick and Space Beth have never had the best relationship, have they? From Rick planting a potential bomb in her to deliberately ensuring neither he nor Earth Beth know which is the clone, Space Beth has every reason to hate her dad. This is something that Rick is all too aware of, but unlike the rest of his family, he hasn’t tried to fix things. It isn’t until Space Beth is forced into asking him for help that the two make any headway. And even then, it’s set against the much greater threat of a rogue Federation scientist and alien parasites. The bugs are back at it again!

Rick Gets Space Beth Fired

Despite her becoming an important side character in the show, Rick and Morty never really focuses on what Space Beth has been up to since she left Earth. The most we know is that she’s part of a greater rebellion against the Gromflomite-led Federation. It isn’t until this episode that we get to see what this rebellion is like, and it’s not that flattering. The show makes it clear it’s what the Rebel Alliance was like until Rogue One had them get their act together: arguing amongst themselves rather than fighting. And when Space Beth goes rogue to conduct an unauthorized assassination that fails, forcing her to turn to Rick for help, they’re happy to kick her out.

To be fair, it’s pretty much shown that they only did that because Rick talked down to them, so it’s more or less his fault.

As Rick and Space Beth have to work together throughout this episode, we see just how Space Beth’s concerns about asking her Dad for help were justified. His follow-up attempt to fix things and uncover the conspiracy taking place leads to them relying on someone that never shows up and getting involved in a massive shootout. The fact that said shootout is juxtaposed against Rick and Space Beth arguing over how Rick’s plan could go wrong is the icing on the comedic cake. It also serves to emphasize just how tense the father and daughter’s relationship is, and to great effect.

These sorts of conflicts between parent and child are not new, but they are still interesting to watch. Seeing Rick stumble in trying to prove himself to his daughter is never not going to be enjoyable, since Beth is one of the few things that keeps him grounded. And as the episode goes on and the two fight the rogue Federation scientist using symbiotic parasites to create super-soldiers, the pair seem to achieve a deeper level of respect for each other. Given that it’s Rick and Morty, whether this will stick is up for debate. But it can’t be any less likely than the truce with the Federation.

The Federation Actually Helps them?

In the biggest twist of the episode, Rick and Space Beth end up calling a truce with a Federation General who’s just as unhappy about what’s happening as they are. As a result, the two groups wind up cooperating to defeat their common enemy, and the General proves to be rather competent. Even crazier, though, is that instead of returning to their usual fighting, the rebellion and Federation keep the truce going! They might actually have peace!

The Gromflomites have been the longest recurring antagonists in Rick and Morty, going all the way back to the pilot. They were responsible for some of the best episodes in the entire series. If this truce sticks, this could seriously affect the status quo of the entire show. Then again, it is Rick and Morty, so nothing is certain.

This episode felt like a notable improvement over the season premiere, helping to keep the show fresh as it enters such a late time in its run. Even more notable, though, is how this episode is the first to not feature Morty in any capacity. Given how the series previously did an episode without Rick, this feels appropriate.

I Give “Valkyrick” a 3.8/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff. 

Rick and Morty S7 Ep 10 Review

In hindsight, Rick and Morty have managed to spoil us with its season finales for years now. From Season Two onwards, the season finale would usually end with some big, status quo-shifting event. Season 3 had Jerry and Beth get back together; Four introduced Space Beth; Five gave us the end to the Citadel of Rick and Morty; and Six ended with Rick and Morty starting the hunt for Rick Prime. Given how the seasons midway point saw the hunt for Rick Prime come to a sudden and unexpected end, many people wondered what Rick and Morty would do for the season finale. While it wasn’t as mind-blowing as Rick Prime and Evil, it was also more personal in nature as Morty grapples with his deepest fear.

Scare of a Lifetime

After failing to get scared at an horror house and lamenting how desensitized they’ve become, Rick and Morty are persuaded by a man who likes the host for The Twilight Zone to go to Earth to find the scariest thing in the universe: a hole in a Denny’s bathroom that projects a person’s deepest fears. With nothing to lose, both dive headfirst into the hole. Little do they, or the audience, know, but what they face is more than some simple jump scares. 

Case in point: after they think they leave the hole after a jumpscare and go home, they’re surprised by a dying Rick and…Diane?!??

Right away, Rick and Morty realize they’re both still in the Fear Hole. However, Rick can’t bring himself to leave what he knows is a facsimile of his wife. And if it’s accurate, then it’s clear why Rick loved her. She drinks as much as him, loves ripping on bad sci-fi as much as him, and is an all-around fun person to be around. No wonder he devoted his life to avenging her and his Beth. 

A True Horror Can be Psychological

At first, it seems like the whole episode is about Rick and his greatest fear. That he can never see Diane again in any reality, no matter how much he wants to. However, that’s only the first half of the episode. Even after Rick lets go of Diane and joins Morty in embarrassing himself, they’re still in the Hole.

From there, things get really, really disturbing. The two repeatedly try to escape the Hole, only for it to be layered like a dream from Inception. And the more they try to leave, the more things fall apart for them. Eventually, though, the big sham moment drops at the climax. This experience wasn’t about Rick’s biggest fear. It was about Morty’s biggest fear: his dependence on Rick.

The series has made it no secret that most Ricks see Morty’s as expendable; as replaceable as a toothbrush or plumbus. Morty has always been afraid that Rick might leave him one day. That is some deep-seated fears! 

Morty Faces his Fear and Comes Out on Top

Ultimately, Morty chooses to face that fear, but it’s clear the experience has scarred him. When he mentions Diane appearing, and Rick, who never went inside, is tempted to try the Hole, Morty point-blank tells him it’s not worth it. For a moment, Rick’s tempted to go in anyway. Instead, he just hangs a picture of Morty on the wall of people who made it through the Hole.

It’s not the most obvious, but this moment solidifies that Rick has started to grow as a person. When presented with the chance to see a fake version of his wife, Rick opts to not do so, and sticks with Morty. The message is clear: Rick has started to move on with his life. He may never heal from the trauma he went through, but he’s working on it. Way to go with that character development, Rick.

Can’t say the same for Mr. Poopy Butthole. The end credits sees him steal one of Rick’s portal guns so he can replace a version of himself that’s married to his wife. He clearly hasn’t learned his lesson. 

So, another season of Rick and Morty is in the books now. It had its ups and downs, but as a whole, it was decent. The new voice actor’s have grown into their roles as Rick and Morty, that’s for sure. As for season finales, I’d put this in the middle of the pack as far as quality. Like I said at the start, the finales have hardwired my brain to expect something big to happen. Lesson learned!

I Give “Fear No Mort” a 4/5

 Click here to see my other animation stuff.