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Rick and Morty S7 Ep 9 Review

In a show like Rick and Morty, life and death are worth as much as a pack of gum one gets at a gas station. By this point, fans have seen the show’s cast die multiple times, only for it to get reversed, faked, or an alternate version of a character. While Rick might not be immortal, he’s got so many ways to come back that he gets pretty close to it. It is funnier when Rick’s latest scheme involves him doing something no one ever thought he would do: get into the afterlife via death by Bigfoot.

Bigfoot Sends Rick and Morty to Valhalla

In his latest experiment/scheme, Rick manages to confirm something that people have debated about for years: there is an afterlife. There are multiple versions of the afterlife based on everyone’s beliefs. He’s not interested in reaching any of them whenever he dies for good, though. He wants to use their energy to power himself up even more. Since he’s still a stubborn atheist, though, that’s almost impossible. Rick soon finds a workaround by getting into one of the easiest afterlives: Valhalla, the realm of the Norse Gods. So, to get in, he takes Morty to Norway and lets himself be killed by a captive Bigfoot.

No, really. That’s his whole plan. He’s had Bigfoot held captive in a Pokeball and lets him out just so he can be brutally killed, and it works. He gets into Vahalla and hijacks that “afterlife energy” for himself. 

Like a Video Game, but Deadlier

There are several funny aspects about this initial part of the episode that had me laughing. Firstly, there’s the fact that he’s used Jerry as his guinea pig so often that his late grandmother’s tired of welcoming him to Heaven. Secondly, there’s the fact that, as Dan Harmon states, Rick is dying so he can have adventures. The idea that he could use it to reunite with his Diane and original Beth doesn’t even seem to cross his mind. 

Lastly, there’s the fact once the residents of Valhalla realize what Rick’s up to, they try to rush his tower, only for it to turn into a real-life tower defense game. In hindsight, most depictions of Vahalla are a lot like modern-day battle royale games like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and PUBG. They kill, die, celebrate, kill again, rinse and repeat.

Unfortunately, things take a turn south when Bigfoot tricks Morty into letting him out and kills him, sending him to Valhalla. 

Rick, Morty, and Bigfoot vs. Evil Pope

The plot only gets sillier from here on out. Bigfoot’s abducted by the Vatican so the Pope can use him to kill their enemies with the promise of letting him kill Rick’s still mindless clone. Then, when Rick and Morty make it back, the Pope steals that afterlife energy for himself. So the three team up to take down the Pope…and they die and get sent to Valhalla.

Whether the show intended it to be, this episode plays out a lot like a video game. Rick, Morty, and Bigfoot try to beat the final boss, only to die, go to Valhalla, and then respawn (with Bigfoot getting a human body). They then try again and again, each attempt getting more ridiculous than the last. As a gamer who’s sometimes spent hours trying to beat that one enemy in a game, this entire montage made me laugh. And while this isn’t the first I’ve seen a fictional version of the Pope that’s evil, it’s still funny. Perhaps more so due to Rick’s refusal to believe in religion, despite this and multiple episodes proving there’s some truth to them. 

A Very Silly Episode with Bigfoot

In the end, though, Rick has to swallow his pride and give up on his new power source to beat the Pope. Thus, the entire point of this adventure was rendered pointless. However, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad episode.

I’m not sure why, but seeing Rick and Morty (and Bigfoot) go through all of this over and over again seemed funny to me. It may be because I see similarities to a video game in this episode, but I found it enjoyable. The jokes were funny; seeing Rick kill the residents of Valhalla right as they respawned was funny. And seeing them try to drive the now-human Bigfoot away at the end like a parody of those animal films was hilarious. 

This just hit all the right notes for me. While I’m still concerned about what the show’s going to do with its season finale next week, this was one of the season’s better episodes. 

I Give “Mort: Ragnarick” a 4/5

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