RJ Writing Ink

Rick and Morty Season 6, Episode 8 Review

The moment this flashed on our screens last night, I wondered what Rick and Morty would do this time. They’re no stranger to tackling dark subjects. They’ve covered things that could traumatize someone in real life several times now but through the lens of black comedy. However, ‘Analyze Piss’ hits differently. Not only does it handle suicide with all the gravity it should get, but shows Rick trying to do the right thing for the sake of it. It’s the best episode of the season since the season premiere…and it revolves around something gross like piss.

Rick Goes to Therapy of His Own Free Will

Following another battle with Mr. Nimbus, Rick gets fed up with all the random D-list supervillains popping up trying to fight him. After talking it over with Dr. Wong, Rick challenges himself to ignore the villains for a week and see what happens. 

Firstly, we should talk about the fact that Rick willingly went to therapy, something he adamantly opposed in the past. He turned himself into a pickle to get out of it! If anything, this decision hammers home Rick’s character growth since the season premiere. He’s slowly accepting that there are people he cares about and that he doesn’t want to lose them, which he risks if he keeps giving in to these haters and trolls, who these weird villains serve as stand-ins for. 

Jerry Keeps Getting W’s this Season

In an even stranger twist, it’s Jerry who ends up taking the spotlight. When the Piss Master, a villain whose whole gimmick revolves around piss, makes a lewd comment about Summer, Jerry manages to beat the piss out of him! The next thing he knows, he’s invited to join a group of Green Lantern expy’s and using a mech suit to blow up a planet of Hitlers. No, I’m not joking. He blows up a planet of aliens who are all space Hitlers.

This whole season’s been filled with W’s for Jerry, honestly. First, he decides to stay with his Smith family of choice. Then, he scores with both Beth and Space Beth. Now, he’s managing to be an actual hero. Given how much of a punching bag he can be, good for Jerry. Too bad that “Analyze Piss” takes a dark and heavy turn.

‘Analyze Piss’ is a Heavy Look on Suicide

Despite promising to stay out of things, Rick takes pity on Piss Master after hearing how many people have railed on him online and decides to visit him. However, he’s shocked to discover that Piss Master committed suicide in his bathtub, all from being humiliated and ridiculed, thanks to Jerry. This was dark, and played for almost zero laughs. Piss Master was a man who wanted to prove everyone that he wasn’t a failure, only to die alone and miserable. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to watch.

What happens next, though, is both touching and disgusting to watch. Out of genuine kindness, Rick decides to disguise himself as Piss Master and embark on a spree of disgusting heroism so everyone will remember him as a hero. Dr. Wong even approves, saying it’s a good outlet, even when Rick admits he plans to fake his death so no one knows the truth.

Inevitably, things go awry when Jerry gets involved, ruining his own reputation and getting him kicked out. All Rick had to do was keep his mouth shut and let everyone think he was Piss Master, but he ends up blabbing to Morty, who tells everyone else. At least Piss Master won’t be remembered as a loser, though.

Overall, as gross as this episode was, I think it was the best episode of the season since the premiere. Rick’s really making the effort to be a better person, and it shows. Next time, though, just don’t have it involve piss. I can’t stand that kind of humor.

I Give “Analyze Piss” a 5/5

.Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Rick and Morty S6, Ep 7 Review

Okay, there’s meta, and then there’s what Rick and Morty pulled after returning from vacation.

Yes, Rick and Morty tackled the concept of meta and the fourth wall in an episode that felt like TvTropes.Org wrote it. At first glance, the whole thing seems confusing and hard to follow; and it is. You have to be versed in the concept of tropes in storytelling to understand the humor best. Thankfully, I’ve spent much time on TvTropes.Org, helping me follow along. At least, enough to know you could turn this episode into a drinking game about tropes and meta-humor. 

Into the Meta-Verse

For example, the entire cold opening teased at the end of the last episode turned out to be a red herring, a mislead. None of it happened, Summer’s not pregnant, it’s all to set up the reveal that Rick and Morty got trapped in an illusion thanks to some mosquito guy called “Previous Leon.” After the entity enters the fourth wall to escape their wrath, Rick retaliates by chasing him beyond the fourth wall into tropedom. And since Rick’s smart enough to know that he’s a character in a tv show, he complains about the meta concept the whole time. Basically, he’s a mouthpiece for people to complain about tired tropes and mechanics. 

In addition, it turns out the whole thing’s the result of Story Lord, the villain from the equally meta story-train episode. Now he’s back and wants revenge, even though he never fought Rick and Morty. And Story Lord’s motivation for getting out is motivation. As in, he’s motivated to drain other people’s motivation to make him the most motivated person in existence, thus, the most powerful. 

No More Meta Stuff for a While

To be honest, I had a hard time following the plot of this episode beyond the idea that it’s one big lampshade of meta storytelling and tropes. The most complex ideas flew over my head, and I’m worried that the same thing happened to other fans. By the time Rick and Story Lord started fighting, I had no clue what they were talking about anymore. 

The episode wasn’t a total mess for me, though. A big highlight was the “Self-Referential Six”, the personification of various storytelling tropes that they embody. However, the real highlight was the one they kept prisoner, Rhett Con. The being had the power to retcon anything he wanted into existence. As one might imagine, this pretty much made him a reality-warping god. Now that is some good writing! 

Looking back, I think that I’ll only remember this meta episode for the one-scene-wonder that was Rhett Con. Other than that, I don’t think the writers (or the execs) should indulge in this much meta for a while. 

I Give “Full Meta JackRick” a 2.5/5

.Click here to see my other animation stuff.

Rick and Morty S6, Ep 6 Review

Well, once again, the balance between one-off adventures and canonical has shifted for Rick and Morty once more. Season 6 opened up with almost everything changed. The Citadel of Ricks got destroyed, Rick’s iconic Portal Gun stopped working, and it looked like it would remain this way for the rest of the season. I genuinely thought we’d get this season-long arc of Rick fixing the Portal Gun in the background while the Smith family keeps asking him to do so. It turns out that a whole season amounted to little more than half, though. However, it’s why Rick fixes the Portal Gun that makes this episode so funny, and it involves Dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs Come Back!

On what should be a normal day (Morty goes to school), Earth is invaded by yet another group of aliens. Except it’s not actually aliens; it’s Dinosaurs!

In one of the most surprising twists of Rick and Morty, it turns out that Dinosaurs weren’t just amazing giants. They were actually a sentient species that left Earth to bring peace and love to the universe. Now they finally return to their homeworld, only to find the rest of them dead, humans in charge, and obsessed with making Marvel movies. So, they tell humanity that they’re going to take things from here, and proceed to create a perfect utopia. 

That’s not good for the human race as a whole, though. Most people complain about all the amazing things that they would do if they had the extra free time to do so. However, most people would also realize that if they actually had all that free time, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. In other words, people need problems to fix and issues to resolve to give their lives meaning. Rick’s one of the only people who’s fine with how things are, and the other one is Jerry, who embraces the chance to teach his ways of mediocrity to mankind.

Rick v Dinosaurs

Inevitably, though, Rick gets drawn into this Dinosaur dilemma by the President, who promises to let him host the next Oscars. However, it becomes personal for Rick when the Dinosaurs prove not only morally better than him, but smarter. They create a new Portal Gun for him out of nothing, which infuriates Rick to no end. If there’s one thing Rick hates, it’s knowing that he’s gotten one-upped by someone!

As a result, Rick does what he does best: bringing so-called superior beings down to his level. He can’t stand the idea that someone could be smarter than him, yet uncynical about life. That there are beings in the universe that can actually make it a better place; because if there were, then that means he wasted his life.

As it turns out, though, even the universe itself seems to agree with Rick’s beliefs. A trip to each planet the Dinosaur’s visited reveals that they were all wiped out, with their fossils being all that remains. To counteract the Dinosaur’s perfection, a species of hate-filled, angry sentient meteorites whose sole purpose in life is to destroy everything the Dinosaurs touch. It’s right up there with the screaming sun in terms of how ridiculous it is. 

The Portal Gun is Back!

Ultimately, Rick gets what he wanted in the end by forcing the Dinosaurs to sink to his level. Even when they nobly leave Earth and plan to let the meteor kill them, Rick refuses to let them win the moral high-ground. Thus, he intentionally puts himself in harm’s way to make them destroy the meteor, thus compromising their beliefs. It’s amazing just how petty Rick can be.

In the end, though, the Dinosaurs get the last laugh by sealing up the rift left by Evil Morty, which infuriates Rick, who wanted to milk that plot thread for as long as possible. Mad because he can no longer do this, Rick decides, “screw it,” and proceeds to fix the Portal Gun. 

Classic Rick and Morty Adventures to Come

So, one of the big plot threads from the end of Season Five ends just like that. If it were any other show, I’d call this a cop-out. However, Rick and Morty likes doing stuff like this to mess with fans. It’s the struggle of canon vs. one-off adventures. I doubt that this will mean the end to everything that Evil Morty unleashed. The Citadel’s still gone, the Central Finite Curve could be broken once more. In addition, if our Rick could fix Portal Tech, then you can bet that Rick Prime will do so as well. 

Regardless, this was yet another banger of an episode. Rick and Morty, Season 6 is the best the show’s been in years, and I’m just sad that we have to wait a month for the remainder of the episodes to air. Until then, though, we got the image of Dinosaurs skateboarding to tide us over.

I Give “JuRicksic Mort” a 4/5

Click here to see my other animation stuff.