Relatively early on in “Star Mort Rickturn Of The Jerry,” Rick has coffee with his daughter. Or his daughter’s clone. It’s a bit fuzzy, really; if you remember back in season three, Beth found out some hard truths about herself and couldn’t decide if she wanted to stay on Earth with her family or go out into the galaxy and have some adventures. Rick offered to make a clone of her with all her memories, so she could leave guilt free, but the episode (“The ABCs Of Beth”) ended on an ambiguous note. Which, at the time, felt like both a decent meta joke for fans to obsess over, and a way to “resolve” an unresolvable situation without fundamentally changing the status quo. If you remember, season three was all about Rick Winning Everything, even while revealing himself to be a deeply broken person in terms of the basic things like love and support and having relationships with anyone. (I mean, that’s always been in the show’s DNA, but season three went as hard into it as you could.) Not knowing if we were watching Beth or her clone seemed to be both a way to cement Rick’s status as the Technology-That’s-Basically-Magic God, and the latest iteration in the show’s endless supply of fake-outs, double-bluffs, and alternate realities.
I didn’t think it would ever come up again, honestly. But here we are with the season four finale, and there’s a Beth in outer space (Beth “Smith”) who’s leading the “Defiance” against the evil empire, and having a heck of a time of it. But she finds out she has a device in her neck that she didn’t know about; she decides it’s a bomb; and she comes back to Earth to kick Rick’s ass for booby-trapping her. Rick talks his way out of it, tells her the “device” (Earth Beth has one in her neck too) is just a way that Space Beth could download all of Earth Beth’s memories if she decided to come back, and the two go for coffee. Beth brags about her accomplishments as a rebel—she’s the most wanted person in the galaxy now—and Rick tell her (partly as a way to cover for the fact that he’s a bit threatened, but also as the truth) that someone’s always trying to take over the galaxy; the trick is to get whoever’s doing it to ignore you.
It’s a line that stuck out to me. “Star Mort” has a lot of unexpected continuity wanking (leave it to this show to make jokes about how dumb it is to nod to past events, and then bring the Beth Clone Saga, Dr. Wong, Tammy, and Bird Person—I’m sorry, Phoenix Person—all at once and assume you’ll keep up), a rare “hero” turn for Jerry, and a clever answer to ambiguity that allows for character resolution without giving specifics. We are reminded, for the umpteenth time, that Rick Sanchez is a shitty father, and a shitty granddad and father-in-law and just all around human being. (He believes he’s still a good friend, as he’s gathered up Phoenix Person’s remains, but the jury remains out on that one.) There’s even a sad pop song near the end, when we discover the twist that way back in “The ABCs Of Beth,” Beth told her father to make the choice for her; and he couldn’t; so even he doesn’t know who the clone or the original is.
This is supposed to be an emotional moment. It lands okay—it has all the cadence of a “god, this guy fucking sucks, and he knows he sucks, and you feel kind of sorry for him because he can’t seem to change” scene. And that’s okay, although it gets harder and harder to feel much of anything about Rick as the show goes on. Rick And Morty started as a deconstruction of sci-fi and genre tropes with a lot of sharp cynicism about human nature and an ability to indulge in nihilism just enough to be shocking, but not enough to give up completely. And it still is that show, more or less. But over the years, it’s become more and more a sort of anti-hero apologia, an excuse to celebrate a certain kind of misanthropic self-regard while pretending to skewer it. There’s a kind of self-loathing that’s really just narcissism in disguise, and while it’s not less painful or destructive because of that, it also precludes the possibility of actual change. It’s easier, really, to be shitty and then tell yourself you are shit (and that oh hey, the world is also shit), because if you really are this incredibly awful, and there’s no way you could ever act differently because of how awful you fundamentally are—well, problem solved, right?
Rick And Morty, of course, is aware of this nonsense too. A few times, sensible characters have pointed out to Rick just how dumb his bullshit really is; Dr. Wong ended “Pickle Rick” by more or less laying the whole problem out. And it’s not that Rick needs to actually “get better” or anything, as this is a comedy series and he’s not a real person. The trouble isn’t Rick’s line about how the secret to life is to make sure the evil empires ignore you; the trouble is that it’s hard to know where the character’s perspective ends, and the show’s perspective begins. Because for Rick to be that recognizably selfish is one thing; it’s not a new thought, and it’s one most people have had at some point in their lives, especially those of us with the privilege to pretend it applies to us. But for the show to pretend it’s undercutting that perspective even as it not-so-secretly endorses it (by having Rick always be right, and always be super-powerful and able to get out of anything, and also having most everyone else outside his immediate family be disposable and annoying)… well, that makes it hard to care even if the song they play when he’s sad is very sad indeed.
Which is why the big reveal about Beth really didn’t do much at all for me one way or the other. It’s not a story I needed resolved, and the turn in Beth’s character from season three always felt a bit off; bringing it back now was more a reminder of that awkwardness, even if the episode does end with everything pretty much the same. What does work is how much of “Star Mort” is spent with Summer and Morty teaming up and squabbling like asshole siblings and saving the planet; and how Jerry is actually useful and heroic, even if he’s still essentially Jerry; and how everyone in the family, from the Beths on down, is just so absolutely done with Rick’s shit. I can’t really feel bad for Rick Sanchez being, I dunno, trapped by his own genius or something at this point. But having him treated like the loser he kind of is? That’s got legs on it.
As for the story itself… well, Tammy got taken out pretty easy; it was a fun call-back, and Jerry puppeteering her corpse to distract Phoenix Person did a good job walking the line between “disturbing” and “entertaining,” but her death feels a bit like the writers just wanting to get rid of a loose end. The fight between Rick and Phoenix Person was thrilling, and while this the second episode in a row where Rick got the bejeezus beat out of him, it’s a smart touch that in both fights, someone else had to save his ass. Rick And Morty’s third season felt like the show pushing just about as far as it could go into a particular mindset, and while that purity of focus yielded some great episodes, it also left some scorched earth behind it in terms of Rick as a character. A lot of season four has been about slowly, awkwardly trying to find a way back to the equilibrium of the first two seasons, and it’s been more successful than I would’ve imagined.
Was it funny? Yeah, I laughed, and there were good jokes. (The post-credit scene of Jerry inadvertently making a garbage truck invisible was gratifyingly silly.) The story was suspenseful, the stakes were convincing (not an easy to feat to pull off on a show where “let’s just jump to another reality and try again” is a legitimate plot point), and while parts of the ending didn’t affect me in the way it seemed to be designed, I think the larger arc of the season, the efforts to make Rick into something less than the awesomest asshole in the universe, worked pretty well. I know I take this show too seriously, and I do my best to try and balance that with an appreciation for everything it gets right. It’s been nice, this last batch of episodes, to not have to work that hard to remember to say nice things.
Stray observations
- It’s interesting how little Dr. Wong really does in this episode; she’s mostly there to let us know that the family still goes to therapy (and Rick still does everything to avoid it). I’ll take it as an indication that the writers haven’t completely forgotten the points she raised all the way back in “Pickle Rick.” I am also glad they didn’t kill her off.
- “She died the way she lived, over-serialized.” -Rick, re: Tammy.
- “It’s funny. I always wondered who would win if we ever fought.” “Then you were always a bad friend.”
- “It fascinates me that an entire family can be this critical and suck this much.” Phoenix Person lays down some hard truths.
179 Comments
Her name is Tammy, not Tonya.
Oh hey, Sarah Chalke finally gets to do something other than react to her dad’s nonsense. (Which she’s aces at, but, c’mon.)On balance, I think this is maybe the tightest and most interesting season since 2, maybe 3. Found 4B to be stronger than A, though the heist and snake episodes are very much the highlight of the first half. Does this season have the least amount of clips from episodes in its intro?“Oh, shit, this looks like a prime spot for a big arena fight.”
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“most interesting season since season 2″…meaning better than season 3? Lol, convoluted way to say it!But I think it’s a minority position. This season has been weak as hell. I think the scores have been too generous. I think overall the show built up every season, and than this season just crashed. Too bad.
The whole season has felt like an awkward, haphazard attempt to get back to the status quo of season one. It’s like the writers decided they didn’t want to follow up on any of the themes and storylines set up in season 3 (which was phenomenal) and are dancing around it.
Perhaps they no longer felt a need to rush the continuity stuff given a 70 episode renewal. Another review also had the theory that the writers wanted to play with the classic format for a season before completely blowing it up (as the finale hints at). With this show, you never know— they could just go back to status quo with a meta reference. However, given the fact that this season seemingly had many new writers, I have to wonder if Harmon brought in some guest writers (like Loveness, who wrote 4/10 episodes of the fourth season, and then left), plus some of the writers who didn’t leave after season 3, to do a very episodic season 4 while he secretly wrote a heavily serialized season 5 (which is apparently already written). The official justification is the renewal allowed them to just keep writing once season 4 was written, but they have messed with us in the past.
I liked it, season 3 got way too far away from the funny for my taste.Then again I seem to be one of the few people who think Bojack went way downhill in its last few seasons so ymmv.
3 remains the gold standard for excellent, with only one episode that was less than awesome (the Vindicator ep). 4b is the strongest since 1, focusing on the characters, their family dynamics, and their underlying character flaws, not taking them more seriously as people than they deserve. 4a was mostly quite bad (apart from the fascists and snake episodes), more so than 2, which is right behind 4b in terms of quality.
I don’t think it crashed. Slutdragon is by far one of my favorite episodes, but, I’m not sure how I felt about this finale. It seemed like the writers didn’t know how to answer the question ‘whose the clone’. With Rick, they had a perfect out for that.
I agree that 4A didn’t crash. I find it interesting that so many people are saying “4A was terrible, except for [episode], which was fantastic,” except that nobody can agree on which 4A episode was super good. Personally, I didn’t think Slutdragon was more than average, but I can see why some people really, really liked it, and I think that the disagreement over which episode wasn’t terrible is evidence that, maybe, none of them were terrible, they just hit different beats for different people.
Does this season have the least amount of clips from episodes in its intro?I was really hoping the two-headed goose scene was going to be an actual episode.
Mostly because of this.
4A felt kind of flat, and the Heist episode was the first “bad” episode of the series in my book – it hit the same beat, over and over, for 22 minutes. The twist at the end wasn’t enough to turn it around.4B, though, was almost all hits. It brought me back in, big time, and then it ended. Now I’m all for Roiland’s “Let’s just release new episodes when we finish them, one every month or two” strategy.
My, that heist episode was bad. Rick laid out the whole joke early on (about the whole thing being assembling the team and then revealing the heist has already taken place), then the whole episode just beat you over the head with the joke, which had been explained as it was introduced.‘[X], you son of a bitch, I’m in’ is quite fun to say repeatedly though, I guess.
I find all the seasons to be equally entertaining.
I thought it was a good season, but this split season shit needs to stop. Not just for R&M, but for all shows. a “mid-season finale” doesn’t exist (looking at you TWD).
This killed Mad Men, which had an ending I loved, and really tries to
kill Better Call Saul. I don’t care, stupid schedule that makes me
totally forget everything and disengage then only give half the fucks!
I’m gonna give all the fucks to Better Call Saul til the end.
This killed Mad Men, which had an ending I loved, and really tries to
kill Better Call Saul. I don’t care, stupid schedule that makes me
totally forget everything and disengage then only give half the fucks!
I’m gonna give all the fucks to Better Call Saul til the end.
Well… that’s amusing. It has finally happened: I disagree with the rating. This was an A for me.
What an excellent finale for a forgettable season. Not enough to redeem the season, of course. This season was pretty uninspired as a whole, except for this episode and the vat of acid one.
This finale shows me they’ve still got it. I hope they do better in Season 5.
This was for sure one of the best episodes of the season (probably only beat by the snakes for me) but yeah, it seems like this show is wanting to pull a BoJack balancing act with Rick. If next season really emphasizes how much of a nuisance Rick is in the Smith household then it could potentially work. I’m not sure that this show is as concerned about lasting consequences on relationships and dynamics as BoJack was, though, and that was really the key to helping garner some form of pity after watching him consistently burn bridges left and right. Doesn’t make me enjoy this season less nor make me any less excited for the future of Rick and Morty, but it’s interesting to think about. This was a remarkably consistent run of episodes. I think the dragon one was the only episode of the entire season that I would consider less than solid.
I agree, although the Dragon episode did have this high point:Is Michael the Dragon from Philly? Can’t quite place the accent.
Made a burner account just to add this: Get the eff out of here, Michael. You’re the only one who fucks that thing. Get the eff out of here!
I personally identified with Debranavox. Good name.
I feel like having the stability of several seasons already ordered will give them the ability or willingness to go that route. When it’s season to season on renewals, I could understand not really being willing to look into a long, character reform arc, but now they might.
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Pretty sure it’s Tammy, not Tonya.
It’s Tonya. Tamya?
“Her name is Tonya.”
She died like she lived…with Jerry not remembering her name.
Yeah, I liked that. Little bit bummed that they didn’t bring Dr Wong along for the ride – I really like the character – but I guess we don’t need her to tell Rick that he’s full of shit anymore. Everyone else has got that covered!
Susan Sarandon wanted too much money.
First, a bit of a typo: It’s Tammie not TonyaSecond, I think the biggest flaw with Rick and Morty is how it correlates being smart with being an asshole and there’s nowhere for Rick to grow as a character without violating the show’s thesis.I’m going to make one thing clear: I do not hate this show. It’s not South Park, it’s clearly interested in being self reflective about its characters and themes rather than reveling in them without commentary. But until the show commits to Rick growing as a character and not just occasionally have scenes of Rick being sad because his intelligence forces him to be an asshole while sad music plays, it’s basically spinning its wheels.To quote Bojack Horseman:
Tammy with a Y
I honestly think it’s fruitless to compare Rick and Morty to Bojack in terms of character development. Bojack, for all its wackiness, was one of the most considered and engaged character studies in the medium, and the major arcs from that show are all tracing its characters as they go through genuine, massive personal changes – or if not, their inability to change and grow is an arc in itself. Rick and Morty just doesn’t have that commitment to character development. The characters are essentially whatever the episodes need them to be at any given time: Rick is an unstoppable dark god super-genius or he’s a pathetic old man grasping for control (or both); Morty and Summer are normal kids getting caught up in adventures until they have to go dark/jaded and become a reflection of their granddad, and then they revert again; Beth and Jerry hate or love each other depending on what serves the episode best. I don’t even think this a bad thing; this show has always been about getting a laugh or twisting the satire knife first and foremost, whereas Bojack’s priorities as a show had already changed considerably by the end of its first season. But what I’m saying is even if the show commits to this sad, loser version of Rick for a season or if it immediately reverts back to S3’s borderline-evil genius version, it’s not part of some gradually unravelling, pre-planned arc, it’s just whatever the writers feel like that in that particular moment, and that’s fine.
Rick and Morty just doesn’t have that commitment to character development. That’s not true at all. Especially of its second season and third season. Their very much seemed to be a focus on character development with Morty trying to find his agency, Rick being revealed to be the awful piece of shit he’s always been, and the Smiths ultimately reject Rick’s nihilism. This finale felt like a hollow retread of season 3’s finale with yet again not telling us which Beth is the real one, and the Smiths once again rejecting Rick’s nihilism.
Hell if anything with Space-Beth becoming just as smart and competent and smart as Rick yet still willing to help people shows that Rick’s ideology is just the excuse he makes to justify his cruelty towards everyone around him.I just want the show to do something with this and not just have Rick being sad and alone played out with sad music for the umpteenth time.
The episode itself re-referenced the fact that Rick had his posse of friends and used to go around having much more meaningful adventures. Rick’s condescension towards space-Beth isn’t pure ideology; he’s claiming that he already walked path she’s on.
i think what we ACTUALLY see isthat any time the other characters GET AWAY from rickthey can achieve anything they WANTwhich is a DANGER to rick’s egoi think Jerry Smith is the most dangerous man in the universe
Rick has always been revealed to be an awful, selfish, piece of shit. The difference between this and the last seasons with that was before, he actually cared about Morty and Summer. But this season he noticeably didn’t. And as I said in my own comment, I wonder if that’s Harmon and Roiland sending a message to the fans to stop looking up to this guy as a hero.And also, in a show where Rick has cloned himself and Morty dozens of times, does it really matter which Beth is real at this point? Its just another wacky element to a wacky show.
I feel more like this was season 3’s finale done right. All the emotional beats were actually witnessed by the viewer this time around instead of being done offscreen like in season 3. In the end Rick is isolated from the family again, but this time it feels significant and earned, instead of arbitrary like it did last time. Maybe most meaningfully, this time Beth is PISSED at him, and Rick knows it. That bit where she feigns a punch and he flinches? There’s a lot going on there.
It is true though. Both Rick and Morty and Bojack do an exemplary job of developing their characters. This is true not just when compared to other animated comedies, but to the rest of television as a whole. That said, the entirety of Bojack’s narrative and serialized plot is based around exploring the character of Bojack and the important people in his life. Character development is the entire show. Rick and Morty is an episodic sci-fi sitcom that also happens to have relatively in-depth character arcs that persist in a serialized mythology. It makes the show richer and better than something like Family Guy, but to say it has the same commitment to character development as a show that is exclusively about the growing and changing of a character is a dumb take. And I say all of this as someone who would prefer to watch Rick and Morty to Bojack nine times out of ten.
But the show does have character development as SkaOreo said. Hell, Space-Beth coming back not only as smart and competent as Rick yet still willing to help others just underlines how much Rick tries to excuse his cruelty and apathy with his intelligence. The show has clearly demonstrated an interest in deconstructing Rick’s philosophy of nihilism. But they need to do something with it other than just the occasional scene of Rick being sad and alone while sad music plays.
Not to the same degree that BoJack does.
That’s what I’m getting at, really – the show’s character development is temporary at best and serves the immediate plot rather than a real arc. There were traces of it throughout the last two seasons as the other commenter said, Morty fighting for agency and Summer getting more jaded and lashing out… but they lead nowhere and the characters are essentially the same as they’ve always been. Same thing with Beth finally kicking Jerry out and then having a complete reset on that relationship a season later.The writers certainly have an interest in deconstructing Rick’s nihilism, but they can’t outright reject it without completely changing the tone of the show and kind of losing that dark edge they love to dip into. I think that’s why the show seems to be stuck in this state of arrested development where we never see any genuine, long-lasting change to the characters.
I generally agree with this. I think fans and reviewers reading into the sub-text of the characters and their relationships is fine, and there does seem to be some general character progression season to season. However the show also lives to be wacky and high-concept sci-fi with a dependency on keeping its characters somewhat evergreen and consistent. My own take is if any episode happens to deepen and progress our understanding of the characters, it’s a plus but I’m not going into each episode looking for some status quo shift, or each season to have some through line or arc.
I definitely think by the end of the series the character dynamics will have changed.
I’ve been rewatching Community and Harmon’s lack of real character development has not been helpful to season two. Especially when it comes to Pierce and Chang, when the show makes it look like you should root for them, but also make them more despicable at the same time. Its all just for jokes so nothing really matters, even when its making fun of Chang for being mentally unwell.
Also, why the fuck is everyone so calm about Shirley having no memory of having sex with Chang? Wouldn’t someone be accusing him of raping her?
It’s funny, but reading this review reminded me of the big reason I fell out of love with Community – how it gradually seemed to turn all the characters into really unlikeable people who kept doing horrible things to each other, only to just eventually handwave the fact that these people were toxic and brought out the worst in each other every so often with an episode that featured them all arguing around the study group about how awful they were until Jeff came up with a bullshit inspirational speech that let them “forgive” each other, with “forgiveness” seemingly being interpreted as a license to continue to be really awful people without actually trying to improve.
Nobody remembered Halloween, they were all told that someone had spiked the punch or something. So they knew Chang had no memory of it either.
Beautifully written and a great short simple answer. You really do get the show and I totally agree
The Tonya thing is reference to a joke in the episode. When Tammy blasts into the therapy session Jerry has forgotten her name and calls her Tonya.
Why? Married with Children wasn’t a great sitcom because they made an effort to show that they loved each other deep inside, they hated each other and it’s great.They just showed an episode that subverted everyone’s expectations, just to keep things fresh. The growth you’re talking about is the one Dan Harmon hates because you don’t remember characters when they become more conservative and mature. Al Bundy screwed over his family so they wouldn’t have a happy life, Rick forced Morty to kiss a vat of acid…that’s funny.
It’s certainly not South Park. South Park managed to be good for more than 2 seasons.
It seems to me that Rick’s ‘failure’ to make the decision for Beth ensured that both Beths are equally valid since no one, including him, knows which one isn’t ‘real,’ and I think that was the best way to handle the whole thing? I mean, I feel like he actually did something objectively Good there, even if it came from a place of weakness rather than wisdom, and even if it’s not what his daughter asked for (and I think it’s disappointing that she wanted to let him choose, too, although that’s a whole other comment). So I’m left in a state of confusion due to the conflict between that positive outcome and the fact that every character, including Rick, and even the show itself are in agreement that Rick is a shitty father. He definitely is, but this seems like one thing he kind of did right to me?
He’s got this kind of arrested development thing going on, where he can use his genius and technology to avoid the difficult choices, conversations and consequences that are part of being an adult. This is just yet another example of that, where someone who’s really struggling comes to him with a difficult choice between two options, and he uses magic to let them choose both at once.
> “He’s got this kind of arrested development thing going on”Hey! That’s the name of a show!
I think you and mikefoo both hit parts of it. I think mikefoo’s right that this is an example of Rick’s arrested development and refusing to make a choice.
That said…I think this let him give Beth both options. And I think that also reflects on his own internal conflicts. For whatever reason, Rick was an absentee father for twenty years. He left, sowed his oats, then came back. I’m not sure I would consider that weak or wise or what I’d consider. I think it was shitty of him to not tell Beth to stay because he wanted her in his life. And yes, in real life without cloning devices, you just have those difficult conversations and make those difficult choices. And yet…this does give Beth the opportunity to be a part of her family and also fulfill dreams that being married to Jerry do not allow.
It’s interesting that Beth made Rick choose. Neither of them can make a decision. Interesting how Beth reacted to Rick making the decision he did when it gave her both options, so to speak.
He definitely is, but this seems like one thing he kind of did right to me?I have to agree. Even if it’s not “right,” it was a choice that resulted in two versions of Beth who both seemed pretty happy with the lives they were leading, and also ultimately found a way to co-exist rather comfortably together. Rick’s made far worse decisions than that if we’re just looking at how things turned out.
I don’t think it’s actually Rick doing something right. The way Beth phrased it was “Do you want me to stay and be part of your life,” or head off into space. It was a pretty unambiguous request for love and approval, and he just doesn’t want the responsibility. So he invents a workaround where he doesn’t have to take any.
I think overall there are a couple of different ways to read the show, one where it’s about a depressed genius who is so trapped in his own arrogant isolation that he’ll probably never find a way out, and a more complicated one about how smart people can often make their own problems worse because their intelligence allows them to find creative ways to avoid having to confront their own issues. The second one is more interesting to me because it’s less fatalistic, but I agree with Zack that I’m not sure the show has completely decided where it’s going with this.
Well that’s the thing, depending on how you read the scene, it’s giving Beth what Rick thinks she wants (adventure out in the galaxy) and keeping what HE wants (Beth there as a part of his life.)
Yeah, that rings true. Also, that ‘Don’t Look Now’ line pretty early in the episode, about imagining himself being killed in Venice by a dwarf in a red raincoat, might seem a throwaway reference at first, but that movie’s also about a man losing his daughter. In a totally different manner, this also happened to Rick, and as he said himself at the end of the episode, he knows he’s a terrible father, and apparently that’s been brewing for quite a while now.
Given Beth’s obvious dissatisfaction with her life, which was evident for all three seasons before that moment, I found it much more ambiguous. The planet-baby episode just recently reemphasized that Beth is a deep well of unrealized potential; to me, her behavior in said episode was far *less* ambiguous in illustrating that she derives genuine satisfaction from doing super science and being a working genius, even though, yes, doing it with her daddy is a big deal too.
Yeah, I think it would certainly read a lot differently without the additional context this episode provides. In the original, she scans as more legitimately torn between her two options. But with the “Do you want me?” addition of her scene here, Rick’s love ends up with the tie-breaking vote. If he cares enough about her being around, she’ll stay. If he doesn’t, she’ll go. Both are options with ups and downs, and one last factor she needs to understand in order to make her choice. And ultimately, Rick doesn’t have the emotional maturity to make the decision, hence his reaction in this episode.
Because internisus is right, if you read it just as an attempt to give her both of the things she wants, Rick is a GREAT father. He literally found a way for his kid to have it all, as a ‘90s rom-com would say. But that doesn’t really match his reaction here, the flashback scene, or most of what we know about Rick.
Well, dysfunction is a gift that keeps on giving. The reveal that Beth asked Rick to choose in the first place was super squicky. She was asking her dad to choose whether she abandoned her husband and two kids. Yeah yeah yeah they’d have a clone, okay. But uh… it’s still super fucked up to be tossing that type of decision to your deadbeat, alcoholic, ultra-nihilistic dad as some kind of weird mind game, or as a clever way to avoid taking any responsibility for your own midlife crisis. Rick’s ‘solution’ necessarily had to eliminate Beth’s awareness that she asked him to choose, because if she’d remembered that, both versions would’ve ended up resenting him. Didn’t love her enough to ask her to stay, or is one more anchor tied around her neck while she suffocates.
Man, how much would it suck to be the kids, or Jerry (moreso than usual?) This episode essentially reveals that Beth’s two top priorities were either getting her dad to finally love her properly, or going off and having space adventures. Her own family doesn’t even rate, emotionally speaking.I’m not sure I really track with Rick’s re-realization here. The only way it does is if he realizes that he should’ve pushed back on her and called her out on her bullshit. But that’s not a clear implication. The implication is… well, it’s muddy. We don’t really get any sense of what Rick thinks he could’ve done better in hindsight.
I don’t see what Beth’s problem was. She got what she wanted.
that’s the Problem:the difference between what we WANT and what we NEED
I think that was the point, that he didn’t consider one of them less valid than the other, and was about to SHOW them that, but they walked off assuming he was going to be a dick anyway, and Rick is too fucked up to just tell them.
I think that was the best way to handle the whole thing?I feel like the writers put themselves in a corner and didn’t know how to answer that question. They gave the most Rick answer possible, which I guess is fine, but sometimes I want a real answer.
Called it, kindish…I knew they would follow up with a Beth clone because it’s funnier. And it’s great to see that on her own, she’s basically better than her own father at everything, and still wanting to be a part of the the family as it is. Plus, she seemed more interested in surpassing him than wanting his approval…..Although, he did mention that he had a hero phase. So, did Rick have an actual sense of nobility? What made him so jaded and turn away from his family? A family that is now turning from him? Maybe…Rise of the Good Rick? See y’all next season!
Great way to close out a terrific back half of the season. Maybe the best finale the show has done. Zack rated it as weaker than the first two, but this was a lot of fun—much better than The Rickchurian Mortydate.
Just when we thought we weren’t getting any continuity at all this season, we got it in a major way with some characters killed off, and some funny product placement to boot. “holy shit im a terrible father”I was hoping for and am glad that they showed the consequences of Rick being the petty, selfish, asshole he’s been this season, and that he isn’t the unstoppable god he sets himself out to be. Now I hope the message gets picked up by the toxic fans who worship him, but i’m not holding my breath on that one.Also, I like how Jerry made a comeback from getting shit on so badly last episode to saving everyone and the day and actually being clever at it too. Invisible Garbage Truck Jerry, is the franchise we need but don’t deserve. The second half of this season definately tops the first half and this episode the best of the whole season imho with the acid vat and snake episode coming in behind, although i’m bummed out that we got no check-in on Mr. Poopybutthole this time around.
The “holy shit I’m a terrible father” never got old. I actually liked this season start to finish, the finale was great, and I’m on board with the snake episode. The only thing I didn’t like about that latter episode was that Morty seemed a bit off. More antagonistic? More annoying? at least in the part leading up to him getting bit by the space snake. His character just seemed, IDK, out of character. But yeah, the second half was definitely more solid. The heist episode is easily the weakest link out of all ten episodes. I can still watch from front to back all episodes and not feel the need to skip any of them though. It’s higher on my list than Venture Bros at this point, as some of those have not aged well, especially the pilot. Character building and arcs and follow through, however, Venture Bros win hands down. The callbacks over the last season were, to put it mildly, pretty incredible. I’d love to see their writers’ room bible. It’s gotta be at least multiple binders of 500+ pages each.
Tonya should be Tammy
I cannot wait for the 3rd episode of season 5, which’ll be a crazy meta-episode, that’ll call out it’s own meta-ness, in a really meta moment, while pointing out using the word meta is played out, that’ll make me feel like an asshole for really liking this episode!
It was fun, but mostly pretty forgettable once the spectacle was done. Even the reveal at the end was just another reminder that Rick can be kind of a coward and a shitty father, and we already knew that- the novelty was just in him essentially finding that out not knowing it, and the family not caring enough to stick around to see it. I suppose it was a nice, little quiet moment there. He’ll be back to his usual adventures with Morty in season 5, and maybe Warrior-Beth will show up in a couple of episodes. I’m near-100% certain they’ll do that “parent trap” joke they made as an episode, or at least a subplot. Also, there will probably be an episode where the Beths either fight over Jerry or fight to avoid going to something with him.
“It’s your turn with Jerry this week!!”“I got stuck with him an extra day because you didn’t come back to Earth on time!! You owe me!!”
Great finale. Best episode of the season. Hopefully it won’t be as long of a wait for season 5 as it has been between seasons.
With the return of Phoenix Person, Beth 1.0 (maybe?), Tammie, and the killer bug species, I’d originally given this episode the same rating, but it’s been a couple of hours now since I’ve watched it and the ‘Invisible Garbage Truck Jerry’ theme song’s still stuck in my head (and still makes me chuckle), so that makes it and A- episode I guess. I’ll probably start to hate that catchy jingle pretty soon, but for the moment it’s still bearable.
I thought some of the previous episodes, which seemed to mock the idea of continuity or a big epic good-evil clash, were a sign of the show descending into full-on self-loathing where it basically lashes out at itself and then its fans as a way of “punishing” those who invade McDonald’s and whine about szechuan sauce. The first episode, with the fascist alternate realities, plays into that too. I still enjoyed every episode, to varying degrees, but there was a concerning trend. This dismissed a lot of those worries, I feel bad for ever having doubted the show.Granted there was an element of reluctance to it what with all of Rick’s meta-quips about Tammy being “overserialized” and not wanting to do Star Wars, but the fight with PP was so indulgent and is maybe the best the series has done yet, and that doesn’t happen without passion to make something good (rather than being forced to do it by fan expectation). And they showed a desire to advance the continuity with Rick recovering his remains. I thought Rick’s – and Harmon’s? – self-loathing voice was taking control of the show to an unpleasant degree that would eventually become intolerable, but I hope this is a sign that that has been arrested somewhat. Rick “losing control” is a good sign in that regard. I guess I feel a bit worried that the end of this season leaves Rick in a similar position to that of the end of S3, though I guess slightly worse, and I hope the show chooses to lean into it now and really have him be ignored by the rest of the family. The comparison with Bojack is a good one, and Bojack eventually had its supporting cast leave his orbit rather than have their lives ruined by getting dragged into his shit. I don’t think this show will ever go that far, because it’s different and more self-contained, but I hope it leans into that aspect a bit more.
Wait, Shoney’s is still around? Why the fuck aren’t they in my state then? God, I miss Shoney’s.
There used to be one near where I live. But it closed sometime ago.
Not sure why the reviewer thinks they were drinking coffee, that was pretty clearly beer. Who drinks coffee out of a glass??
I assume’d it was root beer given the type of establishment.
Could have been. Or iced tea. But nobody wants to drink hot coffee from a glass with no handle.
I remember one being off of I-90 in Indiana as a kid. The billboards really hyped it up but we never stoped:(
Different reality.
This was probably my favorite episode in an uneven season. Granted, I am a big Beth stan. “The Federation is on the hunt for a woman with an incredibly boring name.”
Was this written before the story train episode, because…wow, they really embraced continuity. Hopefully this means resolution (however begrudgingly delivered) will come for the Evil Morty storyline.
I’m actually all for Evil Morty only popping up once a season. Reading your comment I just now realized the whole reason he had the eyepatch again was because he controlled all the Ricks. Thanks, COVID, for me being able to watch this fourth season like 5 times and finally figuring that out.I’m a little slow to catch the minor things like that sometimes.
Where are you getting Tonya? Its Tammy.
Who the fuck is Tonya? Do you mean Tammy?
Welp; it’s time for Rick to either start mind wiping again or jut bop over to another dimension where the family likes him.This episode ranks high on the action, dialogue, and pacing, but middling on the character development. It’s on of the better ones this season, IMHO, just under Rattlestar Ricklactica/Snake Terminators.
I had a markedly different and more positive reaction to this episode. We’ve seen Rick isn’t always right and yet I don’t think making the Beth clone really made him a shittier person.
First, the Beth clone. I think the only shitty part about that was how it was an opportunity to tell Beth to stay and that she meant something to him. However, I also took it as Rick knew Beth because she’s just like him. He left and came back. Why? Because he had those competing urges pulling him. I took this as Rick’s way to let her go off and live her life free of all constraints, while also being able to stay a part of her family. Which is kind of what Rick must have wanted since he left then came back. It acknowledged their mutual dual natures and let her live both. What the devices in the necks actually were, I’m not sure. I presumed it would allow them to merge together should the space Beth ever come back; however that was obviously left ambiguous.
Point being, I felt Rick gave Beth what she really wanted (or at least what he inferred because it was what he wanted). He probably viewed it as a win-win. and I was a bit surprised Beth didn’t see it as that way as well, although it sort of depends on what those devices really were in their necks.
Second, I think we have seen the rest of the family get one-ups of sorts on Rick. Space Beth appears to be a younger, faster version that beat him in the garage (not at Shoney’s) and was the one to turn off Phoenix Person. Morty saw through the invisibility belt right away. Summer’s bailed them out more than once this season. And Jerry saved the day by being the puppeteer to the deceased Tammy (Tonya? This has a bit of a Parks & Recreation vibe to me…).
Perhaps that’s part of why the ending stuck so well for me. I think he’s a broken person, and selfish, but…I felt he gave Beth what she actually wanted. I think he’s trying to be a better father and grandfather despite being really, really bad at it. He killed Tammy because he thought she had killed his best friend. The verdict’s maybe still out on his musings about who would win in a fight between him and Bird/Phoenix Person. Regardless, I think Beth, Summer, Morty, and even Jerry are evolving in their own subtle ways. Dr. Wong noted the family dynamic last season. I kind of want to review Rick’s arc, because he seems like a Walter White character that wants to be good, but keeps breaking bad.
I thought this was the a great episode that showed how much Rick doesn’t always win. We saw Beth’s potential in a way I’m not sure we’ve really seen. Morty and Summer worked together nicely for a change to destroy what amounts to the Death Star. Jerry came through just in the nick of time. And at the end of the episode, nobody needs Rick. This is as low as we’ve seen since the time Rick tried to kill himself and failed because he blacked out drunk.
The biggest open loop in the show that I can think of off the top of my head would be Evil Morty and the Citadel of Ricks. I’m interested in where that takes Rick and Morty (the show and characters). Because at this point, Morty has shown he actually can be self-sufficient, occasionally one-upping Rick, and has the potential to have a relationship that works without trying to woo Jessica. Summer’s seemingly kind of had her shit together for a while. Beth was able to step from out of Rick’s shadow and be comfortable not catering to him. And Jerry seems like he’s pretty comfortable in his own skin with his weed whacker and his tag phrase of “Hey!” I think the family and both Beths have come to their own equilibrium, and they’re comfortable without needing to cater to Rick. I think Evil Morty gives an interesting foil to Rick, and I think he almost needs something to help him…Evolve? Reset? Something. Plus, with Morty being arguably much more capable than he was when we started, it would be interesting to see how he responds to seeing his potential in an “evil” version that was able to outsmart a citadel of Ricks. This episode strangely set things up for that in my mind.
Who has one penis and all the agency? Seriously they finally made an episode that passes the test just to have Beth literally give her father the agency and have him decide to waste it to avoid the responsibility. Dan Harmon is a genius.
A self-loathing narcissistic genius.
//Make your edit windows last longer, dangit!You know what would have tied this episode together? A stinger with Morty and Summer sitting in the living room, watching inter dimensional cable, analyzing the situation.“Is Grampa not coming in?”“He’s probably sitting in the garage feeling bad about being such an asshole instead of just coming in and not being an asshole.”“Wow, what a loser.”“Dumbest. Man. In the universe.”Pan to Jerry and his invisible garbage truck car crash out the window“Except for Dad.”“Yeah, Dad‘s a moron.”
…it’s hard to know where the character’s perspective ends, and the show’s perspective begins. Because for Rick to be that recognizably selfish is one thing… but for the show to pretend it’s undercutting that perspective even as it not-so-secretly endorses it (by having Rick always be right, and always be super-powerful and able to get out of anything, and also having most everyone else outside his immediate family be disposable and annoying)… well, that makes it hard to care even if the song they play when he’s sad is very sad indeed.I’m not sure I necessarily agree with this. It’s EASY for us to confidently (and not inaccurately) criticise Rick and his actions if/when he fails. Everyone likes saying “I told you so”. But it’s a LOT harder when, yes, he IS successful and super powerful and he does save the day. But what does that cost him?I think THAT is part of the show’s point which often gets overlooked. I don’t see it, necessarily, as nihilism as narcissism, or anti-hero apologia (good line though), and more a case of the show saying “look, you can be a super-cool, super-badass, unstoppable force… but what does any of that matter when you’re endlessly miserable as a result?” Rick is practically all-powerful and capable of doing pretty much anything… except being happy.It’s maybe a sappy reading of a purposefully cynical show, but I definitely think that’s a big part of the message.
Being a mega-genius doesn’t cost him his happiness, being a shit person does. He’s miserable because he’s not well-liked, and he’s not well-liked because he’s insufferable. It’s not that he saves the day, it’s that he wants to be seen saving the day and have accolades heaped upon him because he “deserves” them. His finest moment was when he went for ice cream and to get arrested on purpose (which was problematic at the time), but even then he had to punch down at Jerry. He can’t ever just do the right thing, and I can’t feel bad for him because he doesn’t even try.Note: of course this is all just my opinion
I agree with all of this, but I do think that a shade of humanity did come through during the Unity episode. Granted, trying to kill yourself doesn’t seem like a very Rick thing to do, but the way it was written was that he realized he really screwed up because of his selfishness and narcissistic tendencies, and figured that he can’t change so FTS.
I think that Season 4 has really gone in on dismantling the myth of Rick, and I’ve said as much. I’m happy with that aspect of the show, and I think they’ve done an admirable job of it. Even if the creative team defaulted to physically abusing him more than anything else as a means of making it explicit. Still, I think the long delay between Season 3 and 4 really hurt this run of episodes. Nothing huge, but there are definitely writers and voices that have diminished and/or disappeared between runs that are sorely missed. (Presumably they all went to go work on Solar Opposites, which I am not allowed to watch because I am Canadian and therefore Godless. Also, Marvel stuff, because everyone who works with Dan Harmon eventually works with Marvel – Except, of course, Dan Harmon.) Mostly, this is my way of saying, “Boy, Dan Harmon did a lot of voices and songs this season. Not a lot of Justin Roiland kicking around either. Also, I miss the silky smooth sounds of Ryan Ridley.” But it’s also my way of saying, I miss the loose improv of earlier seasons as the writing and production has tightened up and the attention of the people responsible for that tone has divided. We’ve had as many seasons mock us for wanting Interdimensional Cable as we’ve had actually deliver it, for example, and that bums me out.As for the episode itself, I laughed a ton. It isn’t at all how I imagined the show was going to use characters like Tammy and Phoenix Person – I didn’t think they’d use them at all after the Story Train, at least this season – but it didn’t waste them. Phoenix Person ends up being the capstone failure in an episode where Rick ends up on the floor next to his augmented guts, waiting to die at the hands of either his former best friend or his twin daughters. Rick isn’t wrong, that the ultimate goal is to persuade the ascendant power of the Galaxy to leave you alone. It’s just, the only way to genuinely achieve that end is to be more like Jerry and less like Rick. Anything else is honestly just a life spent running away from a universe compelled to hunt you for being powerful – that’s the life he chose. So when he gets what he thought he wanted, he feels small in a way he hasn’t before. The Galactic Fed straight up just doesn’t give a shit about him anymore.The two Beths represent both sides of him. It doesn’t matter which one is the clone because they’re both Beth, they’re just making different choices. It’s a duality the show explores repeatedly. Either you chase your dreams/ideals and risk detaching completely from the grounded simplicity of family, or you settle down with your family and accept a mundane existence as the price for happiness; you cannot have both, and you’ll still always be you no matter which you choose. The happiest Rick was Simple Rick. The Rick-est Rick is our Rick, C-137. They’re the same person, and it would be brilliant if his arc for the show was learning to reconcile that. And, like Bojack, there’s plenty of runway for the show to both redeem the character and make an argument for change while still holding him accountable for the damage he has done.Season 4 had a TON of galactic scale episodes, huge civilization-spanning montages, and sequences covering broad swaths of time in short order. It had a Zeus. It had time travel, and a snake civilization. I’d love it if Season 5 scaled WAY back and made its run about how Rick copes with low status mundanity. I’d like to see more episodes wrestle with the lives of the characters directly, in a more grounded fashion, on Earth. The B-Plot used to ground the A-Plot more, and I think (for example) one of the reasons the Snake episode resonates more than the Dragon episode has to do with the fact that Jerry’s B-plot recaptures the feeling of those first two seasons better in the Snake episode.TL;DR – Haha Birdperson Beak Drill Go Brrr
It was better than described: A-.
Rick & Morty, at its core, is about family tensions that can never truly be resolved. You don’t get to choose who you’re related to, and your complicated feelings about your relatives aren’t going to dramatically change even over time. The best you can hope for is that you get used to the emotional ups and downs of being related to this person who you simultaneously adore, admire, resent, and reject. Developing any of the characters too much would destroy the delicate equilibrium that the show has created.And we’re not owed easy answers — or answers at all — as an audience. All we can expect from this show — or any good show — is that it provides a mirror in which we can recognize ourselves. And Rick & Morty does that, no question.
I definitely enjoyed this more than the reviewer did; it was second only to the snake episode on the year for me. But I enjoy the callbacks and such.
Episode was alright. TBH it seemed like Harmon was just burning through as much fan wank theory fodder that he could reasonably do in a single episode. I’m sure if he had time for a two parter he would have worked Snowball and Evil Morty into it somehow.
Woulda liked it a season ago before the show murdered character development and story progression
OMG — Rick and his space-daughter don’t go for coffee, they go for beers. How can I take the rest of this review seriously now??
I’m glad someone else finally pointed that out.
Are you claiming that people don’t drink carbonated coffee in glass mugs?
Carbonated amber-coloured coffee…I mean, I guess they *are* in a different universe than we are…
What I liked about the Beth reveal was that it made me realize that it never mattered to me whether she was a clone or not. What mattered was her decision. Did she abandon her family, or did she really want this life, deep inside? Turns out it’s a little of both, and I’m cool with that.
My thoughts exactly. I did find it interesting that they should Space Beth having her implant removed, but not Earth Beth. Methinks this may come into play during the next season.
For all the callbacks and recurring characters in this show, I’m amazed Abradolf Lincler hasn’t made a return. He’s my favorite one-off character in the show.
He was in the sixth episode of this season…
Oh man I must’ve missed that episode! I’ve been jumping around. Thanks so much for the heads up!
It was brief, so it’s easy to miss…
Turns out I did see that episode, and I must’ve missed it. As you say, it was brief. Anyhoo, thanks for the heads up. I hope we see more of him. Even the name Abradolf Lincler makes me chuckle every time, and these days, I can use laughs anywhere I find ‘em.
Mixed feelings time! This has been the show’s weakest season, with no less than three episodes that revolve around hating on genre tropes (what part of Dan Harmon’s story circle involves “complaining endlessly about the same writing tools that our show wouldn’t exist without?”) a couple of episodes that felt utterly pointless (last week’s camping fiasco came off like a pile of rejected writers’ room pitches smooshed together until hey had enough content to fill 21 minutes) and, most damning of all, no wrapup at the end with Mr. Poopybutthole.But then came this episode! When R&M climbs out of its own ass and actually engages with its characters, it can still be pretty damn brilliant. This episode is the best finale the show has ever done, not because it pays off some long-running plotlines (though that doesn’t hurt) but because it’s almost completely driven by character instead of by some weird gimmick or meta-joke. Even all the stuff about the bug aliens trying to destroy the Earth is rightly treated as secondary to letting the members of the Smith family (and alleged clones) bounce off each other and arrive at some new truths about each other. Rick and Morty is still good when it actually tries to be about Rick and Morty (and Summer, Beth, and Jerry) and this was the show firing on all cylinders after a mostly dull fourth season. More like this for season five, please.
“complaining endlessly about the same writing tools that our show wouldn’t exist without?” I have the exact opposite impression from his meta-analysis, which is that Dan Harmon abusing story tropes is more akin to a pig playing in shit. It’s revelry, not contempt.
But in the same vein, I think he considers the continuity that people are so obsessed with just as fun to sport with. There’s no real point to Evil Morty or the Galactic Federation plotlines, and while I don’t think Harmon necessarily has anything against people theorizing and hyping up episodes that dip into that well, everything he does with it seems like a rejection of fandoms’ apparently deep-seated need to know how everything is going to play out before it actually happens. The sort of shit that kills Star Wars or Game of Thrones is never going to kill Rick and Morty, because it’s more fun for him to disrupt continuity than it is to continue it.
But in the same vein, I think he considers the continuity that people are so obsessed with just as fun to sport with. There’s no real point to Evil Morty or the Galactic Federation plotlines
After watching Solar Opposites, I definitely came away feeling Evil Morty/The Citadel of Ricks is more of a Roiland contribution than Harmon.
There is totally a point to Evil Morty and it explains Rick’s motivations here and last year. This isn’t his Beth, this isn’t his Morty, he spent his whole life with them but left when he thought he killed that Morty. So the difference between real and clone Beth doesn’t matter much to him as neither are really his daughter. He wants to be a better dad so bends she wanted but he knew he couldn’t make that decision as he wrecks people’s lives
Continuity is being stuck with weird character decisions you made years ago. Ask Armin Tanzarian how that works out.
I’m pretty sure we’re not supposed to feel sorry or celebrate Rick and if you are looking for it through that angle then you’re going to always be disappointed. This episode was an A all the way.
I disagree. But Harmon is capricious. I mean this is an animated show where everyone stays the same age. Besides references. (“Once, I was a pickle!”) The show hard resets every ep. Morty is an old hand/Morty is naive. I think you’re supposed to feel whatever random emotion they were shooting for, ep to ep. This isn’t unusual for animation. The Simpsons, a show I haven’t watched since the mid 90s, does this,no?
Sure. But there’s been a trend with animated cartoons that have been increasingly serialized: Adventure Time, Regular Show, and Steven Universe. Shows in which the main draw is that characters don’t just revert back to the status quo, and instead build off of previous episodes. Rick and Morty is very much that. It’s why people lost their shit over Rick trying to kill himself in season 1 or the reveal of Evil Morty, and the many, many theories on “the one true Morty.”
Those are, indeed, example of growth. They are largely forgotten as the story moves forward. There’s a whole examination of “Wah Bah Dah Ba da Wah Dub Dub!!” [or something like that] That PP, (nee BP) tells us is Rick crying out in pain. We’ve never heard about that again. It’s all just moment-to-moment gobbledygook.
I may be remembering wrong, but I’m pretty sure Rick said “wub a dub a wub dub” in one of this season’s episodes. Again, I could be wrong. He has definitely said it since that initial episode with Bird Person at the house party.
I’ve just re watched the series, front to back cuz, like COVID. I don’t recall anything like that after the explanation. I’m not saying it didn’t happen, but I didn’t find it notable.
I wanna say he said it for sure at the end of the first season finale. Sad note: I tend to put random series marathons when I’m going to bed, and R&M is my go-to once a week. God bless/curse Adult Swim for having R&M as well as Venture Bros always on marathon. BTW, it took me over a week since seeing your avatar name and finally connect it to Highlander, which is one of my infinitely re-watchable movies. I think I’ve watched it at least two times this year. Cinematography and music really do a lot for movies sometimes.
I think Morty’s voice was changing around the dinner table…does that count?
The ultimate resolution of this episode feels like a course correction on some of the weaker points of season 2 and 3, specifically the show’s tendency to still glamorize Rick even when trying to show the flaws of his philosophy. Rick’s general misery at the end of this episode ended up having more impact than it did at the end of last season since it leaves Rick in a position where he achieved the external conflict of the episode (The Federation), but is left in a worse place overall because he refused to address the internal conflict (Beth and Space Beth)Where this episode succeeds is in making the external conflict of the episode (Taking down the Galactic Federation 2.0) independent of the core emotional conflict of the episode (Rick repairing his relationship with Beth and Space Beth). Thus we get a situation where Rick gets to be Mr. Sci-Fi, Do-Anything Science-God who takes down the federation, but he ends the episode having completely lost, since defeating the federation wasn’t the point. This episode tackles the show’s ongoing problem of “Cruelty/Cynicism = Intelligence” by shifting that message into “Just because you’re correct, doesn’t mean you’re right”. This episode is not Rick having to martyr himself to protect his family only to be vindicated at the start of next season, it’s him completely fucking up everything that matters to him because he’s unwilling to be emotionally honest or care about things. He wins a conflict that ultimately doesn’t matter and ends the episode with both of his daughters thinking he’s a shit-head and a watching a holotape that proves that opinion right.
A few people have brought up the fact that Rick deliberately obfuscating the identity of clone Beth and original Beth ended up leading to a better outcome for Beth than either of the other options, but I think that’s somewhat missing the point of why Rick’s lack of decision sucked. Regardless of how well the situation ended up playing out in the end, Rick didn’t do what he did because he thought it would be the best outcome, he did what he did because he couldn’t make a decision and couldn’t come through for Beth as a father. It hammers home the point that for all Rick’s bluster about being the smartest asshole in the room, he still can’t figure out the solutions to the emotional conflicts in his life.
I’ve enjoyed every season of Rick and Morty so far. Some episodes are better than others, but all are enjoyable. While I do enjoy analysis and critique, I think some people take it too seriously.
The after credits were funny and won me over but I was immediately pissed off that Jerry threw the belt out. Give it back to the kids (or Rick but mostly the kids cuz no one is talking to Rick right now).. You just gonna throw an invisibility belt out? Classic Jerry move
Rick and Beth go out for Beer, Not coffee.
I don’t have much to contribute other than to point out the part in which Rick and Warrior Beth send out Pokemon that proceed to rip each other apart.
Would just like to point out that Rick has been wrong before in the show and that Rick has been beaten before (twice in this very season lol) in the show as well.
For all his talk about being basically a God, he’s been shown to have dumb ideas, he’s been beaten in fights and has had his “I know better than you” mentality challenged enough times, that I think saying/implying the show isn’t somehow aware enough to earn its more emotional moments… isn’t quite right.
Mind you, I don’t take issue with saying that the fandom is likely not aware enough to not-misinterpret everything as “hey guys look how awesome Rick is.”
Because people are very often dumb. Especially in groups. Myself included.
EXAMPLES or GTFO
It was a (brilliant) throwaway gag, but Morty beat him at checkers.
Zeus / Reggie kicking his ass and the grand kids bailing him out.
I wouldn’t be dismissive of the Beth decision plot, after all, it shows the absolute key to Rick’s shortcomings. He can’t take emotional responsibility for anything, instead he’ll rationalise away, insult others, give up responsibility, come up with a science distraction… basically anything else. Beth has insane father issues: she has a choice to make between staying with her family that she loves or going out into space and finally living out her dreams and potential, and she gives that decision up for her dad to make. What makes Rick a failure father is that he couldn’t be vulnerable with her and say if he actually needed her to stay with him. Both choices were equally right for Beth’s happiness (which the audience can see by how happy and well-adjusted both Beths are in the end) and all he had to do was accept bearing the responsibility of making a decision. Any functional adult knows that you have to make a choice sometimes and stick to it, and Beth was trying to parent her own father and make him grow up from the narcissistic irresponsible prick he likes to be.The two Beths in the conclusion don’t give him any kind of credit or validation because Beth hadn’t asked for a super magical/science-y solution, but for an honest answer, which he bailed on giving. You can’t reject responsibility for how things turn out and then take credit when they work out well. Of course, from Rick’s perspective, he’s a super genius who can invent anything but still can’t figure out how to be happy. On some level, he probably found it ridiculous for Beth to trust him with choosing her path to happiness when he himself is such an utterly miserable bastard.
I think the ending feels the same as we’ve seen before because it employs the same tactic as previous episodes where we get the emotional ending with a obscure pop song. But it’s not.The truth is, we’ve never had this particular character beat. Here we have Rick coming face to face with what he does to others, to his own daughter, and admitting it to himself. And moreover, he’s not coming to terms with the fact that he cares, which is mostly what the emotional moments have been all about. His internal conflict with how he feels and how he says he feels, or thinks he should feel. this time, he’s coming to terms with how he affects others. And he’s admitting to himself that he’s absolutely bad at it. The external conflict of how he relates to others and whether that matters.
Unrelated to Rick and Morty but it’s driving me crazy and this is the most popular recent thing posted so I’ll ask here anyway.
So I’m rewatching on Hulu “What We Do In the Shadows” and every post credit scene is not the one that belongs to the episode I just watched. What in the hell is that? And I know for a fact that they used to match? Anybody experience or notice that or want to see?
There are post credits scenes for What We Do In The Shadows?
Sometimes.
At the beginning of the month they burn fan theories in one big ball of glory, telling us not to worry about the old plotlines… by month’s end they go ahead and give us the return of (Schrodinger’s) Beth, Phoenix Person, TAMMY!, and Dr. Wong in a glorious episode. Rick & Morty Writers… YOU MAGNIFICENT BASTARDS!! 😀
Zack, you reveal your own issues as a reviewer by basically saying the show can only truly show “growth” if Rick ends up losing in some permanent way, or the show itself turns into a huge downer, or whatever it takes to give you enough sense of moral or intellectual superiority to say “ah ha! now they have *truly* learned a *real* lesson.” Get fucked, dude. The only thing more disposable than the fly troopers in this episode are the worthless value judgement of a shit reviewer who’ll never create something half as interesting as the worst episode of this show in his entire life. You’re a Jerry with a laptop.
Lower than a recapper->commenterLower than a commenter->replier
“Have fun Pumpkin – sorry I’m a piece of shit father!” was terrific.
Honestly, I have always suspected that original Beth is long dead, maybe in some event not entirely unlike what we saw in the Season 3 premiere. I figured both were clones.I really liked the Wrangler and Wendys jokes.
I would have really liked to have seen a Brett Farve cameo with him getting killed (aside from the waist down) after just one line.Damn I feel old now.
I mean, original Beth is a borderline cavewoman feasting on Cronenbergs.
“Original” Beth from the pilot, yes. I just do not believe that was original Beth.
fuck yeah this is JUST what i was asking for a few eps ago!hero mode!
rick pulls a total SE Han Solo on Beth at the diner too. he shot first.
Rick has coffee with his daughter. Or his daughter’s clone. It’s a bit fuzzy, really Nothing like how Rick isn’t even the actual (or original) father of the daughter/clone but a doppelganger from another universe who took her father’s place after he killed himself. I think this show just out comic-ed comic books.
“Why can’t I meet your parents? Are you embarassed of me?”“No, of them.”“Awwww.”
I mean… it’s not like a catch phrase from the movie, but that has to be a “Real Genius” nod, doesn’t it?
When the family was back in the garage, the show had Rick off-stage just long enough for me to consider how I would feel if Rick was…just dead. It was awkward, as I sort of didn’t care. Then that feeling was made solid, because I was sympathetic to the win that the rest of the Smiths got (Double-Beth!). I think Season 5 will slide that further, and Rick will really start to “jerry” it up, to become “awkward Rick”. Because his arc needs it, because Rick can’t be Fonzie forever. Then (I hope) the season 5 finale will pay off the “Summer’s friend wanting to bone Jerry”…like this season’s finale paid off the “Beth’s a clone” from season 3 (because why else would they have gone to family therapy…again?).
It seems the writers have been listening to the complaints of how omnipotent Rick has become and have shown him getting his ass kicked more this season but in the process they have also turned around and essentially given Rick the Konami Code. No other character in the history of sci-fi has taken as much human damage as he does and bounce back literally within seconds as if Rick got nothing more than a paper cut.
This was my favorite episode of the season. I like how they made Rick lose two episodes in a row.
I honestly don’t understand why the Beths were so pissed. She WANTED to be cloned, she didn’t want to know which one was real and which was the clone and so Rick randomized. The ‘emotional impact’ I got was everyone shitting on Rick the one time he actually didn’t deserve it.
I thought this episode was “ok.” Honestly, I was waiting for some big meta-joke to reveal itself that is all some hardcore R&M fan’s wet dream of an ep. Now, having said this…if maybe every season from now to the end they save the last episode for the anthology, and we could expect a pretty straight forward sci-fi action ep, I could be down for it. We could tune our expectations because honestly, I thought we’ve been making fun of all this continuity this whole season so to see them stick so hard to closing out Tammy, Bird/Phoenix Person, Dr. Wong, the Galactic Federation….it seemed like a parody. I feel this ep would have fit in better earlier in the season and then they could unwind expectations as the season went on. I don’t know. I love R&M. Actually really liked this back half of season 4 (and a few from first half). While this episode on it’s face is close to perfect, it just seems to suspect for me to enjoy it. It’s like they just said f it, here’s what you want….Ahhh now I understand….it’s all 100% fan service because that’s exactly what Rise of Skywalker was…bloated with fan service. That’s what this was. Now I get it. Wow…took me writing it out to come to that epiphany.
I thought this was a great episode. Having other Beth brought back was so fun because it wasn’t needed could just be enjoyed as entertainment. Personally I think the writers were uncomfortable with some people’s toxic reaction to Rick and this season is all about knocking him down a few pegs.I loved Jerry’s mini joke arc of “Hey!”
I get that Phoenix person is the gromflomites’ Darth Vader, but still: he was seriously overpowered.
He got the Archangel treatment:
So in this universe the original Rick and Morty are dead. Mom might be a clone and Jerry could have been switched with another a while back. Only Summer is for sure the original in this world.
Might wanna post this…
But having him treated like the loser he kind of is? That’s got legs on it. Agreed. And, really, I hope they explore it more. He can do everything but find actual fulfillment, and that needs to be hammered home more.
So hear me out. It doesn’t matter which is the original, they’re now identical. On top of that, that’s not Rick or Morty’s first Beth either. The whole premise of the show is it doesn’t matter. Parallel universes vs clones, why does one matter and one not? I think the answer is they’re just neurotic. There’s no inherent flaw in clones, at least how R&M do them. We’re generations of Sci fi past their conception and I don’t think we feel like we once did about them.Also, Morty’s gotten laid a few times, would the woman’s locker room still be that big of a thing? I mean, Summer nailed him, but the weekly reset button has flaws for Morty (unless we find out later Rick’s been replacing Mortys too, we don’t even know and have hints to suggest he’s not Rick’s ‘real’ Morty). And Jerry had the only real arc! lolol. damn it Figgis.
Also, Morty’s gotten laid a few times, would the woman’s locker room still be that big of a thing?I’m going to assume you were never a teenage boy. Or one of the millions of people who keep PornHub in business.
I always found the Porkys like behavior became a thing of the past when you were engaging with the opposite sex.
Yeah *maybe* if there’s a steady supply of it coming your way. Morty got some of that sweet mermaid puss, but it’s not like he has a regular girlfriend.Besides, ogling girls in the shower is safe compared to some of the other times Morty has stuck his dick in things.
He also had a ‘long term relationship’ a few episodes ago, it happened, he remembers it. I can’t say no one would do it, but I remember people got far less pervy when they were in actual relationships (well, after as well)
Ah yes, Morty Jr who wrote a tell all book.“I hope he’s eating enough.”
Eh, the show just feels stanky and up-it-own ass now.
But, but…the line where Space Beth literally throws Rick’s “best to be ignored” strategy back in his face, needling him into using his prodigious powers to benefit someone else for a change…it kind of undercuts any argument that the show secretly thinks Rick’s personality derangement is cool.
It also says “your hero phase” meaning he had a hero phase himself and that given time Beth might end up more like Rick, she’s been doing whatever she’s been doing for a lot less time than rick
rick says what every shitty, dismissive, reductive human being says:“you know how i am”like that’s an EXCUSE
The dragon episode had me worried. They might be able to pull off another decent season.
“This is our arc” lines are way too funny for me. It’s just so silly. Also that fight scene was amazing. Nice season. Some throwaway episodes for my taste but finished strong
Rick & Morty should just quit while it’s ahead. Season 4 is not bad by other standards, but pretty bad by Rick & Morty standards.
It’s fine to end it here.
To be honest, I kind of feel like the entirety of S4, except for the final episode and arguably ‘Childrick of Mort’, has been a pretty explicit excuse for them to give the middle finger to people clamoring for storylines and character arcs; but then they turn on the fire hose in this final episode; and I can’t help but think that previous seasons have ended on similar notes, so are we going to open S5 with all but a total reset to status quo, a bunch of standalone episodes and the end of the season trying to cram everything in at the last minute too..?