Where do we even go from here? A question I also posed at the beginning of the season. Actually, where do we really go from last week as we had THE biggest moment in Rick and Morty history? Rick’s biggest obstacle has always been himself but this time we truly saw what that meant. In “Unmortricken,” episode 5 of the seventh season, backstories were explored and a satisfying conclusion wrapped the longest arc of the show. With that portal closed, now we have a new predicament… Rick’s purpose in life. Continue on as we explore what previously came in this Rick and Morty mid-season review!
[Warning: The rest of this will include spoilers up to the “Rickfending Your Mort” episode!]
An evil plan comes to fruition in the Ricky and Morty
So yes, Rick Prime is finally dead at the hands of our Rick (Ian Cardoni). To further frustrate the situation, Evil Morty (Harry Belden) was fully involved and even bested Rick Prime in combat. The introduction of the Omega Device during this confrontation was meaningful as we learn that Beth doesn’t exist in ANY universe since this machine can wipe someone from EVERY universe.
Back in my Rick and Morty Season 7 premiere review, I remarked about Rick Prime and what he might be up to. I didn’t expect the events that unfolded to happen this early. Honestly, I don’t think anyone did at all, and more so it felt like a season finale. Not only was it early but also brief, it could have made for a two-parter ending later down the road.
So now we return to the question at hand. Where does Rick go from here and will he even want to do it? In this week’s episode, “Rickfending Your Mort” we see Rick and Morty go through a trial of sorts. “The Observers” recounts endless situations where you question exactly how honest our protagonists are.
I personally have never found Rick nor Morty to be heroes in ANY sense of the word. I don’t care that they might have prevented tragedies, but I do care that they’ve left such a profound effect on countless lives whether good or bad. During “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” a sped-up timeline of effects is felt on Hoovy (voiced by Jim Gaffigan) and his great-great-great grandchildren and beyond. A similar situation happened with the snake populations during “Rattlestar Ricklactica” where they left the snakes with time-traveling capabilities that resulted in a ridiculous time loop ending.
I think at some point all this intervening or colluding will come to a head and someone’s going to have to pay. Rick most likely, but knowing his luck I could see Morty also being relegated to something, perhaps imprisonment or punishment. Also with the disruption of the Central Finite Curve, there have to be several things that Rick Prime could have been keeping at bay, a la TVA in Loki.
As we saw, Rick’s search for Rick Prime caused enough problems for Evil Morty that entangled him in the plot. How many other things is Rick destroying out there that others will come asking for retribution? The horrors of what could be out there are innumerable. We’ve seen so many variants of Rick, but even those were part of a selected multiverse.
Rick’s purpose, and looking ahead
Truly the question here is to circle back to the original objective… what is Rick’s purpose? With help, he got his revenge but of course, it left him feeling entirely unfulfilled. The next cold open we have a defeated Rick who doesn’t want to adventure anymore. Although in the end, Rick decides to take Morty on a new adventure, it feels like it was done more to spite The Observers rather than to find the joy from adventuring.
The following episodes are titled: “Wet Kuat Amortican Summer”, “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie”, “Mort: Ragnarick,” and “Fear No Mort.” Although they’re mostly used for references the titles do give some sort of insight as to what they might be parodying. If they are really doing a riff of Thor: Ragnarok then perhaps some world-ending hijinks could be incorporated into the plot. Fear No More was a thriller in the 60’s that is eerily similar to the pilot of the Daredevil show and potentially a mental foray into Rick’s self-inflicted descent into madness.
As for Morty? We could just be starting to get the best of him. He has now understood and witnessed Evil Morty throughout the seasons and why he did what he did. With “Morty’s Mind Blowers” Morty knows exactly how many lines Rick has willingly crossed to keep himself looking good. With the unraveling of the Central Finite Curve and the revelations from The Observers, Morty is in a prime (see what I did there) position to take hold of the narrative and potentially drive the nature of their adventures. Again, the title of the show is Rick AND Morty, even as much as we love to follow Rick Sanchez we know that his grandson has always been the other half of the equation. This season we’ve spent a much smaller amount of time with the Smith family, something I hope to see change in the latter half of the season.
Ultimately, what it boils down to is, what’s next? Rick did the thing, and now he’s aimless. But as we’ve become comfortable there’s always the chance of something larger looming deep in the background. During season 7 I really expected Rick Prime to drive us all the way to the finale, so this unforeseen development might just be the change-up needed.
Lastly, I have one smaller comment to make in regard to the voice acting. Rick’s voice acting is done well and arguably is the more difficult character as you have to contend with portraying drunkenness. Morty’s voice acting is decent but Evil Morty just sounded off to me almost the entire time. I understand the difficulty of the task and applaud them for their best efforts against an unfriendly fanbase.
You can find new episodes of Rick and Morty season 7 on Adult Swim
Have you been watching Rick and Morty weekly? What do you think about Rick finally beating Rick Prime? Episodes of Rick and Morty are still airing on Adult Swim weekly at 11 PM EDT on Sundays. Join the spoiler-filled conversation over at The Cosmic Circus Discord and let me know your thoughts on season 7!
Review: Rick and Morty Season 7
Why Evil Morty is the Right Villain for ‘Rick And Morty’
