#morture

[perishwinkle]

[creamyclouds]

find me in the rabbit hole

[nymphs-love]

Parallel

Also Rick's dramatic pose

[thesoftboiledegg]

Even though the episode references it directly, it just hit me how much A Rick in King Mortur's Mort parallels The Vat of Acid Episode. Both episodes involve Rick relapsing after Morty provokes him. But instead of losing his mind and turning into a monster, Rick withdraws and replaces himself with a cheerful, loving version that he programmed to make Morty happy.

He still fucked up, but...I guess he fucked up a little differently this time.

[geetimesthree]

"I don't want your stupid sword!"

[fanbun]

C’mon lil june bug!

[star-1986]

rick, and morty hugging

[hazelnut-u-out]

I think an interesting facet of the storytelling of Rick and Morty is the way that you’re intended to view Rick as a main character. It’s inarguable that both Rick and Morty are the main characters of this show (although, season 6 left Morty feeling a bit neglected, in my opinion). That being said, there are some things that I’ve found interesting regarding the way that Rick is intended to be perceived.

Generally, when you’re consuming a piece of fiction, there is a compulsion to like the main character. At the very least, you’re used to empathizing with them on most things. Now, I’m obviously not trying to say that main characters can’t be bad people. That wouldn’t exactly be a generalizable statement. In fact, I think that it is a marvelous tool in fiction to follow a protagonist who is very obviously doing the wrong thing. Main characters are allowed to be villains.

I guess what I’m getting at here is that I’m used to liking main characters as people (not just their presence on the page or screen, dialogue, or personality) even when they’re consumed by a villain arc. I really loved the tonal shift that took place in the last episode of season 6 of Rick and Morty, because they really challenged me on that. They flipped the script, in a way.

(Disclaimer: I love Rick. I'm just angry with him at the moment.)

I think the only other piece of media I’ve consumed in the genre that I’ve felt executed this same earth-shattering disappointment of being denied a main character you like was Bojack Horseman. Bojack is the main character. He’s funny, charismatic, empathetic, tormented. As the viewer, you want to like him. You’re waiting for a reason to be able to love him, but… it’s never enough. It never comes. No matter how many grand gestures he attempts or how well the groundwork is laid out for a redeemable character, as he says, “You have to be dependably good.”

That fundamental dissonance is something that I can’t help likening to Rick.

All the pieces are there, but he can't quite put them together.

I’ve even found myself waiting for the moment Morty gets to deliver a confrontational monologue to Rick with the same emotional significance of Todd’s.

“You can’t keep doing shitty things, and then feel sorry for yourself like that makes it okay. You have to be better.”

I truly felt, for the first time, that I wasn’t supposed to like Rick. I was supposed to hate him. ‘A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort’ and ‘Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation’ were both episodes told quintessentially from Morty’s perspective. This meant that, of course, I loved Rick’s screen presence, what he offered the narrative, his dialogue, and comedy; but also that I found myself hating him as a person. I was so angry with him.

These were episodes told from the perspective of a victim, but with the gift of adult/outside perspective on the situation, which Morty doesn’t have.

It was truly a brilliantly executed narrative device. As the viewer, I was begging Morty not to go down into that lab. I was urging Morty to realize that none of this is normal or acceptable or something he had to go along with.

On the other hand, Rick is a deeply tormented character that is incredibly easy to empathize with, but it’s very clear that he’s not who you’re meant to be rooting for anymore.

With all of this in context, it makes more sense to me why Morty was pushed to the background to highlight Rick’s growth as a character. It’s a lot easier to empathize with an abuser- to feel bad for them and be on their side- when you’re consuming a narrative about their healing from their warped perspective. It’s a lot easier to like them as a person when you’re not facing the direct consequences of their actions on their victim.

I think that’s why there’s something so eerie about the ending of ‘Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation’ to me. It left me feeling nauseous and anxious; consumed by this anxiety from watching an unknowing child fall victim to circumstance, manipulation, and abuse.

Rick’s drunkenness in that final scene isn’t played for laughs, like in the pilot or ‘The Rickshank Redemption,’ nor is Morty’s hesitance. There’s this harsh reality that he isn’t frantically stumbling and running away in terror, like he did in earlier seasons. Instead, he’s just uncomfortable. This is something he’s used to. His normal is dealing with his grandfather’s drunken, violent mania. His normal is accepting his role- his destiny to be a sidekick.

This shot of Morty’s face is actually what reduced me to tears while watching the finale. There is something so unsettling about this look of, ‘Nothing has changed.’ Something heartbreaking.

Rick’s role is to fuck Morty up, and Morty’s role is to forgive him for it.

And Morty is accepting his role…

For now.

It’s a harsh reality to accept that your beloved protagonist is destined to become a villain, and I can’t help but feel that we’ve rounded a corner with this series where Rick is fated to be the villain in Morty’s story.

Evil Morty and Rick Prime might be the facetious faces of the ‘big bad,’ but I have this sinking feeling that our bad guy has been hiding in plain sight for a long time- whether or not it’s his intention.

[rickandmortyscreenshots]

[dirty-bear-rick-sanchez]

Almost everything I wanted to say about the new episode has already been said much better by others but one little throwaway line I really liked is Rick saying ‘the heat is good for my joints’

Love when we’re reminded that Rick is actually an old man

[spockvarietyhour]

[cassowariess]

David Mitchell:

Daniel Radcliffe:

Robert Webb:

Jack Black:

Matt King (thanks to @werewolfbarbie for figuring out who he was lol)

[icebear4president]

This really didn’t mean anything to the plot of “A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort”, but seeing Morty doing basic physics and not doubting himself at all while doing it, made me so happy. It’s been alluded to that Morty likes scientific stuff, and I bet if he puts his mind to it, he could be really good at it. I mean, you can’t be a partner to Rick Sanchez and learn nothing at all. Morty may not be book smart, but he’s definitely a “learning by doing” kind of person. It would be really cute if Rick realized this and started teaching him more and more things.

[thesoftboiledegg]

Man, I did NOT realize how much I missed Morty until I watched "A Rick in King Mortur's Mort." If you've spent thirty seconds on my blog, you know that Rick is my favorite character. I like Morty, but I don't specifically watch the show for him. But his dynamic with Rick is brilliant, and separating them by putting Morty in the background could've been a fatal flaw if season six didn't start turning it around near the end.

When other characters appeared on the screen (especially in group family scenes) I thought "OK, let's not take too much attention away from Morty." I never thought I'd hear myself thinking that. I think that season six is great overall, but that actually made me look at it a little more critically. This show just does NOT work without Morty. Developing the family dynamic was great, but I'm hoping that the show will start focusing on the core characters again.

Anyway, this was a good episode. Like Morty, I kept waiting for the reveal that Rick was just being an asshole and letting Morty talk himself into a disaster so that Rick could save him and then hold it over his head for ages. I wasn't too worried since Rick's been changing so much and going to therapy, but it still crossed my mind.

Maybe Rick's still following Dr. Wong's instructions: being patient and watching events unfold instead of immediately reacting with anger.

The callback to the infamous "The Vat of Acid Episode" blew me away. I didn't think the show would ever even mention it again. That episode was Rick at his worst: an abusive, sociopathic monster who emotionally destroyed Morty under the guise of being nice. So much of Rick's affection in seasons 1-4 was fake or manipulative. He did care for Morty, but boy, he didn't hesitate to smack him down and remind him who was the Rick.

I loved how the end of the episode paralleled the start of "The Vat of Acid Episode" perfectly. It's like this scene with Rick and Morty saying "I love you," grasping each other's hands and jumping willingly into the lava together undid all of Rick's cruelty.

Well...not quite. Which brings me to the one issue that I have with their relationship development: the show keeps acting like they needed to come to a mutual understanding, like their issues were partially Morty's fault. 99% of their problems came from Rick's bullshit.

Rick IS taking accountability, admitting that he fucked up and trying to do right by Morty. However, I think Morty needs to tear into him. In fact, it's a little unsatisfying that he doesn't. Rick needs to know how much he hurt Morty because that's the only way that Morty could ever find peace and Rick could even begin to atone for it.

I don't think Rick's trying to dodge responsibility. If Morty finally unleashed his rage, I think Rick would stand there and accept it. Maybe Evil Morty was supposed to be C-137 Morty's stand-in when he tore into Rick at the end of "Rickmurai Jack," but it's not enough because C-137's got personal issues with Rick that no one else has.

Rick's my favorite character, but--he deserves it. He took his shit out on that kid for way too long. Even once would have been too many times. I wish the show would let Morty seriously confront Rick about everything that he did.

Also, Rick's still got a lot of work to do, but this episode left me wondering where they could go from here. Either Morty's going to start seizing control, or something huge is going to happen that shakes up the status quo.

Still, I enjoyed the sweet moments in this episode. Rick calling Morty "little junebug" was so unexpected, but so loving and sincere. He's called Morty "buddy" and "kiddo," but that's the first time he's given him an affectionate nickname like that. Sounds like something that he would have called Beth when she was little.

I was wondering when Rick and Morty would share an emotional hug (as opposed to the spontaneous one that they shared in "Get Schwifty" all those years ago), and there it was. Not the scenario that I expected, but Rick and Morty hugging while Rick assures him that "we're going to make your dick so fake" is perfect for this series.

And again, Justin Roiland does a great job. I love how he captures the gentle undertones in Rick's voice.

Between Rick (basically) having two daughters in the house, trying to give Beth parental advice and showing Morty affection, it seems like he's learning how to be a father again. The way he extends his arms to Morty while shushing him looks so natural, like when he gently turns on Morty's goggles for him in "Full Meta Jackrick." He's reclaiming in his 70s what Prime Rick tore away from him in his 30s.

I also liked how this episode kept things fresh by returning to Earth's solar system. When Rick and Morty can visit infinite planets in infinite universes, what else is there to do? Return to an "ordinary" setting that they haven't spent much time in. This episode reminded me of "Something Ricked This Way Comes," which Rick mentions directly--another great callback to earlier seasons.

I noticed that Morty and Rick are continuing to gradually switch places. Morty's the one who suggests that they move to another dimension, and he says in the beginning that he wouldn't be too upset if he never saw his family again. Glad to see that he hasn't regressed back into being a passive little boy, which I was worried about.

Overall, this was a solid episode. I would've done a few things differently, but the writers have done a great job of pushing the show's boundaries and transforming the characters. Still, this upward growth can't go on forever, which makes me a little worried about what's coming next.

[thirstghosting]

[fanbun]

Morty and RickBot in 6.09