#which also ofc manifested in her abandonment of Morty in the matrix

[cloudysonder]

great post op

There's a small part of your meta I want to expand on and hear your feedback on, though-- you said,

"interestingly, when she gets out of the matrix, she defaults to her standard self. she rejects wisdom [From Beth] and feedback [From Beth], and decides to live impulsively [In Front Of Beth]."

A lot of Summer's character (to us viewers, her "standard self") has been built on her relationship with Beth, her mother. We see it as early as S1E8, when she sees all of the (arguably better) futures where Beth decided to abort her. She almost runs away, calling herself "the cause of [her] parents' misery," and telling herself that she would "have better judgement than [Beth] had at [her] age."

In many ways, she is still very much her standard self in the Matrix, and she is doing all the things she said she would do (learning from her mom's mistakes) -- she leaves her deadbeat husband + doesn't have a kid with him, she focuses on her career, and makes it big as a Tech CEO.

**it also does not escape me that Summer is now mentally 34, the same age as Beth.

In those 17 years in the Matrix, despite Beth not being in the Matrix with her, Summer was still very much influenced and driven by Beth's decisions (Summer sees them as mistakes). Which is why Summer trying to show Beth what she could be (had she aborted Summer, abandoned her family, etc.) didn't work.

Because Beth has long since stopped seeing her family as a mistake.

Summer still does.

rambles and thoughts on Summer of all Fears - a meta

what really stands out to me about this newest episode is how it portrays how both summer and morty respond to stress.

EPISODE 1 SEASON 8 SPOILERS UNDER CUT

morty goes off the rails. he lashes out in every way he can think of. he becomes violent, vengeful, antisocial. he focuses on clear but short term goals like getting out of jail and fighting a war. when he's not doing these things, he fixates on things like engineering and firefighting, that have very set in stone rules but that are complex enough for him to get lost in. his hobbies are distractions but they are also productive. he opts not to use the productive side of him in times of stress. perhaps this isn't even consciously chosen. it's his instinct to self destruct.

and that's where he and summer differ. when she faces the same challenges, she focuses on mastery. she wants power, perfection, and order. she results to manipulation. she focuses on long term goals. on becoming untouchable to others around her. she becomes president and doesn't just become a master of her reality, but also a master of herself. she becomes fixated on achievement. she's able to do this by working extraordinarily hard, planning things out elaborately, and pulling strings like a puppeteer. it's her instinct to take charge.

both of them, when put in a situation outside of their control, do what they can to reclaim their power. morty is unconventional and chaotic, summer is traditional and lawful. he tries to reclaim power himself, summer tries to reclaim power over the situation.

id be remiss not to mention the feminist reading of this. that in times of stress, women are expected to remain composed and rational or otherwise be labelled emotional. summer has the same societal learning as us. she feels pressured to prove herself to even a fake society. perhaps even to rick and her brother. she takes conventional means to gain power so she not only appears as in control but feels it. although she doesn't place particular value on what she's doing, she knows its a typically respected profession and she can make it suit her.

i think she's smart enough to realise this but i don't think she's able to solve it for herself. interestingly, when she gets out of the matrix, she defaults to her standard self. she rejects wisdom and feedback, and decides to live impulsively.

in the real world when put under stress, morty tries to control the situation. he often goes to rick to get help, someone who he believes can do and fix anything. but summer tries to control herself. their roles switch.