Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 9, Episode 2!
Rick and Morty‘s ninth season didn’t have the strongest start in “There’s Something About Morty,” but that’s ok. The series immediately bounces back with a surprisingly strong and emotionally charged sophomore episode. The show is often at its best when it explores the sheer misery that is Rick Sanchez’s (Ian Cardoni) existence, and this episode is simply another reminder of that fact.
The cleverly titled “Ricks Days, Seven Nights” throws us for a loop in its opening moments, as we’re not sure what the heck is going on with Rick’s latest misadventure. Why is he driving an RV? Why is he calling himself Ted and hanging around with a group of affable hicks in a bowling alley? This episode doesn’t waste too much time before definitively resolving that mystery, and it’s an amusing reveal when we discover the truth behind the situation and the lengths Rick will go to to guarantee himself a proper vacation.
The supporting cast introduced in this episode is fine, if painted with a pretty broad brush. But those characters are mostly a means to an end. This is all about Rick in direct and literal conflict with himself, doing everything he can not to be ripped out of this idyllic existence and thrust back into the shoes of a multiverse-travelling mad scientist. It’s a fundamentally sad conflict, so it’s fitting that “Ricks Days, Seven Nights” is less overtly funny than many other chapters of the series.
Not that there isn’t some amusement to be had. This episode gets plenty of mileage out of “Ted” transforming his RV and ordinary bowling equipment into powerful weapons. There’s the epic shoot-out in the bowling alley, as Ted and the gang make their successful (but ultimately tragic) stand against Rick’s drone army. But as the death of Brenda (Amy Ryan) shows, there’s a fundamental darkness lurking at the center of this conflict.
The latter half of the episode really highlights that fact. It allows Ted and friends to win, but that victory immediately proves hollow and pyrrhic. The moment Ted’s friends are exposed to his life as Rick, everything becomes tainted. They’re no longer content to bowl, fish, and knock back a few brews. They crave laser eyes and portal guns and all the luxuries that come from being friends with the smartest guy in the universe. And so, predictably, everything quickly spirals out of control.
Episode 2 really sinks its emotional hooks in during its closing minutes. By this point, Ted may have technically vanquished Rick, but he’s become Rick in every way that truly matters. He’s driven his friends away. He’s profoundly unhappy and burdened by the cost of the super-science that surrounds him. His vacation is well and truly over.
The final scene between Rick and Morty (Harry Belden) is a particularly strong way to cap off this bleak little conflict. Ted desperately seeks some assurance that he’ll be happier and more fulfilled than Rick, and to his credit, Morty tries to provide that assurance despite knowing how untrue it is. Then Ted relents and presses the red button. At that point, we’re left to question whether the button did anything at all. Was there anything left of Ted to erase, or had he already completed his backslide into becoming Rick Sanchez again? Rarely has this series been so eloquent in spelling out the sheer pain of Rick’s existence.
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