Summary
Warning! This review contains spoilers forRick and Mortyseason 7, episode 5.
After a shaky start to the season,Rick and Mortyis back in top form with the blood-soaked revenge storyline of “Unmortricken.” “Unmortricken” brings the show’s two biggest recurring villains – Rick Prime and Evil Morty – together for an action-packed, lore-heavy episode. Rick and Morty reluctantly team up with Evil Morty to track down their common enemy, Rick Prime, who’s been capturing and slaughtering all the Ricks he can get his hands on. Rick has been pursuing revenge against Rick Prime for years, and this episode really sinks its teeth into the theme of revenge and the consequences that come with it.
One of the biggest issues withthe early episodes ofRick and Mortyseason 7was that they relied on recycling old storylines and characters like Rick’s on-and-off romance with hive mind Unity and his petty rivalry with the President. There’s nothing wrong with returning to familiar storylines from past seasons if they have unresolved plot threads. The problem with reopening stories like Rick’s relationship with Unity is that those storylines were already perfectly resolved in the characters’ previous appearances. “Unmortricken” goes back to Rick Prime and Evil Morty, but those characters had unresolved conflicts with Rick and Morty, so their return is warranted.
This episode is the ultimate test forIan Cardoni and Harry Belden’s casting as Rick and Morty. This is the first time they’re not just playing the main versions of Rick and Morty. Belden has to play both Morty and Evil Morty off of each other in their scenes together, and Cardoni has to play a wide range of alternate Ricks from Rick Prime to Indiana Jones Rick. The actors do a great job of tweaking their voices ever so slightly to create the illusion that all the alternate Ricks and Mortys are actually different people. Belden’s Evil Morty is particularly impressive as he swaps out regular Morty’s sincere line deliveries for a more callous and indifferent demeanor. It’s subtle, but it effectively depicts them as two separate characters.
Rick Prime’s death is one of the goriest moments inRick and Morty’s history. Rick and Rick Prime engage in a brutal fight with all their gadgets and cybernetic enhancements. But when it comes down to it, Rick has Rick Prime strapped to a chair and just beats him to death as he begs for his life. All the grisly details are shown on Rick Prime’s beaten, bloodied face as spurts of blood and innards splatter all over the room and Rick is covered head to toe in blood. After all the build-up surrounding Rick Prime and his well-documented ability to stay one step ahead of Rick, this shockingly gruesome demise marked a subversively anticlimactic end for the character. As Evil Morty points out, killing Rick Prime didn’t change anything. This episode carriesthe same message asThe Last of Us Part II– that exacting vengeance for a loved one’s death doesn’t make the grief any easier to process – and it manages to convey that message in an even more violent way.
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The message about the futility of revenge is hammered home in the episode’s surprisingly poignant post-credits scene. These scenes are usually used to tag on an extra absurdist gag or a callback to a joke from the episode. But this one is different. It follows Uncle Slow’s widow on the same path as Rick: searching the universe for her spouse’s killer, intent on avenging his death. Instead of catching the killer and going on an ultimately unfulfilling rampage, she meets another man who’s in the same position as her. They end up letting go of their pain and abandoning their respective quests for revenge to spend the rest of their lives together. It’s a heartbreaking window into how much better things could’ve turned out for Rick if he actually wanted to be happy.
The montage that follows Rick Prime’s death is scored perfectly with “Look On Down From The Bridge” by Mazzy Star. This song is familiar toRick and Mortyfans; it was first heard inseason 1’s “Rick Potion #9”as a traumatized Morty attempted to settle into his new life in a new universe with the knowledge that he irreparably destroyed his original universe. This time, it’s used to show that, after finally catching Rick Prime and brutally murdering him, Rick goes back to his normal everyday life (but, much like Morty in “Rick Potion #9,” it seems as though he’ll never be the same again).
There’s a sly self-awareness to this whole episode. It doesn’t overtly break the fourth wall, but it gives fans what they’ve always wanted, and gives Rick what he’s always wanted: revenge against Rick Prime. But it wasn’t a cathartic moment that marked a turning point for Rick; it felt empty and meaningless. The damage is done – not just Diane’s death, but Rick’s inability to get close to people and embrace love. Season 7 got off to a rough start, but “Unmortricken” is aRick and Mortymasterpiece.
Rick and Morty
Cast
“Unmortricken” - Rick and Morty reluctantly team up with Evil Morty to take down Rick Prime.
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