Through my season 1 binge and rush of getting up to date with the current episodes I've been really impressed by Roiland and Harmon's ease of taking traditional sitcom plots/tropes and adding that Rick and Morty twist to them. It always starts out absurd and ridiculous and funny but sometimes it can take a darker turn. The morbid ending to Rick Potion #9 created lasting effects for Morty which were addressed extremely well, but the implications for Auto Erotic Assimilation might be the darkest turn yet for the show.
Here we take a very obvious setup for a horrible inter-galactic monster/reaver to ambush the trio of Rick, Morty and Summer, but as it turns out the being is none other than Rick's hive mind entity of an ex. Even more impressive is the layers of meaning and emotion that pile up in that note that Christina Hendricks and co. leave for Rick. You sense that Unity is a better person than Rick will ever be; her worlds and beings are advanced and peaceful and she sets herself the goal of eventually taking over the universe and maintaining a balance. Yet when Rick turns up again in her life all that goes out the window and she once again resumes that spiral of self destruction. It's more mundane relationship drama wrapped up in a R&M premise that is executed beautifully and tragically when the entity speaks to Rick in an assortment of voices, each word more painful and confessional. And the really damning thing is that Rick knows she is right; Rick is and continually has been selfish, impatient, cynical and self-centred. All he cares about is that tantric sex and crazy TV while Unity reverts back to her old role and indulges him. For a lonely old guy, Unity is the perfect person for Rick to run back to and immerse himself into not just a old flame, but an entire society of them. The music here again is perfectly fitting (maybe not quite as good as eyepatch Morty); it's soft and sentimental as Rick is forced with confronting the truth in the notes, and extremely heavy in the bass of Chaos Chaos' Do You Feel It? as he attempts suicide that results in a heartbreaking time sequence where nobody, not even Morty, checks on him during the entire night. It perfectly encapsulates just how toxic and horrible Rick can be to those around him. Just as Morty, Summer, Beth and Jerry put Rick in that powerful position that alienates him, he does so to Unity.
Roiland and Harmon build upon these themes throughout the show; it's not just a simple sprinkle of the heavy stuff in episodes without any prior recognition. Remember Rick wandering between the rooms of the house, looking for a bit of companionship? How about the squabbles between Jerry and Beth that hit at multiple issues? It's such a brilliantly written scene where they bristle at each other upon discovering an alien locked up in Rick's hidden basement under the garage. Jerry feels inferior ever since Rick turned up and took his place as a father figure to Morty; he cannot ever demonstrate worth to his son that Rick can't upsize in some crazy manner. And Beth, despite all of Rick's flaws and antics, can't bear to see her dad abandon her life again. It's a testament to the subtext of the script that I can easily imagine a younger Beth constantly being rejected by Rick. A first day at school, a bullying issue, or an award to show him, but out comes the portal gun and he avoids the entire experience.
And in the mix of it all there's still humour that R&M is so good for. The whole exasperated explanation of the alien is hilarious compared to the tensions of Jerry and Beth, especially as he tries to settle the argument and back up their points but getting so angry at their incessant yelling (Uh, is there a slow setting? Best. Door. Ever.). And there's the nonchalant comment from Morty (less prominent this week) to Summer: First race war huh? And in the p.s. of the heartfelt note, a twist: "I dunno where those coal miners were before they were assimilated. You might wanna get checked."
Also, I loved the Community cameo in the television show. "Now cancel it! And now bring it back! Make fun of the blonde one!" Arghhh, even in R&M Harmon can't resist taking a pot-shot at Britta.
Here we take a very obvious setup for a horrible inter-galactic monster/reaver to ambush the trio of Rick, Morty and Summer, but as it turns out the being is none other than Rick's hive mind entity of an ex. Even more impressive is the layers of meaning and emotion that pile up in that note that Christina Hendricks and co. leave for Rick. You sense that Unity is a better person than Rick will ever be; her worlds and beings are advanced and peaceful and she sets herself the goal of eventually taking over the universe and maintaining a balance. Yet when Rick turns up again in her life all that goes out the window and she once again resumes that spiral of self destruction. It's more mundane relationship drama wrapped up in a R&M premise that is executed beautifully and tragically when the entity speaks to Rick in an assortment of voices, each word more painful and confessional. And the really damning thing is that Rick knows she is right; Rick is and continually has been selfish, impatient, cynical and self-centred. All he cares about is that tantric sex and crazy TV while Unity reverts back to her old role and indulges him. For a lonely old guy, Unity is the perfect person for Rick to run back to and immerse himself into not just a old flame, but an entire society of them. The music here again is perfectly fitting (maybe not quite as good as eyepatch Morty); it's soft and sentimental as Rick is forced with confronting the truth in the notes, and extremely heavy in the bass of Chaos Chaos' Do You Feel It? as he attempts suicide that results in a heartbreaking time sequence where nobody, not even Morty, checks on him during the entire night. It perfectly encapsulates just how toxic and horrible Rick can be to those around him. Just as Morty, Summer, Beth and Jerry put Rick in that powerful position that alienates him, he does so to Unity.
Roiland and Harmon build upon these themes throughout the show; it's not just a simple sprinkle of the heavy stuff in episodes without any prior recognition. Remember Rick wandering between the rooms of the house, looking for a bit of companionship? How about the squabbles between Jerry and Beth that hit at multiple issues? It's such a brilliantly written scene where they bristle at each other upon discovering an alien locked up in Rick's hidden basement under the garage. Jerry feels inferior ever since Rick turned up and took his place as a father figure to Morty; he cannot ever demonstrate worth to his son that Rick can't upsize in some crazy manner. And Beth, despite all of Rick's flaws and antics, can't bear to see her dad abandon her life again. It's a testament to the subtext of the script that I can easily imagine a younger Beth constantly being rejected by Rick. A first day at school, a bullying issue, or an award to show him, but out comes the portal gun and he avoids the entire experience.
And in the mix of it all there's still humour that R&M is so good for. The whole exasperated explanation of the alien is hilarious compared to the tensions of Jerry and Beth, especially as he tries to settle the argument and back up their points but getting so angry at their incessant yelling (Uh, is there a slow setting? Best. Door. Ever.). And there's the nonchalant comment from Morty (less prominent this week) to Summer: First race war huh? And in the p.s. of the heartfelt note, a twist: "I dunno where those coal miners were before they were assimilated. You might wanna get checked."
Also, I loved the Community cameo in the television show. "Now cancel it! And now bring it back! Make fun of the blonde one!" Arghhh, even in R&M Harmon can't resist taking a pot-shot at Britta.
