The darkest season of Rick and Morty keeps getting darker! During last Sunday night’s episode, “Rest and Ricklaxation,” fans witnessed the birth of Rick and Morty’s toxic doubles, and the wildly hilarious battle between the Ricks over which versions would survive. But there was much more to this episode than just the surface, and today’s Nerdist News is squanching it all down to tell you what it means!
Join the only non-Cronenberged host from dimension C-137, Jessica Chobot, as she points out the eight things that you may have missed from Rick and Morty’s latest misadventure. The entire premise could have easily been lifted from one of Star Trek‘s many transporter accident episodes. But this episode took its movie references to an even higher level, with callbacks to Star Wars, American Psycho, Glengarry Glen Ross, Wolf of Wall Street, and Boiler Room. The Voltron reference was more overt, but we loved it!
This episode also paid homage to previous seasons of Rick and Morty, with the miniature power cells from season 2 and “The Days and Nights of Mrs. Pancakes” TV show that Summer was watching. But the biggest shock may have been non-toxic Morty’s transformation into an amoral prick. It seems that both Rick and Morty define their toxic traits differently. While Rick rid himself of any lingering personal attachment to Morty, it was Morty who disposed of his compassion along with his fear and self-loathing.
Jessica also played a much larger role in this episode as she helped Rick track down Morty. Jessica and Morty’s date may have been a disaster, but the implication is that even the darker version of Morty still cared for Jessica. Remember, Morty knew exactly why Jessica was calling him, and he conveniently forgot to hang up before Rick traced the call. Subconsciously, Morty must have wanted to be caught. And it’s probably no coincidence that Morty’s rebound from his crush on Jessica just happened to look a lot like Jessica herself.
What did you think of our “Rest and Ricklaxation” breakdown? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!
Images: Adult Swim
