The latest episode, Morty’s Mind Blowers, is a somewhat simpler concept than what we’ve seen this season thus far. But, as per usual, even a “simpler” episode of Rick and Morty is pure genius.
It’s difficult to top last week’s episode of Rick and Morty, The Ricklantis Mix-up, which truly showed off the complexity of the series’ multiverse, and of possible dark things to come.
So, here’s a rundown of what happened in the latest episode.
And yes, there are spoilers, so come back after you’ve watched the episode. Okay?
AND AWAY WE GO!
This episode is a version of Interdimensional Cable taken to a new level. In Morty’s Mind Blowers, the show opens with Rick and Morty in a staircase maze, like something out of Labyrinth or an M.C. Escher painting. The two are being chased by an all-too-familiar looking gothic personification of dreams, Morty stares into the eyes of the Truth Tortoise, giving him the knowledge of, well, everything.
Quick cut back to the Smith residents, and Morty cannot take knowing everything anymore. He begs Rick to erase the memories from his mind.
Rick, naturally, takes him to a laboratory which is the archive of all of their experiences that Morty asked him to remove from his life. Rick, naturally, decides to show these to him instead of a nice afternoon of Interdimensional Cable.
The first memory, which Rick proudly calls “Moonspiracy,” is when Morty sees a man on the moon while looking through a telescope. No one in his family believes that he saw a threatening “regular man” up there. Turns out the man is Morty’s new guidance counselor with unknown motives. Morty believes he is up to something, and tells Principal Vagina (no relation). The principal confronts Mr. Lunas, eventually punching him in the face and firing him, believing that moon man is code for pedophile. Morty finds out that Mr. Lunas killed himself, which Morty regrets.
The next memory has Rick and Morty trapped in a massive prison with a massive alien who collects living specimens. Morty claims he is willing to do just about anything to escape. Rick abides, and sends a signal to scientists listening for extraterrestrial activity. They are ecstatic to receive Rick’s message, with specific directions and coordinates. When the scientists arrive, Rick convinces them that he and Morty are ethereal beings, taking human form, and are in need of their transport ship. He thanks them for finding them and saving them, offering their clothes as gratitude. Rick and Morty hop in the scientists’ ship and teleport away, switching places with them in the cell.
The next memory is entitled, “the whole enchilada.” An alien overlord drops by while Rick and Morty are grocery shopping, wanting Rick to kill him so he can go to his heaven, but not before some lunch. After Rick leaves for just a moment, Morty and the alien discuss the afterlife, and the possibility of there might not being one. The alien is baffled by this, never considering the fact that his beliefs might just be run-of-the-mill blind faith. The overlord now does not want to die, fleeing the restaurant in a panic, only to get hit by a car and taken to a horrible hell. At least there is something after death, right??
Poop Aids_Copy. Beth is forced into a Sophie’s choice scenario, but chooses Summer without giving much thought. Thankfully, Rick portals in to save everyone.
Next Morty is possessed by some kind of demonic worm, which slowly and excruciatingly takes its time to be purged from him.
NEXT, Rick and Morty on a serene planet, but need to find shelter before nightfall, fearing they will freeze to death. Rick has no choice but to slice open their beloved Tauntaun-type beast, only to discover it was the wrong planet.
An escape from a gun fight on a spaceship leads to a grammatical discussion, which Morty, surprisingly to both, wins. Rick won’t have any of that, and erases Morty’s memory of the conversation.
But then, the episode takes a turn. The two fight over Rick taking advantage of the mind eraser, and both get blasted by the gun, forgetting their entire identities. Rick, the genius that he is, is able to decipher that the vials that fill the room contain memories, and use one on Morty to help them figure out who they really are.
More mind blowers are shown, including:
Morty entranced by standing on Rick’s truly leveled floor.
A simple flick of the wrong light switch causes Rick and Morty to go to some stasis chamber on another planet, where Morty accidentally turned off the life support.
Morty uses a Dr. Dolittle device, where he can understand what the animals on his street are saying. The squirrels figure out Morty’s secret, causing them to seek and destroy the one who can understand them. Rick is able to temporarily paralyze the squirrels, verbally chastising Morty for causing the squirrel incursion. They are forced to move to another reality.
Morty keeps injecting himself with these painful memories that he initially wanted to forget, which makes him a tad suicidal. Rick, also unhappy, joins in on the now group suicide.
And BIG TWIST, this has already happened before, a few times, as Summer pointed out. She has the instructions to how to given them back their proper memories, and forgetting the entire mind blowers scenario ever happened.
Never take Summer for granted.
Final thoughts:
While not as complex and thought-provoking as the previous episode, Morty’s Mind Blowers is a fun trip down (forgotten) memory lane. It takes the Interdimensional Cable format and doesn’t spoil it the third time around. Instead, it makes for a fresh, clever, and utterly hilarious episode of Rick and Morty.
