Rick and Morty draws towards the close of its second season with another solid episode in this week’s “Look Who’s Purging Now.” In past episodes from both seasons of the show, the writers have, on multiple occasions, adapted popular plots from movies and television. This can be really hit or miss depending on how clever the creators can get with the way that they set up and establish the story; certain shows really fail in how they established the borrowed plot to the point where it feels cheap and like they have run out of original ideas. Yet, on the other hand, you have a show like Rick and Morty, which addresses the borrowed story and even goes as far as having the characters be aware that this idea was from a movie or show. In this case, the show copied the idea of the 2013 film The Purge, which has America spend one day each year allowing anyone to commit any crime with no punishment, having faith in the belief that if everyone gets these criminal impulses of their system, they will be less likely to commit crimes during the rest of the year.
I think this is a really fun plot for Rick and Morty to copy and offer its take on. For me, I find that a lot of shows struggle to differentiate their copied plots from the original, which makes it feel like a cheap knock-off compared to a clever one. In the case of Rick and Morty, the characters are unique enough to make it funny.
More than anything, what makes Rick and Morty such a great show is the relationship that has been established between Rick and Morty. Morty is this naive child who is still learning about how to function on Earth, let alone in multiple universes that he never knew existed. It creates a really great dynamic between the characters because Rick is used to being the smartest person around who only has to look out for himself; by adding Morty into the equation it causes more things to go wrong. Maybe that’s why Rick began bringing Morty along with him, because he was bored of never being in danger? Either way, it makes for good stories as the characters need to learn on the fly.
“Look Who’s Purging Now” really nails this concept. We enter a world where Morty is completely uncomfortable with the idea that these people purge their society once each year, and his young naive character always seeks out the good in people and society. His budding attraction for girls is normally what ends up screwing Rick’s plans up, like last night when he begged Rick into saving the girl only to have her betray and strand them on this planet. Morty’s character growth is definitely what makes the show so fun, especially because it reflects what Rick is teaching him. After Morty sits through the lighthouse man’s story and is called out for being rude, Morty doesn’t back down and gets so frustrated by the manipulation that he kills the old man.
“Who’s purging now, Morty?”
It’s really fun to watch Rick try to educate his grandchildren in such an unconventional yet honest way. He wants them to walk on their own, only stepping in when it’s extremely necessary. The learning goes both ways as well; Rick is very detached from the stereotypical human way of life, and traveling around with Morty and Summer is constantly humanizing him a little more each day. Rick is a cynical old man who has seen too much negative stuff throughout the entire galaxy to be naive about it. Rick doesn’t necessarily need Morty to follow in his footsteps or become like him, but he just wants to know that his grandson will have enough common sense and street smarts to survive in the world, and his knowledge is the best thing he can offer Morty.
Rick and Morty finds its success from the relationship Rick has with his grandchildren. The adventures they get into each week are hilarious and well-crafted, but the characters and how they interact with one another are what really draw me into the show. In the past, I’ve brought up reflections of how Morty has grown as a character because of Rick, and I think the season continues to display that really well. In last night’s episod, Morty opens everything up by discussing how glad he is to get some time like the old days, just him and Rick, compared to last season when he would be scared and dragged into most of the adventures. Rick and Morty’s second season is coming to a close, but the show continues to develop in extremely clever ways, offering viewers plenty of balance between wacky fun and more serious issues while also offering growth for each character. The show echoes Star-Lord’s words at the end of Guardians of the Galaxy: “What should we do next? Something good? Something bad? A bit of both.” Rick and Morty always gives us that perfect bit of both.
Top Moments:
- It’s like The Purge, Morty! Rick’s awareness for the movie was handled really great, and even the additional comment from Summer (“That movie sucked”) was a nice, funny touch.
- “You like that? You want me to cut to three weeks earlier, when you were alive?”
- Best Purge kill: Rick’s use of the jets in his legs for a double kill.
- Purginal.
- The view into how broken of a person Jerry is was hilarious all episode.
[Photo via Cartoon Network]
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