The fifth season of one of the most controversial animated series, Rick and Morty Season 5, has ended. For 8 years now, he either shocks and causes bewilderment, or immediately captivates with his non-standard humor. The apparent simplicity of the plot is deceptive. For four seasons, the creators twisted the story of an extravagant grandfather and his weak-willed (not always) grandson, filling it with all sorts of riddles and omissions. In the fifth season, some secrets are revealed, but new questions have also appeared … In order to somehow stretch the time until the release of the next season – they announced that another 50 episodes are already in production – let’s see what happened in the fifth?
The sitcom closed two main questions: we learned what the evil Morty wanted and how Rick became the way he is. The main events and denouement occurred in episodes 9 and 10 of the fifth season.
The title of episode 9 is “Forgetting Sarika Mortshall”. This is a reference to the movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. In the movies, former lovers demonstrate how good they are without each other. At first it looks feigned. But in the final it becomes clear that the heroes really outgrew their former relationship. Episode 9 is built by analogy.
Rick and Morty have drifted apart. For the entire fifth season, they only had two episodes together. Rick is the first and only friend with whom Morty got along on the basis of space adventures, the desire to be needed, and most importantly, childish disinterested love for his imperfect grandfather. But as strong as their friendship is, it is built on exploitation and dominance over Morty.
Episode 9 shows the consequences of this unhealthy relationship. In the opening scene, we learn that Morty is fixing Rick’s messes after the adventure. But he does it secretly, without asking, using a portal gun. Upon learning of this, Rick teaches Morty a lesson in his style. But Morty defends his boundaries, and friends part ways. They find replacements for each other.
Morty meets Nick, who was once dumped by Rick. They work together and form a team of portal guys.
Rick chooses two ravens as partners. At first, everything looks like a joke, but then the elders of the ravens open his eyes: if you stop controlling everything and trust your partner, communication will reach a new level. As a result, each of the heroes is waiting for his revelation.
Morty has taken a selfish man as his partner, who uses him for profit, manipulates him and who does not care at all. Nick is the quintessence of what Morty fears about his grandfather. Rick, though pretending that he does not care about his grandson, from series to series proves that for the sake of Morty he is even ready to die. Deep down, Morty realizes that Rick, despite his flaws, is trying to be a real grandpa. This is especially noticeable in the fifth season. In contrast to Nick, the authors brought this topic to its logical conclusion. Rick realizes how detrimental he was to his grandson and decides to end the relationship. As confirmation of his intentions, he hands Morty a portal gun.
Once the crows fly away from Rick, he is left alone with his thoughts and past. Unable to bear it, Rick returns home. Morty convinces Rick to attend dinner with the President of the Citadel and finally tell his story. And this time the grandfather is ready to make concessions, as well as the creators of the series.
In episode 10, Rickmurai Jack, Rick goes through his toughest test yet. He stops running from the past and shares it with Morty. The whole backstory of Rick, which was given out to the audience in parts and constantly questioned by the authors, turns out to be true. He abandoned the divine power in favor of the family, which led to her death. Having lost the meaning of life, Rick invented a new one for himself – revenge on that same Rick the killer. In his search, he went through all the corners of the endless multiverse, simultaneously studying the features of the world order and creating chaos. At some point, the trace of the killer and at the same time the trace of the fictional meaning of life breaks off. Meanwhile, in response to his outrages, the Council of Ricks is gathering. It turns out that the Council was formed not in order to protect themselves from subgalactic dictators and the intergalactic government, but to protect themselves from our Rick.
At the Council’s trial, Rick arranges another massacre, and the survivors ask for his help in founding the Citadel and building the Central End Curve. This is a part of the infinite Universe enclosed by a huge fence, in which only brilliant Ricks live. Why did he build it? To protect the rest of the multiverse from its pernicious influence? Or because of hatred for that Rick the killer, whom he decided to lock in a cage with him? It is only clear that this did not bring peace to him. So he ends up on the threshold of the Smiths’ house.
Meanwhile, Evil Morty shares with our Morty facts about the mass production of all Mortys. The Ricks grow them under artificial conditions to satisfy the Ricks’ constant need for a camouflage partner. But Morty is grateful to Rick for his frankness and the truth about the past. Now he can trust him and understands that friendship with his grandfather is important to him, no matter how toxic it may be. He also understands that they became related and Rick stopped perceiving him as a consumable.
Evil Morty doesn’t want revenge, riches, or a happy ending. All his efforts are aimed at breaking the circle of eternal suffering. Rick for him is a miserable child who imprisoned everyone in his big sandbox. In the series, Rick’s line is “You can do anything and then go to a time where you didn’t.” Evil Morty – as a consequence of all the actions of the Ricks, which arose as a counterbalance to injustice.
When the evil Morty invites our Morty to join him without hesitation, the grandson still helps the grandfather. Moreover, if Rick had not shown his past, Morty would most likely have sided with the evil twin. But the test of friendship passed.
Even alone, the evil Morty destroys the Central End Curve in order to truly be free. Perhaps he is the same “true Morty” that was spoken of in the prophecy at the end of the first season. And, perhaps, it is he who will save all the Mortys.
Rick’s portal gun malfunctions – henceforth the galaxy functions according to new laws. And all stocks of portal liquid are spoiled. Rick is no longer the most powerful in the universe.
Evil Morty departs through his own portal for his own adventures. The ending of the series is so open that you can expect anything from the next seasons.
