Posted in: Adult Swim, Max, Review, Rick and Morty, TV | Tagged: episode 10, Review, rick and morty, season 7
Rick and Morty Face Some All-Too-Real Fears: Season 7 Ep. 10 Review
Adult Swim's Rick and Morty S07E10: "Fear No Mort" found the dimension-hopping duo facing their fears - with the series being better for it.
After checking out the promo & mini-clip that were released for the seventh season finale of Adult Swim's Rick and Morty, I was left feeling that a growing fear that I had regarding Morty this season was beginning to come to light. Just to be clear, I know that the issue of Morty becoming more & more desensitized to things with each adventure that the dimension-hopping duo goes on has been addressed in previous seasons. But the seventh season changed things. We got to see Evil Morty's backstory, answering a number of questions but still leaving us with a big one left unanswered. What was it that brought Evil Morty to a place where his only option was to become his name? Did Evil Morty become so numb to everything that his only next "logical" step is to go "scorched earth" and head off alone somewhere?
Along with that, "Unmortricken" (directed by Jacob Hair and written by Albro Lundy & James Siciliano) also offered some Morty/Evil Morty moments that left me feeling that Morty might be the one who reaches out to Evil Morty – but for answers, or even some twisted sense of bonding. Remember that exchange between Rick and Summer in "Wet Kuat Amortican Summer" (directed by Kyounghee Lim and written by Alex Song-Xia), where Rick explains why Morty is a dog & Summer is a cat? With Mory linked with Summer, it's quite possible Morty heads that – and that's the kind that could drive someone to cross lines that there's no coming back from.
So heading into "Fear No Mort," we knew that our dimension-hopping duo realized that they had become a bit jaded when it comes to their adventuring – especially when it involves fear and being afraid. But a "chance" encounter with a Rod Serling-like figure at the "Carnival of Nightmares" sends the duo down a rabbit hole filled with mayhem. The result was something I didn't see coming – at first – as a very ominous individual (who I have a feeling we might be seeing again), one very hairy hole, and "Diane" exposed the all-too-real fears that Rick and Morty have been harboring. And that's when the episode addressed my concerns about Morty's future in the least direct but best way possible.
Because in those final moments of the episode, Morty confronted his biggest fear – that he didn't matter to Rick. The way in which Morty's fears were put to rest was a particualrly nice touch, one that shows the characters continuing evolution while not looking to go the "happily ever after" route. Maybe Rick didn't fully hug Morty back, but he also didn't push away the show of affection, either. But the best show of love & respect that Rick could've showed Morty was one that Morty didn't get to see – when Rick trusted Morty's judgement by not jumping into the hole, choosing to honor his grandson instead. I'm not sure where the series is going for its eighth season, but the fact that the duo will be heading into it at probably their healthiest level yet opens up a ton of possibilities.