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Rick and Morty S06E01 "Solaricks" Review: Some Serious Canon Clean-Up

It's not like Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland's Rick and Morty didn't know how to do a season-ender, but it's safe to say that the fifth season finale was a punch to viewers' brains in ways we didn't see coming. Did you want to know Rick's real backstory and how the Citadel came to be? Or exactly how do the Ricks have a constant supply of Mortys? You got answers, and that was before Evil Morty hacked all of the portal guns on the Citadel, mixing the blood of Ricks and altered portal fluid to not just escape (into a yellow portal?!?) but also destroy the Citadel & the Curve before he departed. That means for Rick and Morty, the multiverse is now a wild west where Rick is no longer guaranteed to be "the smartest man" in any universe he visits. So where does that leave things for our dimension-hopping duo, as well as Beth, Jerry, Summer & Space Beth? What's next for Evil Morty? In the sixth season premiere, S06E01 "Solaricks," we got a ton of answers to sort through, a brutal embracing of canon, and storyline threads that already have our brains hurting from the possibilities. Which is a nice way of saying that Rick and Morty hasn't missed a beat, with a ton of promising signs of what's still to come. But before we get to our real-time recap/review, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign & throwing down an image spoiler buffer before a deep dive into the season-opener…

rick and morty
Image: Adult Swim

Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 1 "Solaricks" Thoughts & Observations:

Looks like Rick and Morty are stuck on their ship without fuel. Morty's going feral?!? Our dup are not doing well and are near death before Space Beth rescues them. Which, of course, turns into the duo criticizing her entrance (which they were kinda right about).

As we've come to expect from the Adult Swim series, there's no guarantee that any of the scenes included in the revised series opener will actually end up in an episode. That said? I would love to see Morty challenge Rick to solve a Sherlock Holmes-type mystery without using any tech. But that "Butter Morty" scene? That's a little disturbing…

Well, it's interesting that Rick, Morty & Jerry are glowing… and that "Booger AIDS" is a common case file. Damn, Summer name-dropped the bodies buried in the backyard and the question mark about the right Jerry from "Jerry-boree." Each of them is forced to return to their dimension of origin, and Rick is back to where the tragedy happened (with a self-inflicted haunting).

Morty is back on the "Cronenberg-verse" where he nearly kills that Jerry, while it appears that Summer is trying to swap out Beth for Space Beth as her mother figure.

Oh, wow… Rick saying that Summer reminded him of Diane was a heartbreaker. And then, Rick tries a "Haily Mary" by flying into the ripped void… before we head back to Morty learning that Beth & Summer are dead. Morty looks to play Downbeat with Jerry almost as a way of connecting, but Jerry being Jerry? Yup, he grabs Morty's shit and leaves.

Our big takeaway theme from this episode so far? We're seeing Rick and Morty at their lowest, being forced to revisit their pasts and confront some of what they've done if they have any chance at moving forward. Of course, what does "moving forward" even mean with Evil Morty (sorry, Rick) still on the loose?

Jerry is letting Morty have it for abandoning them and leaving him to watch everyone die around him. That was an intense scene. Meanwhile, Beth, Space Beth & Summer are having their own problems at the remnants of the Citadel.

Oh shit! Our Morty's Rick killed our Rick's family! Damn, I wasn't expecting this showdown in the first episode.

And props to Morty for dropping that "100 episodes" reference to let Rick know that he considers him his grandfather.

rick and morty
Image: Adult Swim

LOL: Jerry's stuck in "Season 2" vibes in his universe, and he can't wait to get the hell out.

LOL Part II: So now the whole crew has a whole new universe/timeline to deal with it, with a family burial to bond everyone.

And now, Rick and Morty have a new nemesis… Morty's original Rick.

END SCENE: "Cronenberg-verse" Jerry is visited by Evil Rick, who appear to bond before Jerry cuts Evil Rick's throat. But his wound heals, as Evil Rick wonders what next as he kills "Cronenberg-verse" Jerry.

Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 1 "Solaricks"

rick and morty
Review by Ray Flook

9/10
It's not like Dan Harmon & Justin Roiland's Rick and Morty didn't know how to do a season-ender, but it's safe to say that the fifth season finale was a punch to viewers' brains in ways we didn't see coming. Did you want to know Rick's real backstory and how the Citadel came to be? Or exactly how do the Ricks have a constant supply of Mortys? You got answers, and that was before Evil Morty hacked all of the portal guns on the Citadel, mixing the blood of Ricks and altered portal fluid to not just escape (into a yellow portal?!?) but also destroy the Citadel & the Curve before he departed. That means for Rick and Morty, the multiverse is now a wild west where Rick is no longer guaranteed to be "the smartest man" in any universe he visits. So where does that leave things for our dimension-hopping duo, as well as Beth, Jerry, Summer & Space Beth? What's next for Evil Morty? In the sixth season premiere, S06E01 "Solaricks," we got a ton of answers to sort through, a brutal embracing of canon, and storyline threads that already have our brains hurting from the possibilities. Which is a nice way of saying that Rick and Morty hasn't missed a beat, with a ton of promising signs of what's still to come.

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Ray FlookAbout Ray Flook

Serving as Television Editor since 2018, Ray began five years earlier as a contributing writer/photographer before being brought onto the core BC team in 2017.
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