Thursday, June 11, 2020

Rick and Morty - The Vat of Acid Episode


Not that fans of the show need any further confirmation, but "The Vat of Acid Episode" certainly highlights was a ginormous prick Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) is. The entire episode centers around Rick inventing a device Morty (Roiland) has been constantly bugging him about, not as a favor to his grandson but as revenge for Morty slamming Rick's (rather lame) plan in the episode's opening that involves the pair hiding in a vat of fake acid from intergalactic gangsters to make it appear they have died. Along with Rick's legendary dickishness, the other theme the episode plays on is introducing an in-depth, soul-crushing, plot thread for Morty that the show may or may not ever return to. For an episode based on a simple bit, this one really does have it all as events come full circle to reinforce Morty's understanding of just what a bastard his grandfather truly is.

The invention Morty ask for is a remote that works like a save point in a video game, where someone can return back to a certain point if things turn out poorly. What Rick delivers does seem to offer Morty exactly that, allowing the teenager all kinds of mischief without consequences. In truth, Rick's invention isn't a time machine at all but simply a dimensional reset in which all of Morty's action did indeed happen (and eventually are merged into a single reality where Morty is forced into the ultimate humiliation in order to escape the consequences of his actions in the various realities). It also, in an extended sequence without any dialogue, allows for the creation of a timeline where Morty falls in love with an unnamed girl only to have the entire breadth of their time together deleted by an inadvertent reset which he can never put right.

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