Adult Swim
The latest episode of Rick and Morty is called ‘The Old Man and the Seat’, a reference at least in name to the famous story by Hemingway, but the themes are different, to put it mildly. Here, the ‘Seat’ refers to Rick’s private toilet, shown on a hidden planet somewhere far away from all intelligent beings. The show does a great job of showing a paradise of natural wonder, helped by the always excellent music of composer Ryan Elder, perhaps showcasing the most serene place the show has ever had.
But Rick’s plotline, one of three this episode, carries the emotional weight despite the inherent silly premise. It would seem that Rick discovers a mysterious stick, and using his Batman-styled detective technology, begins an investigation to track down whoever destroyed his peace. The hidden point here, that we eventually see, is that it’s all about trying to control what cannot be controlled.
Rick eventually tracks down a particular alien named Tony (played with subtle depth by master actor Jeffrey Wright) but that’s when his plans get derailed. Tony is in pain, but understands his own and can therefore feel empathy towards Rick’s pain. It’s rare to see such a wise and empathetic character on this show, with the last being Bird-Person who also lost his life tragically. Although he doesn’t admit it at all, Rick is affected by the conversation, and doesn’t want to kill Tony at all — he won’t admit that perhaps they have become friends of a sort.
As his revenge, we are initially pushed to think Rick has armed his toilet with a bomb or something worse, but then he finds out that Tony has died climbing Space Mount Everest because he wanted to live life to its fullest. It’s a silly joke in a way, although many people have died climbing our regular Mount Everest on Earth. Suddenly, Rick feels connected and responsible, even offering Tony’s father billions of space dollars and a cloning machine (albeit one that cannot duplicate memories).
Tony’s father (showing a similar empathy to his son) offers that it is hard to lose a friend, but Rick cannot accept empathy from a stranger. Instead he retreats to his refuge, sitting on it to trigger a ranting, taunting hologram accusing the one sitting of being useless and pathetic, alone and pointless. All while sad music takes us from a scene of a loss of control.
Adult Swim
Rick may have his own toilet back, but he cannot change his feelings, nor bring back the memories of the Tony who is gone, cloning machine or not. It’s astonishing how this episode could be so funny (like Jerry’s desire to simply give people water) yet so ultimately sad. Just like Bird-Person told us back in season One, Rick is in great pain.
In contrast, the pain felt by the other family members is hardly worth thinking much about. Rick is again disappointed by Jerry foolishly not thinking things through, leading to a series of misadventures about an alien love app, courtesy of pink blob Glootie (Taika Waititi). This guy is the funnier point in the episode, with his final line of ‘Glootie-dootie-doo!’ being so stupid it’s impossible not to laugh. Yet Morty showed his increasing maturity in the ways he tried to fix his father’s errors, but is he getting too close to pushing him away, more like his grandfather?
In contrast, although the dating app was particularly ridiculous in terms of how people kept jumping partners, it showed how Beth refused to be pushed away by her daughter. Instead her priorities were protecting Summer, and ignoring the siren call of the app and Ted Danson. Perhaps in a way, learning from her father’s mistakes.
It’s an episode that showed people at the most absurd when it comes to love and strangers, but also capable of great empathy towards strangers. Only on Rick and Morty can you have a joke about a giant Rick seemingly about to kill someone by sitting on them while ending with a scene of heartbreak. Rick and Morty at its best.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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