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The latest episode of Rick and Morty is called ‘Night Family’ which may be a reference I’m missing because it seems to be simply a straightforward explanation of the episode’s plot. The episode (which is eerily similar to the plot of Severance in a likely case of parallel thinking) has the family utilize a sci-fi device to have their sleeping ‘Night Person’ do the things they are too lazy to do while awake.
So Rick has been doing ab crunches to make the perfect six-pack and naturally Morty simply copies his idea to do the same thing — their short little joke about a podcast and the meta-joke about not doing catchphrases sure sounds like a joke about the show, since Rick doesn’t say it but Morty does — and both are played by the same voice actor and showrunner Justin Roiland.
Beth learns to play the trumpet (which has a cute little joke too) and Summer learns Spanish, which has no joke or later reference (which seems like a missed opportunity for more jokes). And of course, Jerry decides to send letters to his Night self, which the rest of the family make fun of him about — but in a refreshing change of pace, just like last episode, serves to actually make a positive difference.
The conflict only really happens when the family starts using their night selves for annoying chores, and suddenly a simple request to wash off dishes first becomes a little civil war between the night and day. More interestingly, the night family is led by Summer instead of Rick, which is certainly an interesting development — she’s been trusted more and more by Rick to perform complicated tasks.
Even her day self has some ability to manipulate her grandfather, such as the moment where she uses mild passive aggression to get Rick to let the family use the devices. But the conflict doesn’t come from Summer at all, only Rick’s refusal to compromise in any way at all — the night family fully takes over after a pretty fun back and forth action scene.
The idea of knocking someone out to turn them to the other side or slapping them awake makes for a lot of funny slapstick, and the fact that Night Jerry is helping them is a consistently funny gag. I feel like the sort of sci-fi escalation could’ve gone to even higher levels of nonsense, but it was certainly a fun series of back and forth maneuvers.
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The final moments were heavily meta-commented on, as we see the ‘new’ versions of our Rick and Morty family out on fun escapades while the credits roll. Cut to them realizing that it’s actually quite complicated ‘seizing the day’ and that there are things they need the other ones to know, so they ‘sever’ the entire plan and cancel their night person uprising.
Whether or not this will be referenced again anytime soon is unlikely, but the show has been paying attention to the Summer/Rick dichotomy throughout the seasons and it does seem like that’s something that really will continue more going forward. And as I said earlier, I like the theme of this Jerry actually being a positive influence on events, even if Rick’s recalcitrance can cancel that out.
Perhaps not the most funny or complex episode out there, but it had some fun creepy energy and some interesting ideas to ponder. And sometimes the idea of the Smith family versus themselves really is the most interesting conflict the show really handles.
What did you think of this episode? Sound off in the comments below!
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