I Swear To God, He's Getting Hotter And Hotter With Every Season🫣

ciel's phantomhive incorrect quotes

aw what a cutie

always me and you

ugh gay people, am i right?

the way...

the way "wolf/rabbit " and "predator/prey" dynamic has a grip on me.

idea of them having father/son relationship is indeed very adorable and appealing but shipping them (as they are both ADULT men) is not problematic.

everyone can interpret their relationship as they want. now, i know it maybe controversial take but I know if they were both the same age or Connor would be a female character, shipping wouldn't be such a problem.

so, this hankcon controversy smells like ageism to me and maybe even homophobia but I'm NOT throwing that accusation at everyone who has problem with hankcon. I just know some people who would fit in this category... have a nice day/evening, would love to hear y'all's thoughts just don't be disrespectful plz

don't worry. you did great. y̵̢̱͉̋ȯ̷͕̲̼̠͋̔̀u̸̼̮̺̲̾͗'̶̧̞̫̃̔̚l̸͉͙̖̙̆l̷̢̡̤̘̑́͠͠ ̵̡̗̲͌̎ğ̸̘̭͂͗e̴̒̾̇ͅt̷̞̺̼̩͐͘͘͝ ̸̮̥̺̻͆u̴͓̎̏̈s̷̜̪̞̥̏ȩ̸̽d̵͖̃̕͘ ̵̢̬̩̇̀̈͛t̷̨̹̀ö̴̤̺́̑́́ ̶̬̦̀̒ì̸̗̤̩͆͜t̵̥̺̺̀̃

i love your Rick and Morty analyses! read it in one go when I saw the headline, I was so stoked. sat with my morning coffee and went right ahead to read. also I love your humor in the way you write (chuckled out loud a few times). big fan over here❤️

Rick and Morty's dynamic for each season! I finally finished it!

THIS POST IS VERY VERYY LONG, THE WHOLE POST IS UNDER THE CUT

Heyyy, happy Easter to my followers! This is my easter gift for y’all! Don’t say I never do anything for you! Sooo, since I reached 300 followers! I love you all, by the way! Mwah! Mwah! And to celebrate, I made a poll to ask you guys what you'd like me to do, anddd you said that you'd like me to make an overanalysis of Rick and Morty's dynamic each season! This doesn't exactly surprise me; a lot of people said that they followed me because of my analysis! So this doesn't surprise me too much! And this will be the 2,000th post on my account! I honestly never expected to keep this blog going for this long, but I'm glad I did! Because if I didn't, I would've never met so many kind people! Okay, okay, enough with the sappy stuff before I turn into a tree (I stole that joke from a youtube, who did I steal it from? I'll never tell! Mwah-ha-ha- wha-? This is a Wendys? Oh uhm yeah of course, sorry) Now let's jump into it starting from the beginning!

~ Season 1 ~

Okay, let's begin with them in season 1! This was definitely their dynamic at their most exploitative, I'd say. In episode 1 alone, we see that Rick:

1. Barges into Morty's room while he's sleeping and DRAGS HIM OUT OF BED BY HIS ANKLE so they can go on an adventure

2. Drags Morty out of school so he can help him on an adventure, then pressures Morty when he's hesitant

3. Didn't care when Morty's legs broke due to Rick not telling him something, then acted like it was Morty's fault for not knowing information that Rick didn't give him, and only fixed Morty's legs when he was rightfully pissed at him

4. Encourages Morty to stick megaseeds up his uh...bottom so they can smuggle them through interdimensional customs, then didn't do anything when they dissolved, which made Morty lose his motor skills and brain functionality for 72 hours

5. Lied to Morty about the security guards being robots, so Morty shoots them, and showed no sympathy for Morty when he was horrified that he shot them

6. Used Morty's temporary super intelligence so he could get himself out of trouble, then ranted to Morty, telling him that he will keep his mouth shut about their adventures

And that was in the first episode alone, and we can clearly see that he has very little to no respect for Morty. Only using him for adventures and not caring about Morty's feelings or autonomy, outright forcing him to go on adventures when he doesn't want to. Even in Rick's worst season (season 4), he never forces Morty to go on adventures with him, even if he is mean or annoyed when Morty doesn't want to. It's pretty safe to say that for the first few episodes of season 1, he didn't even see Morty as a person but instead as a tool that is useful for adventures.

We see him again, disregarding Morty's autonomy in episode 3. Dragging Morty away from a family Christmas without making sure he's ok with it. Even insulting Morty's intelligence for literally no reason afterward. Calling his brain his "little walnut" and casually mentioning to him that he has to hold his breath before he minimizes him or his organs will collapse. He also minimizes Morty's girlfriend in this episode, keeping Morty isolated and preventing him from having a relationship with someone his age. We see him doing something similar when he drags Morty away from Jessica at the end of episode 1. While I heavily doubt that Rick is grooming Morty (For non-sexual reasons, ofc), and if he is, that's not what the writer intended; he does fit the isolating step disturbingly well. However, he is most likely doing this to keep Morty dependent on him and not to groom him. It's still fucked up either way.

Then we see him disregard Morty's autonomy yet again in episode 4, where he drags Morty out of class, speaking for Morty when Mr. Goldenfold says if Morty leaves he's giving him an F. (Granted, Rick knew that this wasn't real, but he knew that Morty didn't know that, and believed that Morty was real) 

Mr Goldenfold: If he leaves, I'm giving him an F!

Rick: He doesn't care!

Now, Rick does actually care about Morty in season one and has episodes where he shows that, but these are few and far between, and the bad in this season heavily outweighs the good, but for argument's sake, I will point them out.

1. Episode 4, he gets angry and protective when he finds out that aliens watched Morty while he was...uncovered, even attempts to lunge at them for doing so, which is sweet considering that Jerry, Morty's dad, didn't give 2 flying fucks.

2. Episode 5, comforts Morty after what happened with Mr. Jellybean, and even kills Mr. Jellybean for the sick shit he did, which is absolutely deserved.

3. Episode 9, Rick was happy to see Morty when he was alone at the Smith's house, but quickly covered it up because feelings are for losers, ig. 

4. Episode 10, Rick angrily tells the other Ricks to "leave my Morty out of this" when they take him to the council.

5. Episode 11 has cute bonding moments with Summer and Morty at the end of the episode.

Now, Rick, despite still caring about Morty, was very exploitative and saw Morty more like a tool he can use on an adventure instead of a person. A good example of this is this exchange in episode 10

Morty: Oh my god, Rick! There's a bunch of people strapped to that building!

Rick: Not people, Morty...Mortys.

Soooo yeah, that line straight up shows that at this moment, he didn't see Morty as a person, he even admitted to fiddling with the concept of torturing Mortys to hide from other Ricks (He says that he did it "On paper" but we can see when the memories are scanned that he did do this) and he took a voucher for a free replacement Morty. Again, showing that he saw Morty more as a tool that can be replaced easily, and not a real person...but that was until...

~ Season 2 ~

We're at Season 2, baby! Now, Rick and Morty's dynamic was still toxic in season 2, but Rick is finally seeing, or at the very least starting to see, Morty as a person rather than a tool. A VERY good example of this is in the very first episode, A Rickle In Time, I'm sure if you've watched the show, you know what scene I'm going to bring up, the scene where Rick, without hesitation, gives Morty his time collar. This is a huge moment. Also, in that episode, the timeline splits whenever a character is uncertain about something, and when Rick gave Morty his time collar, letting himself be stuck in a timeless oblivion so Morty will be ok. And his literal only request was that Morty be a better person than him. 

While this scene is adorable and is the only proof that you need to see how much Rick truly cares about Morty, it also shows that he still sees himself as "above" Morty in some way, due to his delusional god complex, which was still strong here. Considering that he said, "Be better than me," saying that he doesn't see Morty as above him, it could be implied that he sees Morty as equal in this scene, but considering how he treats Morty in this season, I doubt it. Now, in this season, Rick is definetily less exploitative. He still doesn't treat Morty great, but he doesn't exploit him as much as he did in season 1. 

Now, this isn't to say he treats Morty well; he still emotionally abuses him regularly, not caring when Morty is hurt by what he said. Like in A Rickle in Time, when Morty tells him, "Words hurt!" and Rick has no reaction. He also insults him a lot in Mortynight Run, even when he thinks that Morty is hurt after Fart left. Completely willing to kick Morty down, and the way he does it so gleefully doesn't exactly help. He also wasn't worried about Morty when he left in These Ricks Must Be Crazy, which will wildly contrast season 3, where they went HARD on Rick caring about Morty. Not that I'm complaining! 

Rick also leaves Morty twice in this season, adding to Morty's abandonment issues, which, uh...isn't something a good grandpa would do. He fully meant to abandon Morty in Auto Erotic Assimulation, but only came back since Unity left him. He also left Morty to turn himself in in The Wedding Squanchers, which, whether Rick notices it or not, is a common manipulation tactic for codependency. Showering someone with attention, then leaving, which will make people so desprate for more attention that they will quickly become depedent on you, which is what Rick did here, although I am pretty sure it wasn't intentional, as he did what he did out of a desire for the Smith family to have a normal life, after he heard Beth crying saying that she'll let Rick do whatever he wants because she doesn't want him to leave again. I refuse to believe that was a cold, calculated move, as I doubt that he would want to willingly relive his trauma in the season 3 premiere. But whether Rick intended it or not, he did use this manipulation tactic, which caused Morty to become very codependent on him, since I would argue that he wasn't as codependent in earlier seasons as he is in later seasons. Especially considering that Morty threatened to kill Rick in Look Who's Purging now.

This is where tension starts to build in their relationship, and we see more of Morty's seething anger towards Rick and repressed rage. Rick is aware of Morty's repressed rage, but doesn't do anything about it, making Morty believe that he doesn't have it at the end of the episode by lying to him that a candy bar he ate amplified his violent tendencies. This may seem sweet, and in a way, it is, since Rick did this to clear Morty's conscience. But Morty deserves to know about his repressed rage so he can do something about it and work on it. But Rick is inherently keeping this information from Morty, making the inherent power dynamic they have, considering it's a younger family member and an older family member, even more unhealthy. Since Rick knows something big about Morty that Morty doesn't know about himself, Rick is purposefully keeping this information away from him. Although we never see Rick attempt to exploit Morty's repressed rage, keeping something this big from him isn't ok.

Again, Rick still cares about Morty in this season, sacfricing himself to save Morty, saving Morty in Mortynight Run, although he bitched and complained, being worried about Morty when Unity blew up a town, watching a movie with Morty and Summer and happily getting ice cream with them, etc., etc.

We do get more moments of him and Morty caring about each other and bonding since Rick is seeing Morty as a person instead of a tool he uses on adventures, but their dynamic is still heavily unhealthy with a huge power imbalance, and has Rick making Morty's codependency on him worse.

So while Rick exploits Morty less and is finally seeing Morty as a person, their dynamic is still very unhealthy, with a huge power imbalance and codependency galore. Now, let's get to season 3!

~ Season 3 ~

In season 3, we not only get more tension with Rick and Morty's relationship, with Morty shooting Rick in the head and yelling "Who's stupid now bitch!?" To be fair, it was a fake gun, but Morty didn't know that. Morty also tricks Rick into taking Jerry on an adventure since he just wanted a break from the adventures. But we also see the codependency leak into other parts of Morty's life. Morty starts to have repressed rage towards Jerry, as we see him attacking people while pretending that they are Jerry in Rickmancing the Stone.

You may be wondering how this has anything to do with his relationship to Rick, while codepedency can lead to estrangened relationships with other family members (https://castimonia.org/2021/09/05/codependent-families-family-roles-whats-yours/) since family members may struggle for power, which is something we see Jerry do with Rick, another reason why Morty may have repressed rage towards Jerry is because people who are codepedent on others may adopt their opinions on the belief that it'll give them validation (https://codependencyrecovery.org/2022/11/04/worrying-what-other-people-think/) so another reason could be because Morty recogonized that Rick hates Jerry and adopted that same opinion without realizing it, causing him to seethe in anger before his repressed rage for Jerry formed. It could also be his way of getting his repressed rage out by taking it out on unrelated people, he literally said this in season 3 episode 2, "What if we...didn't do it? What if we just went back to the blood dome and kept taking our baggage out on unrelated people?"

Rick also isolates Morty more with his season 3 premiere speech.

"I just took over the family, Morty! And if you tell your mom and sister I said any of this, I'll deny it! And they'll take my side because I'm a hero, Morty! Now you'll have to go and do whatever I say, Morty! FOREVER!"

This is a common manipulation tactic. Making your victim believe that nobody will believe them, so they may as well not even bother telling anyone, also burdening your victim with a big secret, and expecting them to keep it, which allows the abuser to hold more power over their victim. He knows that Beth has abandonment issues and knows that she'll take Rick's side if Morty tries to tell her just how dangerous his adventures with Rick are. It's chilling how many manipulation tactics Rick takes with Morty, to keep control over Morty and to keep Morty codependent on him. 

Now, for Rick, this makes sense; he craves control. This codependency is something that Rick doesn't get, he's uncertain about it, and it doesn't make sense to him, so he tries to control Morty so he can regain the feeling he likes of having everything under control. He also sees that Rick KNOWS that doing these manipulation tactics is giving him control over Morty, which makes it VERY unlikely that he's doing these on accident, as he says this to Morty when he's in his toxic form in season 3 episode 6:

"You can die when I say so! I control you! I control the universe!"

We also see just how badly Rick's emotional abuse affected Morty, with toxic Morty being HEAVILY insecure, saying things including but not limited to:

"I don't want to be on camera, I'm ugly and gross, please!" "I did it, Rick! I got the tank! I'm a piece of shit, but I got the tank!" and "I think my voice is annoying"

We also see him agreeing with Toxic Rick with everything, something that emotional abuse victims tend to do to minimize abusive events, this becomes even more apparent when we find out that Mortys are breed to be as forgiving as possible, and a lot of emotional abuse victims tend to be forgiving towards their abusers (https://psychcentral.com/health/coercive-control#recap)

Morty also being heavily insecure is another sign of codependency, as when someone is codependent, their view of themselves is heavily tied to what the person they are codependent on thinks of them. Morty also saying that he dislikes confrontation in the episode could be tied to emotional abuse, or it could be that and a mix of codepedency, as people who are codepedent have self worth tied to the person they are codepedent on, and because of that will avoid conflicts with them since they want to be liked by them. (https://www.simplypsychology.org/signs-of-codependency.html)

Another thing I want to point out is Morty’s lack of boundaries with Rick. An example of this is in Rest and Ricklaxation. Rick goes to drag Morty out of school again, and at first Morty says no since he found out that Jessica was single, then Rick is dismissive of him, and continues to pressure him. Which Morty agrees to. Also in the season 3 garage rant, Rick repeatedly invades Morty’s personal space, and while Morty is clearly scared, he doesn’t do anything about it. This is a common sign of codependency (https://americanaddictioncenters.org/rehab-guide/family-members/codependent) We do see Morty begin setting boundaries with Rick in season 7, but after years of neglecting his own boundaries when it came to Rick, it will take a while to undo this. We also see this in season 1, with Morty being able to successfully share his boundaries with Jerry about coming to his room without knocking, while we see Rick do that exact thing multiple times, and Morty just lets it happen, not setting clear boundaries with Rick, letting Rick have more control over him. Now this is NOT Morty’s fault, as Rick is the one who got Morty codependent on him, but that’s just another way for Rick to control Morty, as Rick is a control freak.

This also seems to be the season where Rick's codependency on Morty gets worse, so he desperately tries to retaliate by controlling Morty more. An example of this is in episode 4, where he gets jealous of Morty seeing the vindicators as his heroes and not him. Rick probably doesn't feel this a lot, it's weird to him, he doesn't know why he cares so much about what Morty thinks, and why he's so mad at the thought of Morty seeing other people as his heros, so he does what he knows best, he goes to drink so he can numb himsef and feel like he's in control. 

Rick seems to crave control a lot; the reason for this most likely stems from his backstory, Diane and Beth dying from Rick Prime. This was a situation Rick wasn't in control of. In the few seconds he had to gain control, he was frozen in shock. In Rick's mind, their deaths were his fault because he didn't have any control over the situation, so he wants control over everything. He hates being uncertain and confused. His dynamic and codependency with Morty confuses him. He hates caring about others, scared that if he cares about people, they'll leave him, be put in danger because of him, or die. He cares about Morty. He should hate Morty, but he doesn't. It confuses him so much that he tries to control Morty as much as he can to combat this feeling, but it doesn't work. It never does. Rick also revisits the memory of Beth and Diane's death in the season 3 premiere, he is reminded of what happens when he doesn't have control at all times, people he loves die.

While season 1 was their dynamic at its most exploitative, seasons 3-4 were their dynamic as it's most controlling. Rick can feel the codependency becoming worse and tries to combat this with control, yet it still doesn't work. Let me quickly list off moments in season 3 where Rick attempts to control Morty.

1. Rickmancing the Stone attempts to push Morty into doing stuff he doesn't want to do and continues to push Morty to do the things, even when Morty doesn't want to. An example of this was him trying to push Morty to leave, even when Morty said that he wanted to stay. Or him volunteering Morty into the blood dome and not caring when Morty was mad at him for doing so.

2. Pickle Rick. He tries to manipulate Morty into lying for him. Saying this: "Morty, I assure you I would never 'find a way' to 'get out of' family therapy." 

3. Vindicators 3: Return of Worldender. Put the Vindicators into a SAW so Morty can see what horrible people they are and hopefully idealize Rick over them. He didn't actually want to kill the vindicators, but still.

4. Rest and Ricklaxation. Toxic Rick controls Toxic Morty for this whole episode, bossing him around and straight up saying, "I control you."

5. Morty's Mindblowers. Rick literally removes memories from Morty that make Rick come off as pathetic, are embarrassing for Rick, or even a moment where Morty gets the slightest bit of power over Rick. An example of this is when Morty made fun of Rick since Rick thought that "Take things for granted" was "Take things for grainte" or when Morty won a checkers game against Rick. Then acting like Morty was overreacting when Morty was rightfully pissed at Rick after he found out the truth.

But, Rick also slightly softens up in this season, letting himself be a little more relaxed with Morty, like when he always tells himself to just have a fun time with Morty at Atlantis. This was off-screen, but in the after-credits scene, it's clear that they both had a nice time and were fondly talking about their adventure together. Rick also takes Jerry on an adventure, despite not liking Jerry, because he thought Morty was genuinely worried about Jerry and wanted to make Morty happy. Even if he tries to brush this off by saying, "You know how Morty gets when he gets emotional, it impedes my work." We also see Rick and Morty geuinely enjoy Minecraft together, without Rick making any snide or backhanded remarks towards Morty, while this was their dynamic at it's most controlling, we also see them become more like friends...but then we reach season 4...ooo boy, aren't you in for a treat...

~ Season 4 ~

So in season 4, we get another attempt at Rick trying to control Morty with him trying to control Morty as usual, but he was trying to drag Morty on an adventure without caring about if Morty wanted to do it or not, but Beth actually stops him, since now she's having Rick ask Morty, giving Morty more autonomy, sadly though, it's not nearly enough considering how controlling Rick was of him in season 3, and this season. Morty did agree to the adventure, but when Rick died, Morty chose to let Rick stay dead so he could die with Jessica. Again, this shows the budding tension between them, with Morty coming to hate Rick, or at the very least not love him. This will change, though, as it tends to with codependency, as Morty will begin to trauma bond with Rick. 

Rick did 3 VERY fucked up things in season 4. I like to think of it as the fucked up triology. So, first he manipulates Morty into hating heist movies like him, so he doesn't get too busy with it to go on adventures in One Crew Coocco Over Morty. Gave Morty a BLACK EYE in Rattlestar Ricklatica, and traumatized Morty into being terrified of ever defying him again in Vat of Acid.

There are also very few moments where he cares about Morty here, 

He shields Morty in the premiere and has a cute garage rant with him.

Tells Morty that he loves him in the ending of Never Ricking Morty (We’re ignoring the lips if you want part, thank you very much! Although it is another good example of how Rick ignores Morty’s boundaries and Morty lets his boundaries be ignored)

He and Morty have a bonding moment in Promortyus.

And uhhh that’s about it! Now, let’s talk more about the fucked up shit he did because…whoo boy, is it MESSY.

Now, starting off with the heist episode, this is another attempt by Rick to get more control over Morty’s life, which sadly works. So, a quick refresher in case you forgot (I doubt it, what Rick did here is pretty infamous for good reason), Morty was writing a heist script, and because of that was flaking on adventures with Rick, which annoyed Rick to no end. Then, when he heard from Summer that Morty could get a Netflix deal, he heard 4 words that set off alarm bells in his head.

“You could lose him.”

Rick is also codependent on Morty, relying on him far more than anyone should rely on a 14-year-old. So the thought of losing Morty terrifies him, so he said that he would “Nip this in the bud” but luckily Beth butts in. Telling Rick that he won’t be doing anything bout it, and if Morty gives up, it better be his own choice, and not because of Rick. 

Now Rick hears this, and, like the emotionally stable, well-adjusted man he is, took this as he’s supposed to manipulate Morty into giving up on the dream, so he remains codependent on him and so Rick doesn’t lose him, as he is terrified of losing Morty, since he lost 2 people that were so, SO important to him, and Morty quickly became the most important person in his life after their death, so he would do anything not to lose him. Even if it means doing things that he knows would be damaging to Morty’s psyche.

This is what I mean when I say that Rick does love Morty, just not in the correct way. He loves Morty, but in a selfish way, as he doesn’t care about how his actions affect Morty, only wanting Morty to stay with him, no matter what the cost it may have on Morty’s psyche. Now, Rick does treat Morty better and cares more about how his actions affect Morty, but this realization came a little too late; his actions already damaged Morty immensely, and I don’t think Rick realizes this. As he never even considered that Morty’s greatest fear could have something to do with him in Fear No Mort, but we will get to that, TRUST ME. I don’t think Rick is being intentionally abusive, he’s just doing whatever he thinks he has to do to protect Morty, as he believes that caring for people is basically a death sentence for them. So he tries to pretend like he hates Morty, terrified of admitting and showing just how much he cares about Morty, but this didn’t make him hate Morty; it only made Morty hate himself. And Rick’s manipulation of Morty seems to be his attempt to keep Morty around him by any means necessary.

Now I am by no means defending Rick’s actions, they are ABSOLUTELY abusive, but I don’t think Rick realizes that, as very few people are intentionally abusive and manipulative. They mostly do not recognize that they are abusive (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/invisible-bruises/202210/do-abusers-understand-their-behavior-is-wrong). Although this does not excuse their actions, it is interesting to bring up. They also tend not to realize how their actions affect their victim, as the change happens slowly. Which is also something I believe is true for Rick. He definitely doesn’t realize how much he has hurt Morty, although this doesn’t make Morty’s hurt ok. Rick truly has no idea how deeply he’s scarred his grandson. 

Vat of Acid is another VERY fucked up thing. This also has to do with Rick’s fear of losing Morty. So, Morty saw firsthand that one of Rick’s plans failed, and he lashes out at him for it. He then manipulates Rick into making an invention for him by using reverse psychology, which works, of course, since Rick has the most fragile ego known to man. But it turns out Rick didn’t do what Morty wanted, instead transporting Morty to a different timeline, killing the Morty that was originally in that timeline, eventually revealing this to Morty, traumatizing him. He also had Morty merge all of the timelines together, so only one Morty did all of the things Morty did in that episode. Take a shot for every time I say Morty in this post! I’m kidding, don’t do that. You’ll definitely die of alcohol poisoning. So Rick did this, one to preserve his ego, as he wants Morty to see him as cool, despite not wanting to admit it, because basic human emotions are for losers! And two, did this to keep Morty with him. As he says in season 6, after he believes that Morty hates him:

“This is what happens when you let people in and they stop respecting you!”

Morty didn’t respect Rick here, and Rick, being terrified of what that could mean, makes a whole contrived plot to keep Morty from ever critiquing him again. Hoping that this would keep Morty respecting him.

Rick is an incredibly fucked up indivual, but he typically does have a reason for doing the reprehensible shit he does, which makes it interesting to anaylze, and shows how complex he really is. So while season 4 was Rick at his worst, it IS a pretty interesting season to use to analyze Rick’s character.

This is also the season that kicks off Rick’s redemption arc. In the finale, Rick realizes how much of a terrible father he is, which leads him to sit alone in the garage and reflect on his behavior in this season. Unable to face the family after he realized just how horrible he is. This is a MASSIVE moment of growth for Rick, as he realized how much his actions hurt Rick, and how horrible it is to look at those actions play out. 

Now let’s get to the REAL reason why any of you are here for this post! Season 5! Rick’s redemption arc is starting, babbyyy! Let’s go!

~ Season 5 ~

Ok, so at the end of season 4 with the whole clone Beth thingy, Rick realizes what a truly bad person he is, and sits in the garage thinking about how horrible he’s been in season 4. Since, imo, he was at his worst in season 4, and Rick seems to agree since he begins his redemption arc in season 5. With the very first episode, we already see how different he acts. He tells Morty to leave him and save himself when they are literally in a life-threatening situation. Another example of how, while Rick may be a horrible grandpa, in the end, he loves Morty more than he loves himself. Which isn’t saying a lot because he hates himself, but uhhhh y’know what I mean. In this season, he respects Morty’s autonomy a lot more. For example, in the first episode again, Rick tries to drag Morty off so Morty can watch him sign a peace treaty with Mr. Nimbus. This was right after Mr. Nimbus says that this has to be someone Rick would trust with his life, by the way. But when Rick tries to, Morty yanks his arm away and says, “Rick! I did everything you asked today! Now, can I just spend some time with my girlfriend?” And Rick, instead of just ignoring Morty’s protest and boundaries again and just dragging him off, as, say, season one Rick would’ve done, he doesn’t try to drag Morty away and just says, “Your girlfriend?” Which, I would normally say that this is rude, buttttt considering how this is Morty’s 1st date with Jessica and he’s already using the “girlfriend” label, thissss is pretty fair I’d hate to say it. We also have Morty saying this line: “Y’know, sometimes you have to BE an asshole! My grandpa taught me that!”

Hell, Rick even let Morty off the hook for screwing up later in this episode, even if he’s snarky about it (“I fucked it up, ok?” “It’s ok Morty, it’s what you do, now lemme Deus Ex Machina this shit and let’s go home.”) when usually season 2 Rick wouldn’t hesitate at the opportunity to repeatedly insult Morty for it, and when he’s in the middle of an argument with Nimbus, he immediately drops it when he hears Morty screaming for help, with a: “Screw this. What am I even doing?”

We do see more of Rick’s jealousy and possessiveness over Morty in this season tho (In a platonic way to any proshipppers who are reading this, GET OUT!) in “A Rickconvient Mort” Morty ditches plans he had with Rick to hang out with Planetina (FUCK PLANETINA) and Rick actually doesn’t force the plans him and Morty had on him. So obviously in this season we’re getting more of Rick actually respecting Morty’s autonomy, which is really cool! Buttttt this is where his jealously and possessiveness comes in, he drinks a lot, calls Summer his favorite grandkid right in front of Morty to get under his skin and hurt Morty like how he hurt him (DAMN that is fucked) andddd basically ignores Morty for the rest of the episode. While Rick is a smart man, no doubt about it, he acts very immature when it comes to Morty. The best way I can describe Rick’s possessiveness and jealousy when it comes to Morty is…y’know, when a toddler has to share their favorite toy? Yeah, kinda like that. They get huffy, fussy, and won’t admit what’s wrong. Yep, that’s how our emotionally closed-off boy acted in this episode in a nutshell. He’s scared of showing how much he cares about Morty, since bad things happen to people he cares about; they either die because of him, are put in danger because of him, or leave him. Take, for instance, his original Beth and Diane, Unity, Birdperson, Squancy, hell, Mr. Poopybutthole’s life was ruined because of him. He also just isn’t really the best at dealing with his emotions, considering how much he represses them.

Now, he does slap Morty here in season 5 episode 7 (“Gr-grandpa fucked up, glasses on! Act like a turkey!” “Wha- Are you scared?” *Slaps* “ACT LIKE A TURKEY!”) But this slap was a lot softer contrasting the punch from Ricklatica, as he doesn’t leave a fucking black eye on Morty’s face. But still, hot take…slapping your younger relatives…is bad…*gasp!* I know, I know that’s very surprising and a very spicy take, but…I had to say it.

There’s not a whole lot to comment on for this season, since it focused more on Rick and Morty’s dynamic with other family members, but there are a few important things. One is…despite it being from one of the worst, if not the worst episodes of the entire series, we do get some good moments of Rick caring about Morty in…eugh…Rickdependence Spray…

Ok, this episode is completely shit, and is an abomination, BUT, there IS some good parts about it…and by “parts” I mean Rick, so, he get him greeting Morty in a weirdly nice way “Oh, hey kiddo, how’s your Saturday?”, and he also is pretty protective over Morty in this episode, telling him to step away so he doesn’t get caught in the blast, shielding him and putting Morty behind him when Sperm monsters were attacking, immidately grabbing him when the ship was going down, yeah even though this episode was absolute pure unadulterated garbage, these moments still managed to get an “Awww!” out of me…what can I say? I’m weak! I love me some protective Rick, even in a shitty episode. Also, when it comes out that Morty uh…”used”...a horse machine and because of that all the sprem monsters happened…i-it makes slightly more sense in context, ok? He does shame Morty a little for it, whichhhh is honestly kinda deserved, sorry baby, but the insult is very minor “Morty, you nasty little, lying, world-ending pervert!”, “I always knew your hormones would start a world war Morty, I just didn’t think it would be like this” and “Not really accepting apologies here while I’m stuck as handjob solo here…” but again, these are very minor, and aside from these lines, he lets Morty off the hook for it.

But oh boy, then we get to the toxic cesspool of the season 5 finale…so, in season 5 episode 9, Forgetting Sarick Mortshall, Rick is terrible to Morty, which is kinda essensital for the plot to happen and so one of the best episodes of the series can happen, but it’s still a dick move no matter how you slice and dice it. He calls Morty replaceable, had a wheel of better things than Morty, and purposefully attempted to hurt Morty so Morty will come back and, ideally, have less complaints now since he’ll believe that Rick is fine with replacing him…fuck…I absolutely love Rick, he’s my favorite without question, but he can be SERIOUSLY fucked up at times. Making this analysis made it all the more blatant. One thing I do like about this episode is that it had the BALLS to tell the audience about how fucked up and toxic their dynamic is, many shows will try to brush it off, or make excuses, like “Oh yeah, but they care about each other when it counts” it actually acknowledged the intense toxicity between Rick and Morty, I just kinda wish they directly addressed it more, since this episode didn’t really have a satisfying end to it…actually the episode ends with Rick LEAVING.

Yeah, Rick fucking LEAVES, because I guess giving one of his relatives abandonment issues wasn’t enough. (Yes, ik he never abandoned his original Beth, but he still abandoned this one multiple times) He had to do it with his 14-year-old grandson…yaaaay…

Now, it does try to say that the reasons why he’s leaving are because he’s abusive towards Morty…but if that were the case, he would work to make their relationship better, instead of continually removing Morty’s autonomy. Since now, he can’t even choose to leave Rick, because Rick has already made that choice for him. Making Morty even more dependent on Rick, since he probably feels incapable of making decisions on his own, considering how much autonomy that Rick has taken away from him. Hell, at times it’s like he’s not even his own person, he’s just Rick’s tool for adventures, he does get slightly more autonomy, but this just zaps it all away. Now, I do think Rick did have good intentions with this, buttttt now we’ve got abandonment issues as well! Which makes codependency even worse! (https://codependencyrecovery.org/2024/05/05/the-fear-of-abandonment-in-codependency-how-it-shapes-your-choices-and-what-to-do-about-it) yay….I mean, he did fix Morty’s arm and was genuinely worried when he saw Morty hurt, and gave Morty his portal gun as a parting gift, so like…that’s something, ig. Who cares about abandonment issues when you get a portal gun that you get to keep for a few days out of it!?

Rick does come back in the very next episode when the crows…I don’t wanna use the weird terminology that the show uses…soooo I’ll just say stop adventuring with him. Annnndddd just about nothing has changed, with Morty being ready to go back to how things were before, even when Beth tries to get Morty to tell Rick that he wants his respect, Morty refuses…my poor baby. It’s still nice seeing Beth take a more active role in Morty’s life, though, even if a lot of what she does is the bare minimum, it’s still nice to see. Especially since it shows that her love for her son is stronger than her abandonment issues. Beth is a LOT of things, but she does love her son.

Now, Rick is actually treating Morty like…*gasp*...a human being! He agrees to a dinner with Evil Morty despite not wanting to, since Morty wanted to. Let Morty find out about his past, even picking Morty up, even though Morty chose to do it at like the most inconvenient time. And gently put Morty down. And he AGAIN tells Morty to leave him for dead when Evil Morty offers Morty to come with. And Morty, being the codependent bby he is, chooses to save Rick instead, despite Rick admitting that he only came back because he didn’t have the crow anymore. He was too guilty to admit it, but his silence was answer enough, and after Rick admitted that he didn’t have a plan to get out…damn codependency is crazy, now obviously I do believe that they genuinely love each other, but you have to admit that there is a LOT of stuff that’s done due to codependency.

And the ending that I hate to admit brings me to tears, when Rick is handing a ship, he sees a booster control that says that it will only work with a partner, he takes Morty’s hand with a fucking SMILE on his face and they work TOGETHER as equal PARTNERS instead of the usual Rick being the leader and Morty being, for lack of a better word, a sidekick. This, to me at least, is when Rick consistently starts respecting Morty as a person, instead of only respecting Morty when he acts like him.

Nowwww, let’s see the moments Rick cares about Morty in season 5!

Rick tells Morty to leave him in Mort Dinner Rick Andre, drops an argument with Nimbus to help Morty when he hears him screaming for help, and lets him off the hook for screwing something up, instead of dogpiling on him like usual.

Genuinely wanted to have a good time with Morty with no ulterior motive in Rickmancing the Stone, even if Planetina ruins it (FUCK PLANETINA)

Being very protective over Morty in Rickdepedence Spray and mostly letting him off the hook for screwing up

Fixes Morty’s arm and gives Morty the portal gun in Forgetting Sharick Mortshall

Trusts Morty with his past, carries him, tells Morty to leave him to save himself, AND works with Morty as an equal partner

Woo! Ok! That was season 5! I had a LOT more to say about that than I thought…what can I say? I love yapping about my boys! Now we’re onto the 2nd to last season…for now, I mean Rick and Morty will be getting like, 12 seasons, so we don’t gotta worry about it ending for a while, season 6! And we get more of Rick’s redemption arc here, baby! Ohhh, this will be fun!

~ Season 6 ~

We’re almost at the end! We’re at the home stretch! Keep reading this for just a little bit longer! Even though at this point, assuming you read it all in one go, you’ve read for abboooutttt…25 minutes?! You could’ve watched an episode by now…fuck…uhmmm but you’re a fast reader! I’m sure you took a shorter time…HAHAHAHA! Please don’t stop reading. You don’t know how much time I spent on this…I actually…RESEARCHED and…LEARNED SOMETHING! EUGH! Alright, moving on, sorry, Wendy’s waitress.

First, we have Solaricks! GOD, I love this episode! I love it so much! Now this whole episode is great…butttt that’s for the episode ranking…that’s coming soon, I PROMISE! For this analysis, we’re just focusing Rick and Morty here, but DAMN is it good! So, the cold open show Rick and Morty about to die, since the ship they escaped on is out of gas, and get this, when Rick and Morty were legit about to die, Morty’s FIRST instict was to go over next to Rick, curl up, and cling onto his arm…and Rick, instead of shrugging Morty off or doing an asshole move like that, he actually lets Morty hold onto his arm, and leans his head on Morty’s.

Rick is gentle and vulnerable with Morty in a way he NEVER is with anyone else. He never lets anyone else in the series touch him in such a close way. All Morty wanted was to die while holding onto Rick, and Rick actually let that happen. I honestly, honestly couldn’t see season 4 Rick doing this, but since season 6 Rick is finally letting himself be vulnerable, he’s letting Morty do this. And, more importantly, he’s letting himself do this, he’s letting himself be close with someone else without pushing them away. Because he’s FINALLY beginning to trust himself. Also, in this episode, we find out that Rick Prime was our Morty’s, Morty Prime’s, original Rick. Do you have any idea how big this is? To let a relative of a man you despise, the man who killed your family and ruin your life, to not only not hate them, but to love them, more than you love yourself, for them to be the only one you can trust with your life, to be close with them in a way you never let yourself be with any else ever since your wife and daughter died by that same person’s realitive? THAT’S one of the reasons why he considers his attachment to Morty so irrational, because this is the grandkid of your enemy, and even if you know they can’t control who they are blood-related to, realistically, you should have some resentment towards them, right? I mean, logically, rationally. And Rick, being a very logical and rational person, just can’t get why he holds no resentment towards Morty at all. Holding him in very high regard, even if he’d never admit it, since uhm…feelings are for people who want their families dead, ig. 

Man, I REALLY yapped about that for a WHILE, huh? What can I say? I love my boys, I mean…of course I do, this analysis is nearly 8000 words as I’m writing it right now. Hell, I’m writing this instead of sleeping…it’s 4 in the morning and I just have ICP in my other tab and writing about Rick and Morty in this one…what is my life?

Okay, enough with that existential crisis, you came here for an analysis about an abusive grandpa and his anxious grandson! …You weirdo. 

Now, later in the episode, we have one of my favorite scenes…I-I think in the whole series? Oh, you think I’m overexaggerating?! …Maybe. But this scene is really great, I made one too many posts on it. I’ll just show you the exchange.

“Get outta here! [When Morty was about to do something stupid and dangerous…awfully hypocritical of you, Ricky] You did this last season! You’re like a suicide bomber!”

“Takes one to know one!”

“Yeah? Well, you get it from him [Rick Prime], not me!”

“I don’t know him! You’re my grandpa, Rick! Rick and Morty, 100 years!”

This scene is soooo good, I CAN’T! I love how Rick lost his anger at hearing that, I love Morty immediately disowning Rick Prime, I love the found family, I love the callback to the pilot, GOD! I love it so much. Seriously, that callback was so good, even though Morty was literally rendered immobile because of Rick when he said that, and Rick had zero care about that, it still meant SO MUCH to Morty! Ugh, I need to stop gushing about this scene and carry on with the analysis already…ok, so this is a pretty good example of the genuine (I shouldn’t even have to specify this, but whenever I say “love” I’m talking about PLATONIC and FAMILIAL love! Ok? Ok.) love between them, there is a LOT of codependency between them, but they both do genuinely love each other a lot, Rick just isn’t in the right mental space to show it in the right way, he’s getting there, but he still has a WHILE to go, due to all of his trauma and a whole buncha self loathing! Ahh, THIS is why I relate to you, Rick! I hate myself, too! …That’s not concerning, right?

This is also what makes Rick go back and help the girls, who are in trouble. Morty is the ONLY person who’s able to talk Rick out of doing stupid and self risking stuff, since he’s aware of Rick’s self-destructive tendencies, that just shows how well they know each other, and how much they DO genuinely love and care for each other, even if it can seem hard to believe at times with all the emotional abuse, codepedency, and toxicity.

Also, a bit before this scene, when Morty was stuck in his original dimension, despite him saying “I knew you wouldn’t leave me!” to Rick when he came back, thissss isn’t exactly true. You see, he was talking with Jerry Prime, and, if he actually believed that Rick was coming back when he was talking to Jerry about it, he would say “When Rick comes back,” Butttt well…I’ll just show you what he said.

“If Rick comes back”

If, despite everything, Morty’s abandonment issues are still strong, of course they are, he’s terrified of losing the most important person in his life, the only person that gives him consistent attention, and now he knows that Rick would leave him on a whim, he knows that all of that could be ripped about like, *snap*, that. Who wouldn’t be terrified of losing the only person who actually pays attention to you after you’ve been lonely your entire life?

And it doesn’t help that when Rick came back, Morty was so overwhelmed with relief that he ran to Rick with outstretched arms to hug him, and Rick, being uncomfortable with physical touch, takes Morty’s shoulder and gently pushes him away, leaving Morty feeling more alone than ever.

That’s all I have to say about this episode, but damn, it’s even better than I thought, it reveals SO much about Rick and Morty’s dynamic in one episode…Or I could be overanalyzing this silly drunk grandpa cartoon….nahhh, that’s not it! This was all intentional, and I’m NOT crazy or obsessed, who said that!? 

We also have Rick: A Mort Well Lived, and I’m…split on the episode, I WILL give credit where credit is due, it DOES say a lot about Rick and Morty’s dynamic. It sets the stage for the best episode in the series by showing that Morty thinks Rick doesn’t care about him. This was first introduced as a throwaway line in the season 3 premiere (“Because he doesn’t care! Because nobody is special to him, Summer!”), So it’s nice seeing it expanded on in this episode.

So, basically, Morty was split into a lot of little pieces because of a Roy game…it makes just as much sense in context. I gave you the context. And this, as multiple lines showing just how badly years of Rick’s abuse affected Morty, they straight up just don’t think Rick cares about him…or…them…? I dunno, it’s confusing, the truly heartbreaking thing is, you can’t really blame him, after years of emotional abuse, of course, he would start to believe that Rick doesn’t care about him. We have to remember, we are watching them on TV. We can go back to the moments where Rick cares about Morty and gush about them all we want, but Morty can’t. For Morty, these moments are just that, moments, quick and fleeting. Then after this, he just goes on with his life like normal. So why would he think that Rick cares about him, if all he hears is negative things come out of his mouth 90% of the time? I mean, put yourself in Morty’s shoes for a moment, your grandpa constantly insults you and made it very clear that he considers you 100% precent replaceable, he does have moments where he cares about you, but these are very quick, yeah, you probably wouldn’t think he cares as well. 

Also, while Rick is getting better, we have to remember that Morty is 14, and again, he isn’t watching this on TV. He can’t go back to different episodes and analyze the differences in how Rick treats him, the change is slow and gradual, it makes it all the more realistic, but also makes it all the harder to spot. Of course, a 14-year-old isn’t going to pick up on this, how would he? The Rick he knows the majority of the time in the manipulative, sarcastic, rude Rick, not the kind, gentle, loving Rick that we can see over and over again. 

Also, the one piece of Morty that Rick admitted was a good grandson, was going to admit that he loves, AND was the only one to challenge him and demand that he shows affection towards him…or…uh…her…? If he…she…? Is going to follow what he says. And guess what? She’s the only one who gets left behind on her own request. The only part of Morty that could challenge Rick is gone forever, set to die in a video game. Morty again loses more autonomy, he straight up says: “You know best, Rick! I trust you implicitly!” I swear, he’s becoming more and more like a lifeless husk with no personality that Rick just drags around.

There is also JuRicksic Mort. This doesn’t really reveal much about their dynamic, but they have a really cutesy dynamic here. Hell, Rick even tells Morty, “Give me a hug!” and playfully ruffles Morty's hair when he finds that piece of the asteroid. He also gently elbows Morty and asks, “Get it?” after he tells a joke, and actually attempts to defend himself to Morty when Morty is bitter about Rick not laughing at a joke he made. Which is…weirdly adorable? Rick also takes Morty to Boobworld with no hesitation after he fixes portal travel. Happily saying, “Figured my guy deserves a vacation.” Also, him calling Morty “my guy” is adorable, shut up. Also them gently punching each other’s arms is so fucking cute. MY BOYSSSSS ARGHHH! Also, this has literally nothing to do with the analysis…but I can’t NOT mention Rick absolutely failing at skateboarding, I’m sorry that’s too funny not to mention.

We also get Full Meta Jackrick. And DAMN. This episode is good! It might seriously be S-Tier for me, it is SO good! This episode is a great example on how much Rick changed. He’s physically gentle with Morty, gently holding his arms and hands, helping Morty up, hell, this is also a great protective Rick episode! When Rick thinks Joe Campbell got Morty…uh…pregnant…which, considering how Morty is amad, I…don’t know how that’s possible. Rick’s first reaction? To kill the only other male who could’ve done it,  Joe. He did it by drowning as well, a surefire way to make it as painful as possible. Hell, even when Morty says, “It wasn’t him, Rick!” Rick angrily asks, “Then who?!” Clearly wanting to deal with the man who did that himself. Also, you are INSANNEEEE if you think I won’t mention him putting his lab coat on Morty when Morty was cold. That was legitimately adorable, especially since we rarely see Rick give someone else his lab coat. This was the first time he did, actually.  He did it a second time in Mort: Raganrick (I thought it was called 90s Fad Toys for the longest time bc the site I pirate Rick and Morty from got it wrong, but shhh, that’s a secret between us) was when it threw it to Bigfoot in Summer’s body butttt I thinkkkk that has more to do with the fact that Summer was naked…

Ok, next up! Anaylze Piss, Rick and Morty don’t interact a whollleee lot here, we do get a pretty empowering scene for Morty setting some boundaries with Rick, not agreeing to keep a secret of a man’s suicide for Rick and telling the rest of the family. Rick also goes to therapy! Which is something season 3 Rick turned into a pickle to try to prevent. So yeah, Rick has grown a LOT from season 3, and I’m really proud of him!

Alright, so that’s about it for season 6, Rick and Morty has a much healthier, more cutesy dynamic, sure Rick can still be emotionally abusive, and manhandles Morty when they are running away from others, but he’s a lot gentler now, and treats Morty like an actual person instead of just a tool for adventures that vast majority of the time, now onto season 7, the final one! Then we’re done with this analysis that took way…WAYYYY too long. Wait- what!? No! I don’t want to talk about the last 2 episodes! I don’t want to, I’m not gonna, you’re not gonna make me! Wait…you’ll buy me a Rick plushie if I do…? 

…

Damn you comfort characters. (I say despite making an entire analysis on how abusive Rick is, yes, he is still my comfort character. Meeseeks and Destroy. That’s it. That’s my reason.)

Ok, so, in A Rick in King Mortur’s Mort, damn these long titles, Rick straight up abandons Morty...again. He’s tryna win the Olympic gold medal for how many times he can traumatize this kid, istg. Give him DOUBLE the abandonment issues, why not!? He did make a robot designed to literally make Morty happy, which, y’know, is sweet in that special Rick way. But he still abandoned his grandson for months because he couldn’t pull himself out of his obsession with Prime.

Why is this?

Because of Morty.

Morty insulted him once, and it caused him to spiral.

Rick never really cared about Morty’s insults, but now he’s finally starting to respect Morty, so now those insults actually hurt, insults are a lot harder to brush off if you actually respect the person they are coming from.

It actually broke Morty that Rick would do this, he cries, and it’s heartbreaking. “He’s [Rick’s] busy…and I hate him, and I lost my lightsaber, and now it might destroy the earth, and it’s the worst Christmas ever!” Hell, after Rick lashed out with the most victim-blaming speech I’ve ever heard in my life, he immediately feels bad, and starts to blame the president, even now he’s incapable of holding Rick accountable, that’s how bad his codependency is.

And Rick still doesn’t see why what he did was wrong, why would Morty love him? He insulted him, that must mean that he doesn’t care, shouldn’t he be happy that Rickbot is nicer and more thoughtful than him? Why did Morty even care? Rick felt like a victim because he assumed Morty didn’t care about him, at least in Rick’s eyes. He probably thought Morty just finally realized how shitty of a person and didn’t understand how Morty could still love someone like that, forgetting what Morty said in Solaricks.

“You’re my grandpa, Rick.”

That’s why he hated Rick replacing himself with Rickbot; he loves this Rick, Rick C-137, his grandpa, and he just replaced himself with an impostor for months, not the Rick he chose over his biological grandpa, but a robot. He straight up tells Rickbot this.

“You’re not my grandpa, you’re a fucking robot.”

Morty is so terrified of being replaced, and Rick replacing himself terrified Morty that Rick got sick of him, and was going to replace him and leave him, again.

By the time Morty insulted Rick, Rick thought Morty truly didn’t care about him, so he just replaced himself with a better, nicer version of himself so he could focus entirely on finding Prime, thinking that that’s why he’s no good to anyone. That if he could get rid of Prime, everything would be fixed. 

Also…Morty was the reason why Rick stopped hunting Prime, but Morty was the reason he came back to it. Sound familiar?

“The corrosion of 2 personalities that reshape each other until they’re incompatible”

…

And with that, we move on to season 7

~ Season 7 ~

Season 7, baby! We’re in the home stretch!

After spending hours on this and continually getting sidetracked because Depression is a fucking BITCH, we did it! So, sadly, we don’t get as much of their dynamic in season 7, since Morty got sidetracked a LOT in this season, butttt, we still got a lot to talk about, because this season has Fear No Mort!

This season is when their dynamic is at its healthiest, they seem a lot more like friends, which is nice to see. Rick, of course, still insults him, because this is Rick, of course, he’s still going to be emotionally abusive, ya can’t just erase that overnight, but like before, these insults are a lot less harsh, making him seem more like a rude friend than anything. He only insults Morty, like, 7 times throughout the whole season. Which, while it isn’t uhm…great, it still is a massive improvement. Morty is also more of Rick’s level, snapping back at him more than once, which makes their dynamic seem a lot more equal, than it just being a poor kid getting emotionally abused by his grandpa, which, don’t get me wrong, that still is definitely what’s going on, but it’s more equal now than it was before, the power dynamic is still there, but it’s not as unequal as it used to be, which is a definite plus.

Also, Rick actually lets Morty hug him! Contrasting season 6, where he lightly pushes Morty away when Morty tries. In Unmortricken, Morty hugs Rick, and Rick stiffens up, but lets him. And again in Fear No Mort (Oh, we’ll get to you later) Morty hugs Rick, and Rick, despite being obviously very confused and stiffening up again, does albeit awkwardly and half-assed, does try to hug Morty back, butttt Morty does pull away, and Rick, instead of being upset, looks more worried that he did something wrong, although he quickly returns to his resting bitch face afterwards. I love this man so much.

Rick also has a pretty good handle on his anger here, mainly in Mort: Raganrick, when Morty messes up things again, and Rick, instead of showering him with insults as usual. *Cough* Mortynight Run *Cough* He seems a lot more like a frustrated parent, more mad at the situation rather than Morty. He does insult Morty, but it was pretty tame and only once. And to be fair, it was after Morty insulted him, and he does reassure Morty afterwards, despite being stern about it. (“You’d rather stay dead until you win than live as a loser, Christ, maybe you belong here with these idiots.” “Yeah, I could probably teach them how to hit a red button!” “...I said I was sorry….” “And I said keep killing them, while I finish the relay, and I will find a way to get us back home, ok?”) We also see them being equal here, when Morty complains to Rick to get them back home, Rick, instead of hand waving Morty’s concerns away, actually explains his point to Morty (“You need to find a way to get us back to life!” “Without my infinite energy, Morty? I don’t think you’re understanding this, Morty…if I get back, we won’t have another shot at this, you think next time these idiots see an old guy on the battlefield, they’re going to give him a beer?”)

We also get a lot of protective moments between both of them, not only in this episode, but in Unmortricken as well. With Rick wanting Morty to stay away from Rick Prime, since he’s very dangerous, and actually getting angry at Evil Morty when he brings Morty Prime along. (“You brought Morty?” “I’m not worried about him, I’m evil.”) And with Morty getting mad at Evil Morty when he insults Rick (“Reallyyy learned your lesson about chasing this guy…” “Hey, man, you can leave now.”), There is also, of course, the ending, with Morty’s lips trembling when he was waiting for Rick’s response after asking Rick if he was ok. And when Rick says yes (Rick, you fucking liar.) Morty hugs Rick, and Rick, instead of pushing away, lets Morty hug him, just giving him a weird look and stiffening up, I mean, hey, baby steps. Rick also pretends to be happy for Morty which is just…so fucking sad.

And in Rickfending your Mort, we get to see Rick spoiling Morty, and them having a genuinely good time together, hell, despite them arguing here, they actually get over it pretty quickly, and the insults they hurl and each other feel a lot less personal than usual. Just basic ones like bitch and stuff. And even then, Morty still didn’t like the observer talking down to Rick. We also get Morty calling Rick “Grandpa” instead of “Rick”, which is always nice to see. (“It’s some weirdo Grandpa hired to prove I’m a bad person.”) And we get Rick encouraging Morty when he comes to talk to the observer (“Yeah, get ‘em Morty!”) and not being angry when he sees that Morty steals money from his wallet. We also get an adorable ending. (“Rick and Morty! We’re back, baby! Check the glovebox!” “Woah! Another gun!”) Now, despite this episode being adorable, there issss a downside. This is another example of Rick relying too much on Morty, I mean, he literally relies on Morty to keep him mentally stable, which is something you should never put on anyone, much less a 14-year-old. 

There’s also Wet Kaut Amortican Summer. Buttttt we don’t get much of their dynamic here, but we do get confirmation that Rick now regularly spoils Morty, which is adorable, and Rick is actually able to take criticism from Morty without traumazing the poor kid. *Cough* VAT OF ACID *Cough*

Anddd now we get to the one! You know the one. FEAR NO MORT BABBBYYY!

Now, I could gush about this episode till the cows come home, talk about how it’s funny, a great character study on Morty and Rick, how the ending scene is the best ending and twist in all of Rick and Morty…buttttt that’s not what you’re here for, so! Let’s just explain what it means for our boy’s dynamic!

So, in Fear No Mort, we find out Morty’s greatest fear is Rick not caring about him, which is so fucking heartbreaking. And Morty’s realization of the fear is awful, also yes I memorized this scene (“I’m afraid that if I jumped into a hole, you wouldn’t even bother jumping in after me! You’d just stay there and watch! This entire thing has been about ME! YOU’RE NOT EVEN IN THE HOLE ARE YOU!?”) And holy hell, the voice acting is wayyy better than it had any right to be. Harry fucking KILLED it! What hurts the most about that line is that Rick actually DID jump into a hole for Morty in A Rickle in Time, but Morty can barely remember it since he had so many memories of that same moment where Rick didn’t jump in for him, and it’s absolutely heartbreaking. He forgot one of the biggest acts that shows how much Rick really did love him, where he gave his life for Morty’s. AUGH FUCK! 

What also hurts is when Morty gets out of the hole, Rick was just waiting for him. He did just sit there and watch. To Morty, at the very least, his greatest fear was confirmed. Morty jumped into a hole, and Rick didn’t bother jumping in after him. He just sat there and watched. And that breaks Morty’s heart, you can hear him begging that Rick did try to jump in with the amount of pain in his voice (“Oh no…aw jeez no…you…you didn’t go in at all…?”) and Rick said that he didn’t breaking Morty’s heart without realizing it.

But there is something Morty didn’t realize, when Morty woke up and was safe, Rick happily said “Morty!” with a smile on his face, clearly happy to see that Morty was ok, but Morty of course wouldn’t realize a small detail after the overwhelming terrifying experience that he just went through, and to the overwhelming belief that Rick truly does not care about him at all. 

Also Morty asks Rick, just to see if he was still in the hole “Rick…am I…irreplaceable?” Since irreplaceable was the very word that set Morty off, the one word that caused Morty to realize that Rick wasn’t even in the hole, and it was “You’re irreplaceable!” He truly believes that Rick would just replace him at any moment, and when Rick answers that question with: “I mean…define ‘irreplaceable’” This, this fucked up sentence, Rick being a dick, is what caused Morty to realize that he wasn’t in the hole. This made Morty so happy that he hugged Rick, he loves Rick for who he is, for being the asshole that simtaniously ruined and changed his life forever. Rick is single-handedly the reason why Morty can’t have a normal life, and Morty still loves Rick despite this. And Rick stiffens up and looks confused, but actually hugs Morty back. And this terrifies Morty, causing him to break apart and scream “NO! I won’t know if I’m out!” He’s so accustomed to receiving negative attention from Rick, that even the smallest amount of affection from him feels alien, it doesn’t feel real. Now, let’s get something straight, Rick is changing and is getting better, this doesn’t take away from the fact that Rick has deeply traumatized Morty, and Morty is still dealing with the trauma that Rick has put on him after 6 years.

We also see something else, in the hole, Morty was terrified that if Rick had to choose between him and a fake version of Diane, he would choose Diane, but guess what actually happened in the end, when Rick gets that choice?

He rejects it. 

He rejects the ability to see his dead wife again, and instead just looks at the hole, takes a deep breath, takes a picture of Morty that was carefully folded in his wallet, mind you, and puts it on the wall of people who went into the hole and successfully came out, then walks away with a smile, clearly proud and happy of Morty, content with walking away from the past to spend the rest of his evening with his grandson. Fuck, I hate how just describing this scene is making me tear up.

~ Conclusion ~

Now, season 8 hasn’t come out yet, but it will come out soon! But according to staff, Rick and Morty will have more of an equal friendship, sooo this should be the healthiest we’ve seen of Rick and Morty yet! 

So, what did we learn from this? Well, Rick and Morty, despite everything, do genuinely love and care for each other, although this mainly gets overshadowed by their codependency and the general toxicity of their dynamic. And while Rick is getting better and is treating Morty a lot better overall, this doesn’t erase all of the trauma Rick has put on Morty, Morty is still very deeply traumatized from the, at fucking BEST, 6 years of consistent emotional abuse, that even sometimes turns physical. (Rickstar Ricklatica, I’m looking at you) And despite the fact that Rick is changing for the better and does love Morty, and Morty loving him back, Morty still has no obligation to forgive Rick for all of the trauma Rick has dumped on Morty. 

Their dynamic is so insanely complex and layered. I love how it shows that abusers can love their victims, but just not in the right way. Honestly making this analysis of their analysis made me respect the writing of this show even more, as they did a legitimately awesome job at show what can happen to someone with codependency. And it is legitimately so insanely interesting to anaylze, and I absolutely love it! Ok, after multiples months, multiple hours of procrastinating and getting distracted, so SO many spotify songs, and nearly 12k words, this analysis is finally finished! I really hope that you did enjoy reading this analysis. I know it’s long, but I hope it gave you a new understanding of their dynamic! I know it did for me, and I did actually learn a lot when I was researching for this analysis, so it was legitimately an educational experience for me! I think I need to stop saying legitimately- But yeah! This was a very long post and analysis, but I did genuinely enjoy making it! And I hope you enjoyed reading it as well! Thank you!

almost everytime I take of my glasses or take out my contacts i quote this

because, yes I did seen enough.

people who don't wear glasses don't get the added benefit of taking off your HD eyesight for a while. just. fuck it! i'm done. 240p vision time

completely honest, I agree. prime could not come back at all and I would be fine with it (buuut that doesn't mean I wouldn't be going crazy jumping on the walls if he came back) I would love to see their back story more but I'm afraid Rick and Morty writers might not have the balls to explore it the way they explored Beth and Space Beth romance

Yeah I know everyone is focusing on the homoerotic subtext regarding Prime and Rick crossing arm wires when fighting, but I think we should also consider it might also have a utilitarian purpose.

I.e. if Prime returns, it's probably because he uploaded himself like a virus into C-137's mainframe.

If the writers choose to bring Prime back then this would be the way that makes the most sense to me. I don't like the idea that C-137 would bring him back on purpose because what would the conclusion be? Rick bringing him back to life and then killing him over and over again to give his life meaning? It would be just as pointless and empty as killing him once was.

But Prime coming back of his own violation? That would give rick all kinds of breakdowns.

Though possibly unpopular opinion: I'm fine if that was the end of Prime. He doesn't need to be brought back. There's still so much about Rick's past we don't know that can make future lore episodes compelling.

Found out that Rick is canonically a Bubbline shipper this week.