Angel don't you cry, it's just a bad dream.

Note that this is my very first watchthrough of the entire series, so if I misremember some details that’s why lol. I'm new to Rick and Morty online communities and I wanted a space to publicly share my analysis rambles.

My boyfriend, who got me into the show, pretty much told me that it’s canon that Rick is autistic, but this episode solidifies my headcanon that a majority of Rick Sanchez-es across the multiverse also tend to exhibity bipolar and complex-PTSD/complex trauma symptoms. This isn’t me trying to diagnose characters since I’m not a professional, but I’m someone who experiences both, so this is kinda like a projection ramble/psychoanalysis of Rick’s character. 

One of the most striking moments of s9 ep10 was MIT Professor (MP) Rick’s immediate ear-perk reaction when Morty Prime tells him of Diane’s fate across the multiverse; MP Rick later says something along the lines of how alcohol and his maladaptive behavior aren’t the things to blame for MP Rick’s Diane for divorcing him. Sure it is fate that Rick and Diane are destined to almost never live happily across the multiverse, but MP Rick uses this as an excuse to break sobriety. And that’s one of the fundamental issues with Rick Sanchez-es collectively; because of how the Rick Sanchez-es across the multiverse experience repetitive trauma even after Diane’s death, Rick, collectively, is prone to rely on substances to cope and MP Rick sees his broken sobriety as an aid in functioning in his passions like science. 

Complex trauma and substance abuse go hand in hand into a vicious cycle that scars people for years. MP Rick’s inability to move on from his divorce with DIane made his alcoholism worse, and it’s not to say that his second marriage was unloving or unfulfilling, but I immediately sensed something off about the relationship. MP Rick’s quick obsession with making the portal for Morty and his willingness to risk his tenure goes to show another fundamental issue of the collective mentality of Ricks across the multiverse; when substance abuse doesn’t take you far away enough from your trauma, you’re willing to do the most crazy, irrational, senseless, mindless bullshit to seek out that adrenaline-rush thrill of escapism and finally being in a place outside of a trauma-stuck mentality. 

Bipolar people tend to also have co-existing substance abuse issues, and during hypomanic/manic episodes, substance abuse is common. MP Rick’s claim that alcohol is good because it helps him with his portal gun experiments is another common mentality within self-justifying one’s maladaptive substance use; there are many famous artistic bipolar people, and considering Rick’s autism in mind, Rick Sanchez, collectively, are creative. I detest the mindset where neurotypical people treat this creativity as some kind of “superpower”; while I have experienced creative streaks during hypomanic episodes, the charcoal-charred burnout depression I would spiral into after these episodes mirrored a lot of Rick’s angered states. Rick’s depression doesn’t look like a mopey sad blogger because depression can feel like constant anger; a ticking time-bomb that would have him verbally abuse Morty for forgetting about his phone charger or something else completely asinine. 

This entire season so far seeing like a frantic waving of red flags that spells out each letter to viewers on how Rick’s invention is the unlocking key to his genius and to his mental health issues that he refuses to address. I don’t personally believe therapy guarantees a better life because it depends on the patient to put their therapy into habitual practice. We’ve seen it time and time again, and now re-emphasized through MP Rick, that Rick’s complications from coping with his complex trauma and bipolar symptoms is from his impulsive need to escape and throwing away every opportunity of stability given to him. It’s a self-punishing prison of his creation in the sense that he is in the position of having a daughter who loves him despite him repeatedly breaking her trust and reinforcing the status quo of instability in their household; this is a very self-destructive form of self-sabotage that I’ve seen in myself and other people with complex trauma. 

Throws up everywhere

Spoilers

Some say Morty is a toxic elememt in Rick's life

Which is true to some extent

But I feel like people are missing the point here

I mean it’s literally in the title, field of dreams. This isn’t supposed to represent an actual reality even though this is happening in reality, this a fantasy played out in real time. This is a self-fulfilling fantasy that Morty is playing out because he’s so utterly desperate for someone to truly care about him in a way that doesn’t hurt but where this backfires is ultimately in Morty’s nihilism which was instilled in him by Rick.

All of our Morty’s shortcomings trace back to Rick but all of this Morty’s shortcomings trace back to our Morty’s ideal family. Their attention on him constantly, all of these experiences and sports and exercises and popularity are things our Morty would love but this Morty does not love it because that isn’t his reality.

Ultimately I think the reason some people don’t like this episode is because this is a Morty centric episode that doesn’t include him fighting or getting too angry or being a dick to people, this is Morty trying to cope but in doing so he forgets that this family that’s seemingly fallen out of the sky is still a version of his dysfunctional family, they’re still the same people, they just act different. People were disappointed in this episode because it didn’t push the plot forward, it didnt give Morty more reason to want to hurt his Rick.

This is an episode about having to accept abuse when you have no where else to go and no one else to rely. This episode is a genuine study of Morty’s mental state and how Rick’s abuse over the years have affected him and I think that makes people uncomfortable because the show over the years has successfully lulled people to feel back for Rick and focus on Rick no matter the

I’m kind of just going to say the quiet part, the acceptance and validation of this nihilistic abusive and coercive behaviour generally stems back to Roiland’s own personal beliefs and behaviours and this is the show’s episode to say “hey, what Rick has been doing, how he’s been coercing and hurting this literal child is actually affecting Morty in conscious and subconscious ways, this behaviour is not okay and it hurts people”.

And I think people are kind of weirded out by this sudden tonal shift that was made to catch you off guard and show you how bad it really is when Rick isn’t there to temper how much Morty can do or say, I think this is especially jarring to people who may or may not display these behaviours either from Rick’s example, their own or their upbringing because it’s actively calling these behaviours out and people, especially unintentionally abusive people, takes this as an affront to them rather than a genuine attempt to fix some of the show’s core themes in a way that doesn’t make fun of either character.

The story ends with Morty having to accept that Rick is his caregiver and that he’s not adept to it at all but this is reality for some people. It doesn’t matter if this feels uncomfortable or a weird way to end this season, this is genuinely one of the best written episodes to come out of Rick and Morty in a while because not only does it directly show two kinds of dysfunction in families but it also gives each character grace and a sense of understanding. Even other Beth and Summer have this layer of depth to them despite them having only a few lines and appearances.