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I have some THOUGHTS about this episode. Overall, I liked it! There's just a lot to unpack.

(Before we begin: rick*rty shippers fuck off, this was never a pro inc3st blog and it never will be)

(i will ignore the implications of some of the jokes in the episode just bc those didn't really matter much to me for the sake of analysis)

Okay so i have to say that i definitely had a great time watching this first episode. I love Evil Morty, i squealed when I saw the episode would revolve around him

And yet.... They did definitely downgrade him as a character.

Like listen, I love the epic fight scenes and seeing him be an equal or even superior to Rick in terms of sci-fi absurd tech. But ALSO I felt like the whole "hanging out with Rick (and make Morty Prime jealous)" bit was kind of forced.

I mean think about the tragic canon of Evil Morty for a second: abused by his own grandpa, he made it his life mission to get the hell out of every possible dimension where Rick exists, playing the long game until he finally got what he wanted.

He only came back for the Rick Prime situation because Rick happened to expand his search and it messed with Evil Morty's own little oasis outside of the Central Finite Curve.

Even his involvement in the Rick Prime situation was circumstantial. He got something out of it: the Omega Device blueprints. (And also to comment scathingly about how Rick's revenge was empty.)

And it feels just so cruel to make the Smiths gang up on him??? Like?? He had to have had his own versions of Beth, Jerry and Summer at some point in his origin, right? How fucked up is it to have alternate versions of them beat him up???

So like...? The motivation for him to go back again and hang out with the one person he swore to escape from (Rick) just... Does NOT make sense at all. Like even with the blackmail (which was a nice touch to give continuity to the Omega Device, even for a second), I just don't like that they removed the sort of dark and jaded mystique that he had going on.

Instead he's now a petty child and not a true, lethal opponent, that works better by playing the long game and being an overarching plot villain, than by pulling out all the stops in a sci-fi showdown.

NOW... With all that being said... I like the (very sparse) nuance they explored.

For example, when they're in the diner.

When the two of them are finally alone, Evil Morty calls out Morty Prime's irrational possessive or jealous view on his and Rick's relationship.

I've always thought that maybe Evil Morty tries to get Morty Prime to snap out of the whole unhealthy attachment to Rick. He does so in subtle ways such as this statement. He's done so in the past. (I could make a separate post on that, actually). He knows that being this intensely attached to Rick isn't healthy for Morty. He views it as something that holds Morty Prime back. (and it does!)

(even if he then plays into it out of spite. It's just interesting that in that moment, he actually seemed genuine in saying that it's weakness.)

This part also hurt my heart. 🥺

Because like... We've seen in the past that Rick does enjoy a smarter Morty (re: when he got along with PTSD post-matrix Morty in S8E1). BUT at the same time... It's much more convenient for Rick to keep his Morty in the status quo of subservient and naive. It's a matter of power and control. Even if Rick loves his Morty (in a familial way, which he does), he's not helping him grow and change. Because that would mean that eventually, there would no longer be a Rick AND Morty.