Like a lot of people, I thought "There's Something About Morty" would follow Rick as he drunkenly chases after lovers to forget Buganne. I was fully prepared to roll my eyes when the writers pulled yet another "no homo" with Rick's sexuality and paired him up exclusively with female aliens. I even thought Rick would be drunk for most of the episode and maybe lead that into whatever's going to happen in Episode Two.
What I didn't know was that the crew had a little surprise in store. In fact, they came bursting out of the gate with the return of Evil Morty right in the first episode. Not as an epic finale or a mid-season cameo--nope, they placed him front-and-center with a twist that I never saw coming, even though it surprisingly suits his character.
It's not clear if Evil Morty is a "natural" Morty or a citadel clone, but whatever the case: going on adventures is all he knows. I should've known that breaking out of the Curve wouldn't keep him satisfied forever. He craves the excitement and partnership that his previous Rick offered, and what better partner than the only Rick who's worth the tiniest ounce of his respect?
Evidently, he enjoyed their team-up in "Unmortricken" more than he let on. And as much as he tells himself that he's a savior for abused Mortys, his real enemy isn't Rick. It's the mirror image standing right in front of him.
I always figured that when Evil Morty came back, he'd be a villain threatening to use the Omega Device on Rick. I guess that prediction was half-true, but I never thought he'd force Rick to go on adventures with him. They make a great team, too. Discussing science, using gadgets, fighting back-to-back: it almost makes you believe that old fan theory that Evil Morty is C-137 Rick's original grandson.
However, I don't think Evil Morty was just doing this for thrills. Subconsciously (or maybe consciously), he's reliving a version of his abusive past where HE'S the one in control. HE calls the shots. HE can use the Omega Device to terminate Rick and his beloved family any time he wants.
It's probably the best psychology we've seen in any episode outside of Dr. Wong's appearances. People say they've moved on from the past, but unless they seek therapy that helps them face and process their trauma, they haven't really done anything. The pain still manifests in different ways, whether you're drinking to cope or having meltdowns or going on adventures with a version of your grandpa from another dimension.
Admittedly, Evil Morty's plan seemed more like a punishment for C-137 Morty than Rick. If Rick disappears along with everyone else, Morty is the one who suffers, not him. Then again, considering Evil Morty's delight in baiting and insulting his counterpart, maybe that was deliberate.
The writers could've taken a predictable angle with C-137 Morty idolizing Evil Morty and Rick bitterly hating him while secretly worrying about a team-up. Instead, they went in the opposite direction, which gave us a lot of great character moments.
Evil Morty might be different from the rest of the Mortys on the Curve, but C-137 is different, too. He has genuine love for his Rick, not manufactured love from citadel engineering. When Evil Morty throws that love in his face, the hypocrisy is hilarious. Nobody's forcing him to hang out with Rick, whom he refers to as "my" grandpa, and his pride in getting Rick to take him on adventures and show him "time travel stuff" makes it clear that he enjoys their partnership.
Predictably, Rick betrays Evil Morty and destroys the Omega Device--another surprise since I figured it would show up in the series finale--and gets the family to safety before he and Evil Morty have a brutal showdown. Evil Morty is truly one of the few characters who can challenge him, and their fight probably would've gone on forever if Rick didn't make a call to the Time Cops.
Well, and the rest of the family helped. They might not know exactly what's going on, but they'll kick your ass if you threaten any of them. After explosive fight scenes with crazy gadgets, it was satisfying to watch a good old-fashioned beatdown.
Still, this wasn't a perfect episode, and I did walk away with a couple of complaints. One: this episode wasted a great actress like Tilda Swinton on a boring, generic villain (the show's had a villain problem for ages.) And two: whenever Evil Morty shows up, C-137 Morty often looks weak and dumb in comparison.
C-137 Morty tends to stutter and make mistakes when somebody makes him nervous, but since he has no problem mouthing off to Evil Morty, I don't think he feels intimidated. It just seems like the writers temporarily lower his intelligence to make the contrast more obvious.
But isn't it obvious enough? Evil Morty might've temporarily won Rick's favor, but C-137 Morty's the one physically supporting him after the fight, defending his family from the attacker and sticking with his grandfather through everything. Rick and Evil Morty teaming up was never going to last. They both had fun, but if Rick's going to choose a Morty, it's sure as hell not going to be the one who's held his family hostage for months.
Maybe one day, C-137 Morty will realize that, too. Until then, Evil Morty's got plenty of time in prison to think about what he's done--and he probably won't be able to stop himself from wondering what could have been.
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