SPOILERS FOR SEASON 9 UNDER THE CUT
Heyyy! I've seen people say that Evil Morty is horribly mischaracterized in his latest episode and...
You're exactly right! I agree with you!
Butttt if you overanalyze it justttt enough, it doesn't seem out of character at all! Let's do it together, shall we?
THAT'S RIGHT! My overanalysises are BACK! I am so FUCKING back!
First off! His smugness. I don't really have any images of season 8 so please forgive me for that. I'm making this post like a few hours after the episode (Queues are lovely, aren't they?) BUT during the episode one thing that struck me as odd when I first watched it was Evil Morty's smugness. YES, we know that he IS smug, but here it's VERY obvious. Evil Morty is more dry and cold when he's sarcastic. Think of Rick. He won't be puffing his chest and talking about how much better he is than Rick, but he'll make some snide comments that obviously shows how much better he thinks he is than everyone else.
But in THIS episode, he's smirking a LOT, making fun of Morty for being jealous, exerting his power over Rick, FORCING him to go on an adventure by weaponizing his trauma (Family getting deleted over infinity) against him. Like he is VICIOUS here. And that is weird to see that he's even going on adventures with Rick again. Especially this specific Rick when the last thing he told them in Unmortricken is "Seriously though, fuck you. Don't come after me, it won't go well."
BUT! We're forgetting a small thing, aren't we? Remember Evil Rick? How could you not? He was SO memorable. So smug too! Let's see some pictures of him now to prove my point, hm?
Wait a second...this Rick was being controlled BY Evil Morty the entire time...yet he's so smug. But not in the cold way Evil Morty usually is, but a very "puff up your chest" kind of way...maybe he's simply playing the part. Except he was using his position as a Morty, as a helpless victim, to get out of trouble. So why would people assume a helpless victim could do this to their abuser? Why even pretend? There's an infinite amount of Ricks anyway, so why put on a persona? He can act any way he wants.
Maybe, just MAYBE. There's another reason, one that could explain away the main problem with Evil Morty's mischaracterization. So, let's explain, shall we?
Many victims of abuse, usually sexual, but this can be true for mental and physical abuse, which Evil Morty seems to have gone through. Emotional is obvious, but physical seems more implied by the way he immediately got to the ground and shielded himself when his Rick yelled at him. His cold indifference to the rest of the family could also be because they knew of the abuse, but never stopped it, so he hates them as much almost as much as he hates Rick since they were complicit in his abuse by not doing anything. And in all abuse situations, the victim is robbed of their power, in one way or another. Their power in what happens to their body, of their confidence in themselves and assertiveness, their power of feeling like they have a right to say what they choose, their power to even more without it hurting in some cases.
But Evil Morty was able to reclaim his power in this episode. He was able to take it BACK by controlling his abuser, making said abuser his puppet.
Now...what's another episode where he had control over his abuser a was very smug?
Exactly! In this episode, he has complete control over Rick, a version of his abuser, but to him, all Ricks are the same, they all have his abuser's face. ESPECIALLY C-137 who can easily be mistaken for Evil Rick at first glance
And here he can make Rick do WHATEVER he wants by simply threatening his family, using his care of his family against him. Even Rick himself says Evil Morty has him on a leash. He clearly hates Evil Morty but is powerless against him.
Just like how Evil Morty was for so long.
Now! That could explain his smugness here! Seems like having control over his abusers, like how I feel like most people would if they had control over them, is VERY smug. Smirking a LOT, just like how Evil Rick did. He's not acting too differently from how he did when he was Evil Rick. Just in his usual calm, calculated, and cold form.
This could also be why he bothers going on adventures with this Rick. Non-sexual power play. Being able to relive traumatic memories, but in a way that HE'S in control. A lot of abusers do this. Try to rethink traumatic memories but in a way that THEY'RE in control. Why do you think people have revenge fantasies against their abusers? It's their own way of taking control of a situation that they had no control in. That's EXACTLY what Evil Morty is doing here.
And he'd never admit it, but deep down, he did just want his Rick's love. He snapped when he realized how little his Rick, his abuser, truly cared for him. It broke him mentality. All of his fire was gone. He got Rick drunk, then was able to take control. Make Rick do whatever he wants, but he knew it wasn't real.
Then he found out another Rick. In Unmortricken we see how well they got along, Rick respected him and his opinions, when their portal guns failed, the first thing he did was ask Evil Morty how he felt. They seemlessly worked together. And his reaction after their adventure here. He was forced yes, but he seemed impressed and liked the adventure, giving Evil Morty a genuine smile. This really is just the barest minimum for anyone else...but Evil Morty? Someone lonely as hell and never really knew how genuine care felt? This is like heaven. His abuser, a verison of him, but as we said before, it makes no difference to Evil Morty, cared about him. But he doesn't want to admit to needing anyone. So he threatens Rick. If Rick agrees, he can feel genuine care from his abuser, no matter how small. If he denies? He can kill his neglectful family who allowed his abuser to happen. Win-win!
But ok, that leaves two big problems. Why even bother making Morty Prime jealous? Why would he care if this is purely power play and some kind of weird wish fulfillment from a traumatized abused kid?
Wellll! We get kinda assumey here, hope that's ok. BUT! A LOT of abuse victims either believe with their whole heart that their abusers can change. OR they go the complete other way and believe they CAN'T change. Because the reality that they CAN change would be too hard to accept. Because if they COULD change, then why didn't they change for them? Their child? Their sibling? Their partner? Giving random examples, but you get the gist of why some victims believe this. It's safe to say Evil Morty is the latter, fully believing all Ricks are the same, that NO Ricks care about their Mortys. Because if they DO, then how come he was never cared for? What did he do wrong? Why wasn't he WORTH improving for? You see where I'm going with this.
Then he sees OUR Rick. How differently he treated a Morty he already saw that he cried for. He genuinely CARED. He was protective. Worried about his safety. A Rick who CHANGED. Who genuinely cared about his Morty. A Rick who not only changed, but did so for his Morty. Why??? Why did THIS Rick change?? How come he never got THIS Rick? A Rick where, if push came to shove, would ENCOURAGE his Morty to his life over himself?
A usual reaction abuse victims have when seeing how better their abusers treat new people if they HAVE changed is jealousy. What's so different about this person? Imagine if you were LITERALLY the same person as the one your abuser changed from. What did you do wrong??? Why didn't YOU get this version of your abuser??
Because of the jealousy Morty unintentionally made HIM feel, he's doing the same. Payback. He ALREADY hates Mortys, seeing them as lesser than him, as helpless victims with no agency of their own, worshipping their Ricks, poor, pathetic beings, bred for forgiveness. But THIS Morty, a worse version of HIMSELF, gets the care he always CARVED? Of course he'd be jealous! Of course he'd want to pay back the favor!
Nowww the very LAST problem. His EXPLOSIVE anger. He literally TOLD Rick he'd forced him to watch him kill his Morty.
Well, let's look at this context. He had all he wanted. A Rick that he felt as if he cared about him, a Rick who occasionally enjoyed their time together, a Rick who respected him. He even had plans to get back at a Morty who, deep down, he was jealous of. But then that Rick, the one he genuinely cared for in his own power play, wish-fulfillment way, NEVER cared. Just like his own Rick did. As soon as he had his chance, he betrayed him. He NEVER cared. And now he had no way to get the wish fulfillment he yearned for. The way he was able to get payback. The way he was able to feel respect from his abuser. The way he was able to reclaim his power. It's gone. And all because of that Morty. As soon as he joined you on the adventures, as soon as you let him, he changed. He betrayed you. Again.
Of course, he snapped. Of course, he'd want to kill the better version of him, according to Rick. The pathetic, willingly helpless version of himself that he hated. The one he could FINALLY get some payback on. The one who he could FINALLY give a taste on his own medicine. He snapped.
So he was going to do what he did. He tried. But Rick stopped him. Rendered him powerless, then eventually got him into prison. It was all gone.
This may be a stretch; hell, it probably was. I doubt the writers thought this deeply, they probably thought it'd be funny to see Evil Morty act like this (And they were right, it WAS), but hey, MAYBE they did. Or maybe I'm gaslighting myself. YOU decide, and thank you!
And no matter what, remember this! There is nothing better than gaslighting yourself into believing someone you love WASN'T mischaracterized in a way that you actually enjoyed, so you can believe the writing for your favorite TV show is better than it is. There is nothing more freeing for your conscience and confusion!
