Rick, as the episode begins, just wants to “go on a solo mission” - which Summer immediately calls out at the breakfast table as him wanting to go to the bathroom. Okay, there are actually multiple relatively unconnected narratives here, not just one, but both are essentially about loneliness and isolation, even while at least one of them is ostensibly about, well, pooping. But again, that ending sequence was more depressing than anything else.From the simplest of setups comes, once again, a Rick and Morty adventure that simultaneously goes completely haywire even while it exposes the innermost pathos of its characters. The episode even hinted as much during the elevator flashback, which didn't become a happy memory until Cousin Nicky showed up. Poopy Butthole, only to discover he was, in fact, a real member of the family. To be fair, there was one final twist to be delivered before the end, as Beth shot Mr. The ending was incredibly bleak, but not necessarily poignant in the way the show so often is. Other than Jerry losing Sleeping Gary and begging for death, it seemed like things returned to normal a little too quickly.
What disappointed me, though, is how little focus there was on the emotional fallout of having years of cherished memories revealed to be false and hollow. These memories and the ensuing bloodbath were an appropriately tragic way to wrap up the conflict. Cue a new wave of utterly depressing, soul-crushing flashbacks (Rick bullying Morty, Beth drunkenly traumatizing Summer, etc.). This time, it was the realization that only real family members had bad memories attached to them. tastes bad!" "AIDS!!!" "Lick lick lick my balls!" As is usually the case with this show, eventually the fun had to end as our heroes dealt with the emotional fallout of their latest misadventure. Some of my favorites: "And that's why I always say, 'Shum shum shlippitty dop!'" "GRASS. Or the others pointing out Rick's suspiciously vague back-story and his habit of spouting inane catchphrases.
For instance, Rick making fun of Morty with the line “Why don’t you make me, implausibly naive adolescent boy with an old Jewish comedy writer’s name?”. But really, a lot of the best humor in this episode came from the main cast struggling to figure out if they and their family members were real. This episode boasted a pretty impressive list of guest voice actors, though nothing can top Keith David as Reverse Giraffe. The Where's Waldo sequence was an apt illustration of just how wacky and out of control the situation had become. Refrigerator, Reverse Giraffe, Amish Cyborg. It was pretty hilarious watching the Smith household fill up with one oddball character after another - Pencilvester, Photography Raptor, Hamurai, Mrs. The subtext being, I suppose, that clip shows and lazy cutaway humor are literally the death of comedy. The very act of flashing back put the Smith family in ever greater danger. Each sequence spawned a new wave of parasites taking increasingly odd forms. But the best thing about the premise was that each cutaway mattered. Not that the flashbacks weren't entertaining in their own right, especially Summer's dream sequence/dance number and Rick's barbecue. Done wrong, this episode could have devolved into a simplistic Family Guy parody, with characters setting up random flashbacks and cutaways with no real impact on the plot. Poopy Butthole was inserted into the title sequence was nice touch. Poopy Butthole that the threat of these parasites is greater than even Rick can handle. Who is this guy? Why have we never seen him before? We very shortly learned the answers to those questions, while also realizing thanks to the suspicious debut of Mr. The introduction of Uncle Steve left the viewer slightly confused on on their guard. The opening scene was a great way of setting the stage for the week's conflict. The characters never even left the house, as they were forced to figure out who among the increasingly large cast of characters was real and who was a memory-implanting parasite. The plot also became a sort of sci-fi locked room mystery. For once, the whole Smith family was involved in one overarching conflict, rather than Beth and Jerry doing their own thing while Rick, Morty and Summer explore the cosmos.
Several elements immediately set this episode apart. It made for a wild romp of an episode, even if the payoff didn't quite live up to the build-up. This being Rick and Morty, it goes without saying that the premise was taken in a much more bizarre and outlandish direction. Much like the Community Season 2 episode "Paradigms of Human Memory," "Total Rickall" is a faux-clip show episode featuring clips and flashbacks viewers have never actually seen before. However, this episode created a stronger link between the two shows. Community and Rick and Morty don't have much in common beyond the fact that they're both comedies co-created by Dan Harmon.