The adventures of Rick and Morty continued this week, with the latest episode featuring a subtle follow-up to the season 4 premiere. Created by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland, Rick and Morty returned earlier this month from its usual lengthy hiatus for a heavily truncated run of episodes. The opening installment saw Morty become obsessed with a crystal that foretold all the ways Morty would die based on his present-day decisions. Setting his sights on a demise that saw him pass away in the seemingly loving arms of his crush, Jessica, Morty’s quest took him down an extremely dark and violent path. At one point embracing Akira-esque powers, Morty waged war against police officers and armed forces. Before all of that, however, he battled a school bully he had inadvertently antagonized. Utilizing one of Rick’s gadgets, Morty made quick work of the unnamed bully, sending him floating toward the sky.
Season 4, Episode 2, “The Old Man and the Seat” saw both Rick and Morty move on from the previous adventures with nary a word. Rick opted to go on a solo, bowel-relieving mission. That simple endeavor would ultimately see him cross paths with a new nemesis/potential friend - an alien office worker named Tony - to surprisingly heartfelt and tragic results for Rick. In a separate storyline, Beth waged a motherly war on Summer regarding the latter’s blind devotion to a new dating app. That thread was more loosely connected to Jerry’s plot thread. As one of the co-developers of the world-threatening app, Jerry and Morty were forced to take on an alien race to shut it down.
The callback to the season 4 premiere occurred in the post-credit scene. Looking for a midnight snack, Jerry ventured to the fridge. Though mostly full of samples from Rick’s various scientific endeavors and experiments, Jerry still found something to satiate himself. That something turned out to be a highly hallucinogenic drug that revealed Jerry’s deepest (and simplistically inane) dream for his life. Next to the vial, however, was a milk carton - one that had on its side the word “missing” and a picture of the school bully Morty previously faced off against and defeated.
Morty ultimately surrendered himself to the authorities, as the death crystal dictated. As a result, Morty allowed himself to be judged by the court of law and the media’s court of public opinion. Both proved moot, however, given that the death crystal enabled him to circumvent being found guilty by a judge and turn public perception back in his favor. Morty’s only true punishment came via the season 4 premiere’s post-credits twist - which revealed that everything he had done was in pursuit of a misunderstood truth. Even if he had, though, the majority of the charges levied against him were mostly about what he had done to police officers and the military.
It was never made clear whether the two of the bullies were returned to normal after Morty went all Akira on them. Equally, the fate of the main bully was never expressly revealed. Barring a twist that sees him somehow return, the safest bet would be that he died and, unless Rick assisted, that his friends were consigned to their fates. Whatever the case, however, the police didn’t even show up until after Morty had sent him floating away amid cries of the air getting thin. As such, there is a chance that only Morty knows what happened to him. Therefore, the brief nod of him being officially listed as missing is not only firmly within the continuity of the show but further demonstrates the attention to detail that the Rick and Morty writers have become known for.
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