Rick and Morty season 4, episode 2 revealed a bizarre, hallucinogenic dream of Jerry’s in its post-credits scene. The Adult Swim comedy returned last week for its season 4 premiere after an extended hiatus, kicking off a shortened run of just five new episodes.
The second of these, titled “The Old Man and The Seat”, was filled with special guest voice actors, real life connotations, and (too many?) poop jokes. Rick and Morty season 4, episode 2’s storylines involve Rick discovering that the little spot of paradise he’s carved out solely for going to the bathroom has been used by someone else, while back on Earth, Morty and Jerry deal with chaos caused by an app. However, it’s what comes at the very end of the episode that is most intriguing.
In the post-credits scene of Rick and Morty season 4, episode 2, the viewer sees a late night Jerry in the kitchen searching for Tapatío. He opens the fridge, which appears to be holding more of Rick’s science experiments than food. After rummaging around Jerry finally comes across a vial that he says is “Globafin” (it is not shown what the correct spelling is). Jerry takes a sip from the vial, then things get weird. Jerry hallucinates that he is a water delivery man and that people look to him as a hero for his services. When the hallucination ends Jerry is seen frantically trying to lap up whatever Globafin is left within the vial.
So, what does Jerry’s hallucination mean? Earlier in the episode, Rick describes Globafin as a chemical that “connects the whatever you want section of your brain to whatever you have section.” However, this doesn’t mean that Jerry simply wants to be a water delivery man, there is a deeper message here. Throughout the episode, Jerry and Morty attempt to stop the Monogotrons from stealing Earth’s water supply. They eventually succeed, surprisingly doing so by the wits of Jerry. But, since Jerry was the one who created the problem in the first place, he received no recognition for his deeds. Jerry’s hallucination is seemingly in connection to these events in the episode.
Jerry’s hallucination makes sense because the majority of the time he is overshadowed by the success of the other characters in his family. Despite being the one who created the Monogotron issue, he also ended up being the one who solved the problem and saved the world. But after once again receiving no credit for his success he was left longing for the feeling of recognition. Since Golbafin, “connects the whatever you want section of your brain”, it means that Jerry wants this recognition, thus the woman in the hallucination thanking him, saying: “I’ll be able to drink water for weeks because of you.” Additionally, since the whatever you want section connects with the whatever you have section of your brain while on Globafin, one can begin to understand why Jerry saw himself as a water delivery man. Jerry is a “simple” man as Beth put it in the Rick & Morty season 3 finale “The Rickchurian Mortydate.” Jerry imagines himself as a water delivery man because he is simple, even as the hero in a hallucination.
It was entertaining to see Jerry get a small win in this episode, especially after watching him struggle throughout the majority of season 3. However, we still get a look at the dejected side of Jerry, one that craves recognition. Despite this, Jerry seems to be trying to reinvent himself in Rick and Morty season 4, taking responsibility for his own actions and attempting to get out from behind the large shadow that Rick casts over him.
More: Every Returning Character Confirmed For Rick & Morty Season 4 (So Far)
