Rick and Morty – ‘Mortynight Run’

Morty tries to do the right thing on an intergalactic scale, in an episode that is equal parts action and character study. ‘Mortynight Run’ is a solid episode, a more standard return to fare after the experimental weirdness of last week, and it works well (even if the end point is surprisingly predictable).

Rick is teaching Morty to drive when he gets a phone call from one of his associates, Krombopulos Michael (Andy Daly). He’s an assassin who pays Rick a lot of Fleurbos for an antimatter gun to pick a particularly important target. Morty is annoyed Rick’s indifference towards his unscrupulous activities, especially when he learns that Fleurbos are simply a token currency for the intergalactic Blips and Chitz arcade. He decides to take matters into his own hands and liberates Michael’s token, a telepathic gaseous cloud that adopts the name Fart (Jermaine Clement). But, as the Galactic Federation seek the three of them, Morty soon learns there may be a reason why Fart had to be eliminated.

Jerrys are not built for change

It’s Morty who drives the plot of ‘Mortynight Run’, trying to do the moral thing even as it becomes increasingly hard to figure out what the moral thing actually is. Rick and Morty has never been afraid to mix bizarre sci-fi and surrealism with really dark story elements, and that’s certainly true here. Morty’s character really developed throughout the first season, and the resolution here should help his character build even more.

The high stakes of the Rick and Morty storyline were balanced out with a genius, and yet hugely simply Jerry plot. Rick takes him to Jerryboree, a day care to keep Jerrys out of the way during adventures. Jerry is annoyed and a little unsettled at this occurrence, but his cowardly nature and simple tastes soon make this a home away from home – he likes the ball pits and the alien in a Beth costume, and it works perfectly because we’ve come to know this pathetic figure, and this subplot nails him. The fundamental thing about Jerry is his consistency – in contrast to Morty, who has learned to adapt, Jerrys are not built for change.

I rarely talk about Rick and Morty’s music, but it’s worth singling out for praise here. There are lots of good sequences that are scored beautifully, from the sweet piano of the Roy game to the Michael stealth moment and the chase through Gearworld. Ryan Elder gets to do a lot here, and he scores every moment wonderfully. We also have an original song, ‘Goodbye Moon Man’, which you have to feel is simply Jermaine Clement doing his David Bowie shtick once again – I had no idea what was going on, and the impression was a little distracting at points.

‘Mortynight Run’ is more of a traditional Rick and Morty story that last week (if such a thing was possible). It has a pair of finely-balanced stories which pack in a fair few laughs and some nice character beats. Really, it’s a solid episode, and I hope we see some of the dangled plot threads picked up in later episodes this season.

Best lines:

Not a line per se, but reasons for dropping off Jerrys in the day care include ‘Earth under siege’, ‘threatened to tell Beth’, ‘unwanted stowaway’ and ‘annoying me’

‘I think I know how to crawl through a tube – oh, this is harder than it looks’ – Jerry’s attempts to be dignified fall flat almost immediately

‘Are you going on a quest to find he who dealt it?’ – Rick is highly sceptical of Morty’s intention to save Fart

‘Any species that gets a hold of this thing is gonna use it to take over the galaxy – do you know how inconvenient that’s gonna be to my work?’ – Rick’s priorities remain stubbornly in check

One-off character:

It has to be Krombopulos Michael – Andy Daly’s vocal performance sells the giddy enthusiasm of killing, and he’s the kind of fun monster we can trust Rick and Morty to deliver.

Post-credits scene:

It’s an advert for the Blips and Chitz arcade, with the promise of a second Roy game (this time, it’s called Dave) to entice the customers. Rick appears, delighted that he’s in the advert, and that’s about it. It’s a bit of a weak one, really.