Rick and Morty – ‘Look Who’s Purging Now’

It’s an unusually simple instalment of Rick and Morty this week, parodying a major film franchise and being very open about it. Although mainly of the plot beats are quite apparent from the off, ‘Look Who’s Purging Now’ benefits from building on Morty’s character trajectory and tight plot.

After a collision with a space bug, Rick realises he needs to top up his car’s washer fluid. He heads to a peaceful-looking planet, and he learns it’s the night of the society’s big festival – one night every year, all crime is legal and violence rules the street. With delight, Rick realises it’s a Purge planet, and invites Morty to stay and watch. Morty is unimpressed with the prospect of gratuitous violence, but when he sees a young woman being attacked, he insists on getting involved – this choice soon leaves him and Rick stranded on Purge night. Meanwhile, Jerry is lounging around the house and spending his time bothering Summer.

It takes the absurd premise of the Purge films and pushes them to the extreme

‘Look Who’s Purging Now’ is really a Morty-driven episode, and it continues with a major theme of this second series – Morty’s narrow ideas of morality result in bad consequences for him and his grandfather. Morty keeps trying to do what he believes to be the right thing despite Rick’s warnings, and it always gets worse – there’s a feeling, too, of actual stakes in a way that the god-like Rick normally avoids. I did enjoy a particular subversion, though, as Morty’s rage builds despite the boy refusing to acknowledge that it even exists. I shan’t spoil what pushes him over the edge, but it’s shocking and funny in equal measure.

The main focus of the episode was the Purge world, but it still had time for a very minor subplot. Jerry is still in a rut after losing his job, so he spends his time about the house, bothering Summer. Her exasperation with him (and Morty’s, in a phone call) is amusing, but the lowest moment comes when a seemingly emotional speech becomes a desperate plea for a loan. This plot doesn’t outstay its welcome, and it hits the mark perfectly as a result.

‘Look Who’s Purging Now’ is not one of Rick and Morty’s most creative episodes, but it’s a fun one with some good laughs. It takes the absurd premise of the Purge films and pushes them to the extreme, in a way that only this show really can.

Best lines:

‘Your medal’s in the mail’ – Morty’s negative attitude to the Purge is starting to annoy Rick

‘It’s the hardest working liver in the galaxy, Morty. Now it has a hole in it’ – Rick is furious about being shot, but for a typically Rick reason

‘By the way, life on other planets exists. Don’t let it distract you’ – Rick’s casual revelation is funny, just because of how blasé the voice acting is

‘Well, a helpful rule might be if you need something, you get it’ – and with that sentence, Rick thinks he’s done all the groundwork necessary for starting a new society

One-off character:

The only particularly developed new character is a cat person called Arthricia (Chelsea Kane), but it was a side-character that really caught my eye. On the way to the general store in the first part of the episode, Rick chats with an elderly shopkeeper about the Purge night – for such a genial old man to express his upcoming excitement about the upcoming violence is surreally funny.

Post-credits scene:

Beth quizzes Jerry on why the family’s phone bill is so high, and we have a pay-off for the continued references to a mysterious character called Taddy Mason – it turns out it’s a premium-rate phone line which approximates a friend. Poor Jerry is continuing on his way to rock bottom, and Beth knows exactly what he needs to do to save himself – ‘get a job’.