Abhiroop Das
Originating from the minds of Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, Adult Swim’s ‘Rick and Morty’ is generally known for its blend of animation and the more adult variety of edgy humor. However, at the heart of this dichotomy lies a battle between the adults and the children, one that spans nine whole seasons. Often termed a manchild, Rick struggles with not pushing over his own faults to the next generation, and by the time we get to his grandkids, Summer and Morty, the contrasts in worldviews become concrete enough to direct most scenarios. This episode, titled ‘Salute Your Morts,’ challenges that notion, and suggests that deep down, their minds might not be operating that differently after all. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Rick Sends His Grandchildren to the Most Ruthless Summer Camp Ever
‘Rick and Morty’ season 9 episode 9 begins at the school, where Morty and Summer’s parents have been summoned for a much-needed meeting with the dean. Ever since Rick’s arrival, the sibling duo has become exceptionally tech-savvy and doesn’t shy away from bringing the weirdest, most alien tech to school and stirring trouble. Frustrated, the Dean threatens an immediate expulsion, prompting Beth to bring in Rick to solve the mess he’s created. His response, however, is to turn the dean into a human carrot as a threat, which just about sums up everything wrong with his grandparenting. Switching to a different strategy, he promises to drop his grandkids to a space disciplinary camp where wealthy people around the galaxy dump off their kids, and for Morty and Summer, this is far from good news.
Despite the siblings’ best attempts to thwart Rick’s plan, they nonetheless get dropped on the alien planet, where they are immediately swept up by two mysterious-looking aliens. However, against all expectations, the camp turns out to be one filled with anarchic fervor, and the same aliens reveal themselves to be kids who took over the camp ages ago. high forever and campers. Having killed their teachers and would-be drill sergeants, they now only believe in the spirit of partying, and for kids as rebellious as Morty and Summer, this is basically a dream come true in perfect disguise.
Beth and Jerry Get a Bit Too High
At home, Jerry and Beth relish what is likely the first time they have had the house fully to themselves since season 1. Their interests aren’t that unpredictable, however, as it only takes them a few moments to storm Summer’s room in search of her drug stash. With a few clicks and pulls, a secret cabinet teleports into being, revealing a lone joint that Jerry and Beth smoke up almost instantly. Though nothing seems to happen at first, their eyes soon go a bubbly blue, visualizing just how major this high is. Giggling and tumbling, they return to their teen or child selves, hiding their mischief from Rick as he heads down to the lab. It is only when they carefully read the label, however, that they realize that the weed is called High Forever, and might just be very literal in its effectiveness.
Though the high only continues to increase, Jerry and Beth are still smart enough to realize that their lives are practically over if they cannot find a solution quickly. Beth vaguely remembers her father mentioning an intergalactic pharmacy one solar system over, and to get to it, they sneakily order a space taxi, which turns out to be a jelly-like animal that can morph its insides into their comfort setting. In this case, it converts to the car from their prom night, which triggers a reaction strong enough to crash the taxi into the pharmacy. As they realize that they are helpless without Rick, the old man himself stumbles into this realm with his teleprompter, just as high as they are.
Morty and Summer Take Over the Camp, Again
At the summer camp, Morty and Summer cannot seem to have enough of the partying at first, but as hours turn into days and days turn into weeks, they soon run out of stamina and enthusiasm, but their teammates don’t. Before long, the evil side of this anarchy comes through as people who identified as friends not so long ago suddenly turn into bullies, forcing the siblings to force-feed a baby beer as a sort of an initiation ritual. Needless to say, that becomes Morty and Beth’s cue to bolt out of the camp, but with poor luck, they land at a pub full of bandits, who lunge at the idea of a camp full of kids coming from wealthy families. Rick, who gets Morty’s phone call but is too jumbled in his head to respond, ends up creating a one-way portal to the summer camp planet, but loses his teleprompter in the process.
By the time Rick, Beth, and Jerry make it to the camp, all of the kids are already defeated and kidnapped. However, most of their parents do not seem to care enough to even discuss a ransom fee, which brings Summer to take charge and bring on a new revolution. The main attraction of this plan, of course, is Rick, as being high doesn’t stop him from being an absolute killing machine at the press of a button. With the crisis averted, the police arrive to lockdown the failed camp for good, as Space Beth bails out Beth and family, including a still high Rick. To their relief, the name Forever High isn’t literal, and while they are expected to return to normal in a few days, this all but confirms that in the case of the Sanchezes and the Smiths, the apples don’t fall too far from the tree.
You must be logged in to post a comment.