Rick Explained (in Season 3) (Rick and Morty Spoilers)

[Arnoxthe1]

So I've seen a lot of people discussing Rick's real motivations, and after binge watching it, I'm gonna lay my theory down right now.

You see, the truth is, Rick DOES care. At the very least, about Morty. But he doesn't want him to know.

Rick wanted Jerry out of the picture. That much is certain. It's clear he only tolerated him until Jerry's suggested betrayal. Then the gloves came off.

But there's a problem. Morty isn't exactly a fan of this decision and clearly states it. But again, Rick still cares about Morty, so he's pretty much forced to play the crazy genius card so Morty won't leave him. In his vitriolic rant about szechuan sauce, he makes doubly sure (or tries to) that Morty will have to be by him.

It's very sweet actually in a toxic sort of way, but then, Rick is bitter and so sad. And insanely smart to boot. So Rick does what Rick does best. He plans and manipulates. Because it's the only thing he knows how to do right now.

 

[Kolby Jack]

My theory is that Rick is so smart he's actually realized he's in a cartoon, and cannot cope with the information that his whole reality is someone else's made up bullshit. So while he tries to find attachment and love for his world, he can't fully convince himself of its realness. All the nods to the format of the show and such that Rick makes are actually him acknowledging what he is.

Of course that kind of meta storytelling is cagey at best, so I doubt they'll go that route.

 

[Fox12]

I think ricks just torn between wanting to feel real love and meaning, and knowing that there are a million other families and ricks just like his. So part of him may want to have a relationship with his family, but another part questions how sincere that love is when he knows he can just set up shop somewhere else if he wants. So he may be sad if Morty died, but that wouldn't stop him from grabbing another Morty and pretending nothing happened.

 

[Terminal Blue]

We're cutting close to the heart of why I like the show but also why it intensely annoys me sometimes.

Rick and Morty is heavily grounded in a literally and philosophical tradition called absurdism. Absurdism holds that it is impossible for human beings to ever find genuine meaning in their own existence, and that the belief that we have done so is ultimately an illusion which serve to comfort us against the cruel reality of being tubes of meat who exist for no discernible reason and could cease to exist at any moment.

The universe of Rick and Morty is full of things which are cruel, random and nonsensical, but most people don't see these things because they're preoccupied with everyday life (and because they don't have a portal gun). They simply accept things as they are. Rick (and ultimately Morty) have seen too much of the universe to ever go back. By necessity, each has come to a kind of peace with the way the universe is. For Morty, the response is deliberate self deception and numbness, ("Nobody exists on purpose. Nobody belongs anywhere. Everybody dies. Now, come watch TV").

Rick, however, has lived so long in the absurd reality that he's not capable of connecting to the mundane any more. In fact, he's just bored and frustrated by it. He's not only accepted the absurd but also learned to (superficially) enjoy the absolute freedom of being above any kind of morality and judgement. At the same time, his position is painful and alienating and separates him from anyone else. Even his apparent happiness is really just bursts of frenzied hedonism, which in reality is seldom a sign of actual happiness.

I don't think, ultimately, it matters whether or not Rick actually cares about Morty but sometimes pretends not to, or whether he actually doesn't care and only pretends to care in order to make people do what he wants, but if you want my sincere in-universe interpretation, I don't think Rick himself actually knows the answer. He's just doing what he's always had to do to survive, psychologically, in a world where survival is ultimately impossible and where existence is a source of constant, terrible pain.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Rick's a hard character to place, especially since it's so hard to figure out his motivations at times. Though I'm strongly convinced he does know he's in a cartoon given some of his comments...

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Okay, real talk for a moment?

The main reason I can't get into Rick and Morty is because I can't for the life of me care about Rick. He's arguably the most important character and he just seems like an asshole to me. And it's not even that he's not likeable, that's fine, noone in that show is. It's just that he's a selfish, juvenile old smartass with hardly any redeeming features whatsoever and... you know, I'd be fine with that but the show hardly ever seems to acknowledge it.

Let's talk about one of my favourite characters in all of cartoons. I'd go as far as to say in all of fiction: Rusty Venture, from Venture Bros. At face value you'd think he's a very similar character to Rick. Mad super scientist, substance abuse issues, two kids he treats rather neglectfully, selfish, cynical, often acts with little regard for the consequences of his actions. So why do I like him so much while I just won't warm up to Rick? Well, for one because he's just a much better fleshed out character, but mostly because the world around him doesn't constantly treat him like he's right and everyone else is just wrong for disagreeing with him. He's not played as some super cool badass renegade... he's played as a neurotic loser with a pretty harsh childhood who never quite figured out how to be a functional person. Which is why he can be a pretty hateable character on occasion but when he's sympathetic, he's sympathetic and when they give him an emotional moment you do feel for him.


So, let's get back to Rick, right? He's alright when the show's doing silly, absurd slapstick comedy. He does silly things and says silly things and a good time is being had by all. I think that's actually what the show's good at, creating wacky situations and playing them for humour. But where they're utterly losing me is when they're trying to make me care about anything that's happening on an emotional level. I mean, why the hell would I? Everyone either and idiot or an asshole and Rick is one of the biggest assholes of them all. That's where the show loses all the momentum it can build up just through humor alone and hits a concrete wall of "why am I even watching this?"

 

[Dan Steele]

I actually thought this over this morning. You see: Rick says he doesn't care about Morty and Summer and that he threw Jerry out of the house and saved Morty & Summer to gain Beth's trust: but in all honesty if he didn't care: why would he need Beth's trust in the first place?

He is a multi dimensional science god: he can literally just pack up and move anywhere: he has infinite possibilities for going lone wolf, he can pull anything he wants/needs out of the multiverse: yet he chooses to go back to Beth, Summer, and Morty.

If he didn't care about them why would he go back? What do they have that Rick cant just get for himself out of the multiverse?

 

[Solkard]

Huh, I've never felt Rick was mysterious or hard to understand at all. He does care, but he's also smart enough to realize the utterly fleeting nature of the people he cares about. He tends to keep them at arms length and acts aloof in an attempt to minimize forming attachments that he already knows won't last.

His ability to jump dimensions to escape the consequences of his actions is just a more elaborate means of running away and pretending something didn't happen. Unfortunately, Rick is both smart and egotistical enough to realize and reject that notion on some level. We have been shown and flat out told several times that ultimately, Rick hates himself the most. He is self destructive in that he invites his own destruction, but will still fight against it.

That is probably why I like Rick so much. I find him to be a relatively realistic representation of the multi-dimensional and contradictory nature of people, irl. Placed against the rather 2 dimensional motivations of other characters in the show, of course everyone else seems like an idiot.

 

[Terminal Blue]

The main reason I can't get into Rick and Morty is because I can't for the life of me care about Rick. He's arguably the most important character and he just seems like an asshole to me. And it's not even that he's not likeable, that's fine, noone in that show is. It's just that he's a selfish, juvenile old smartass with hardly any redeeming features whatsoever and... you know, I'd be fine with that but the show hardly ever seems to acknowledge it.

Well, the whole original joke is "what if Doc Emmett Brown was actually just an insane child-kidnapping douche".

But like a lot of Adult Swim shows it started off with that simple premise and has kind of become its own thing with its own internal plot, and, like a lot of Adult Swim shows, the plot fundamentally isn't as good as the original joke. The transition of the characters from one dimensional archetypes to actual characters isn't always satisfying, and I think that's especially true with Rick because in practice it's just tonally inconsistent when he switches constantly between being sympathetic and being repulsive.

Also, I know I just wrote a shitty mini-essay on the shows themes, but while I appreciate those themes I actually don't like the way the show handles them. In practice, it effectively comes across as saying that the worst thing which can happen to you is being bored and misunderstood, and that this renders you sympathetic even when you're an asshole. We're supposed to go with it on the grounds that noone is special and so it doesn't matter, we can't expect people to be good people in a bad world. The thing is, Rick does matter. He always matters. The entire show revolves around him and is driven by his actions and he is so powerful in the shows universe that "the universe is chaotic and scary" doesn't function as a meaningful excuse.

In short, Adult Swim is kind of built around geeks and stoners, two groups who have a tendency to see themselves as different from (and therefore better than) other people. The feeling I always get is that Rick is designed to pander to those fantasies of superiority, even when it actually betrays the more interesting themes in the show.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

My theory is that Rick is so smart he's actually realized he's in a cartoon, and cannot cope with the information that his whole reality is someone else's made up bullshit. So while he tries to find attachment and love for his world, he can't fully convince himself of its realness. All the nods to the format of the show and such that Rick makes are actually him acknowledging what he is.

Of course that kind of meta storytelling is cagey at best, so I doubt they'll go that route.

I have a similar theory. See after the mini-verse episode I thought 'Rick knows. He knows he's a cartoon character' And here's the thing, all those other 'verses were meant to generate something, ie power.
But Rick has realized his 'verse, the cartoon show, generates laughs and views. And he had to go to every length imaginable to get those laughs and views. That's why he's okay with putting everyone in danger, because the alternative it a boring show that gets canceled.
He'd rather see Morty and Summer die than the entire universe, ie the show, stop existing. The more extreme, violent, gross and out-right terrible he is, the more laughs.
That's why he hates Jerry, because Jerry is boring. That's why he hates the government, because they want to lock him up, and a show about locked up Rick would be canceled. That's why he ultimately always bring along or goes back for Morty, because the name of the show is Rick and Morty and he knows he can't headline the show on his own.

 

[BrawlMan]

Okay, real talk for a moment?

The main reason I can't get into Rick and Morty is because I can't for the life of me care about Rick. He's arguably the most important character and he just seems like an asshole to me. And it's not even that he's not likeable, that's fine, noone in that show is. It's just that he's a selfish, juvenile old smartass with hardly any redeeming features whatsoever and... you know, I'd be fine with that but the show hardly ever seems to acknowledge it.

Let's talk about one of my favourite characters in all of cartoons. I'd go as far as to say in all of fiction: Rusty Venture, from Venture Bros. At face value you'd think he's a very similar character to Rick. Mad super scientist, substance abuse issues, two kids he treats rather neglectfully, selfish, cynical, often acts with little regard for the consequences of his actions. So why do I like him so much while I just won't warm up to Rick? Well, for one because he's just a much better fleshed out character, but mostly because the world around him doesn't constantly treat him like he's right and everyone else is just wrong for disagreeing with him. He's not played as some super cool badass renegade... he's played as a neurotic loser with a pretty harsh childhood who never quite figured out how to be a functional person. Which is why he can be a pretty hateable character on occasion but when he's sympathetic, he's sympathetic and when they give him an emotional moment you do feel for him.


So, let's get back to Rick, right? He's alright when the show's doing silly, absurd slapstick comedy. He does silly things and says silly things and a good time is being had by all. I think that's actually what the show's good at, creating wacky situations and playing them for humour. But where they're utterly losing me is when they're trying to make me care about anything that's happening on an emotional level. I mean, why the hell would I? Everyone either and idiot or an asshole and Rick is one of the biggest assholes of them all. That's where the show loses all the momentum it can build up just through humor alone and hits a concrete wall of "why am I even watching this?"

Admittley, this is my problem with Rick now. I am that point where similar to Cartman or Princess Bubblegum, I'm finding it harder to care for him now. Like Cartman, Rick became less funny over time, and the first episode of the new season was not helping matters. It's at that point where the universe would be at peace if either of them were killed, and doing everyone a favor.

Beth and Summer are too happy to suck his metaphorical dick to please him, so I have no sympathy points for either; especially the former. Beth acted like a straight up *****, who thought she knew better than Jerry, but was just as stupid and incompetent as him. Sometimes more so, but the show never acknowledged it at all. The only people left to care about are Morty and Jerry. Here's hoping that Jerry can grow a spine, and make character development stick, while Morty becomes more rebellious towards Rick. It's no wonder Eye-Patch Morty became such an asshole to want to destroy all of the Ricks' and Mortys'(though a majority of Mortys did not deserve it). Rick, if you care that much, stop being selfish asshole to your family at least.

Speaking of mad scientists, that means that makes Rusty the "good" counterpart to Rick. Rusty Venture is the good counterpart to someone? I think Hell just froze over.

 

[KissingSunlight]

I have a theory that Morty and Rick are the same person. Morty through his adventures with Rick will turn him into Rick.

It's crazy. It doesn't make a lot of sense right now. It does sound like something that this show will try to pull off.

 

[Laughing Man]

I have a theory that Morty and Rick are the same person.

Not sure how, since we have already seen a young Rick and he looked nothing like Morty.

He is a multi dimensional science god: he can literally just pack up and move anywhere: he has infinite possibilities for going lone wolf, he can pull anything he wants/needs out of the multiverse: yet he chooses to go back to Beth, Summer, and Morty.

If he didn't care about them why would he go back? What do they have that Rick cant just get for himself out of the multiverse?

Except the Summer he has now is not his original Summer, he left her back on the Crononberg Universe.

The idea is simple, Rick believes he should be alone, either he has done something or lost something or has been the cause of some horrific event that we as yet have not seen. He believe he should be punished for this lose but simply walking away from those he loves is too easy he has to drive them away. He does this by being extreme, doing crazy thing that cause people to leave him. We saw what he did with Unity and we saw how much that affected him.

The problem he has is two fold, firstly Jerry being boring means that he constantly had an anchor reeling in the level of crazy that he could subject his family too. Mortynight Run has him dump Jerry just so they can go play at Blitz and Chits. My guess is he cares for Morty but sub consciously he believes he doesn't deserve to have him around so he tries to come up with crazy situations to force him away. Jerry would always be an anchor to just how crazy a situation he could get Morty in to so he tries to dump him at every opportunity he can find and the start of Season 3 he managed to hit the mark by getting rid of him for good.

The second problem though is that Beth is so scared of loosing her father again she is pretty much willing to put up with any amount of shit. It basically means that Rick is going to have to do something pretty messed up to finally drive his family away.