Although Rick and Morty has changed a lot since the show’s earliest episodes back in 2013, that doesn’t mean that the series has dropped every frustrating trend from this era. Rick and Morty season 8 is hotly anticipated and viewers of the cult hit sci-fi comedy have every reason to believe the show will only improve in its eighth outing. After killing off Rick’s nemesis Rick Prime midway through season 7 in its most shocking twist yet, the series outdid itself with its finale. Rick and Morty’s season 7 ending was the show’s highest-rated episode in years on IMDb.
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Rick And Morty Is The Only Show That Can Break A Record Set By The Simpsons 17 Years Ago
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This is no surprise since the thoughtful, original “Fear No Mort” subverted viewer expectations at every turn. What seemed to be an existential nightmare turned out to be a deep delve into Morty’s mind that proved the character was more complex than Rick and Morty’s dim-witted antihero often seems. “Fear No Mort” proved that Morty was a complicated protagonist, and this makes it all the more frustrating that the character has been unable to shake one trend throughout the show’s first seven seasons. While Rick and Morty’s best episode in years was great, “Fear No Mort” didn’t solve a major Morty problem.
Rick & Morty’s Season 1 Christmas Episode Introduced Morty’s First Love Interest
Annie Joins Rick, Morty, And Their Crew In Anatomy Park
Morty’s Rick and Morty love interests still never last more than one episode, no matter how promising their relationship may seem, and this recurring problem dates back as far as the show’s first Christmas special. Season 1, episode 3, “Anatomy Park,” saw Rick and Morty voyage into the body of a homeless man to visit an elaborate microscopic theme park that Rick had built inside him. The ensuing storyline was a mix of Fantastic Voyage and Jurassic Park that parodied both classic sci-fi movies but also introduced Morty’s first short-lived love interest, Annie.
While Rick and Morty’s later Christmas episode fleshed out Rick and Morty’s characters further, Annie was never heard from again.
An employee who works at the churro stand inside Anatomy Park, Annie is the youngest and least experienced worker in Anatomy Park. Morty immediately fell for her, and she seemingly reciprocated this attraction in the episode’s ending, only to be trapped when the park eventually collapsed and the show’s title characters barely escaped. While Rick and Morty’s later Christmas episode fleshed out Rick and Morty’s characters further, Annie was never heard from again. To make matters worse, Rick and Morty repeated this pattern with later love interests over the years as the series continued.
Morty’s First Love Story Quickly Becomes a Superfluous Subplot
Rick and Morty Rarely Prioritizes Morty’s Love Interests
Morty’s romantic interest in Annie was an afterthought in “Anatomy Park,” and this is a recurring problem for the character. In season 2, episode 9, “Look Who’s Purging Now,” Morty’s short-lived love interest Arthricia mentions that she already has a partner in the episode’s closing moments. In season 4, episode 8, “The Vat of Acid Episode,” Morty’s entire elaborate survival story and his ensuing love story with an unnamed character are undone in an instant. Rick and Morty never prioritizes Morty’s love life, but continually uses disposable female characters as short-term love interests in his subplots.
Since Rick and Morty’s Thanksgiving episode had enough screen time to chronicle Rick becoming a turkey to receive a presidential pardon, it would be reasonable to expect the series to include a more substantial romantic subplot for its second lead. Despite this, Morty’s love life remains thinly sketched even in season 7. Any love interests that Morty had either lasted only one episode or were recurring figures who he idealized from afar but didn’t speak to like Jessica. Season 5’s premiere “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” acknowledged this pattern, but the subsequent season failed to meaningfully change it.
Rick & Morty Still Hasn’t Given Morty A Real Love Interest
Season 5 Improved This Recurring Problem Somewhat
“Mort Dinner Rick Andre” addressed how throwaway all of Morty’s earlier love interests were when he spoke to Jessica and admitted that he had always romanticized the thought of dating her, but never really gotten to know her. Two episodes later, season 5, episode 3, “A Rickconvenient Mort,” focused on Morty’s doomed romance with Planetina. This was at least the episode’s main story, although Morty is still yet to have any love interest who plays a major role in more than one episode.
Ever since “Anatomy Park,” Morty’s love interests have mostly existed only as motivation for his character and not as characters in their own right.
While Rick and Morty season 8’s first tease promises more sci-fi parodies from the series, it would be a fun surprise to see the show address this Morty problem. Season 5 made some solid steps toward taking Morty’s love life seriously, but the show has since largely disregarded these changes. Ever since “Anatomy Park,” Morty’s love interests have mostly existed only as motivation for his character and not as characters in their own right. Rick and Morty season 8 needs to change this by building on and expanding the changes made in season 5.
Rick and Morty
season 8 is expected to arrive in 2025.
Source: IMDb
Rick and Morty
- Release Date
- December 2, 2013
- Franchise(s)
- Rick and Morty
- Seasons
- 7
- Streaming Service(s)
- Hulu , M