I was one of the guys that once Justin Roiland was fired for charges against him, that I felt the series suffered greatly and lacked the certain edge that it had before. Instead of being greatly enthusiastic about new episodes dropping, I kind of ignored them. There are many episodes between season 6 and 9, which is the current season, that I haven't seen.
There are some pretty heavy spoilers ahead, so if you are one of those people like me that really don't pay much attention to Rick and Morty anymore because you think the episodes aren't very good anymore. Just know that S9:E2 is different, and you should seek it out to watch it now.
Out of a lack of anything else to watch though, I decide from time to time to fire it back up and give it a shot. While overall I feel as though the series has kind of lost a lot in the absence of Roiland, every now and then they strike gold and to me, "Ricks Days, Seven Nights" is one of the best episodes the series has ever had, and is definitely one of the most tragic.
There will be spoilers ahead, as the warning indicates. However, Rick and Morty episodes while creative, all have a similar sort of ending so nothing that I say here will be particularly surprising.
In this episode we see Rick take on an alter ego of "Ted", who is a traveling PVC salesman who lives a simple life of bowling and going fishing with his bowling alley friends. He is not a super scientist who is basically a god. This is due to something that Rick has done to himself as a way of going on vacation away from his life and his own brain.
Rick thinks he is "Ted" and lives happily in this simple life until something happens and part of his appendages arise to save him from danger. These failsafes are just something that Rick has put into his own fantasy vacation as a way of preserving himself should something go terribly wrong. "Ted" is completely unaware of his capabilities as a scientist but very quickly remembers them. In this time he seeks to find the source of this "Rick" and destroy him, so that he can permanently remain in the life of Ted.
Of course the real Rick had planned on this being a possibility and had a counter-measure for everything that Ted attempts to do.
The episode is amusing because it is nice to see everyone be so surprised about what is going on, except of course for Rick's actual family, who isn't surprised by anything anymore. When a different Rick turns up at the house, they are only pissed off about the garage getting destroyed by the crashed homemade ship that Ted made, and are not at all confused or afraid that their Grandfather "Rick" doesn't know who they are, or who Rick is.
But this is where the tragedy kicks in right at the end. Rick prefers to not have super-intelligence and all the difficulties that comes along with it. Just like the wonderfully scenic toilet episode many years ago, Rick really just enjoys normal things like nature and hanging out with simple pals, and his alcoholism and other substance abuse comes form the immense burden that comes along with being the only human that actually knows how the universe (or multiple universes) actually function.
The only time that Rick truly feels at peace is in the made up mind of a simpler person who just likes to drink whiskey with friends while ice fishing or going late-night bowling with those same friends. Once he realizes that he has no choice but to reset his brain using a push button failsafe at the end - which appears to do nothing when pressed - Morty turns to him after "Ted" hits the button and sees that Ted looks really sad.
"Did it not work?" says Morty
A very dejected looking Ted/Rick turns as he leaves the garage and says, "no, it worked." and the episode ends.
This is not the first time they have touched base with Rick's internal struggles in episodes. I can recall at least one other one where Rick keeps trying to kill himself but his own protocols that he has built in for self-preservation that he cannot override keep preventing it.
It's obviously a far-fetched and silly cartoon, but there is a lot in here about the human condition and how people who seem to have it all together and can do "anything they want" actually can often end up quite unhappy. There are plenty of extremely wealthy and powerful and loved celebrities that offed themselves that were going through the same thing.
It's strange to that a look into what this might be like would come from one of the most irreverent cartoons ever made.
I highly suggest that you watch Season 9 episode 2 even if you, like me, kind of fell out with Rick and Morty a few years ago. This one is different and IMO one of the best of the entire series.
Rick and Morty can be legally streamed as part of an HBO Max subscription. Most episodes can also be streamed as a part of any partnership that includes Adult Swim.
