The Rick and Morty Season 4 finale immediately grapples with the largest lingering question by the Season 3 finale: Can Beth decide to go out to the multiverse to experience her own experiences and leave a clone behind? But it also follows through on lots of the series’s most common lingering plotlines in a way that’ll meet even the most diehard fans, all the while creating Rick Sanchez’ very worst fears come true: He is no longer the most important person in the world.
Rick and Morty have been parodying and observing Star Wars throughout the back-half of Season 4, and it must come as no surprise that”Star Mort Rickturn of this Jerri” doubles down that for its heartbreaking and exceptionally fun finale.
When the episode opens, we see that a rowdy battle where a Gromflomite, the species we associate with the Galactic Federation is threatened by a very cool-looking cyborg version of Beth Smith. When she’s undergoing some repairs done afterward, she discovers that there’s some type of chip implanted in her neck because she’s a clone, which will cause her to blow up if she were to return to Earth.
That is exactly what she does, and it is this version of Beth and not Rick, the once-dangerous scientist that has been labeled a non-threat as soon as the Galactic Federation visit Earth searching for the most wanted criminal of the universe. This moment type of devastates him.
While Rick’s been laying low and preventing any serious conflict, this edition of his daughter has been fighting his battles, leading to a slave rebellion called”The Defiance” contrary to the Gromflomites’ new and improved Galactic Federation, who obtain a superweapon called the NX-5 Planet Remover that may blow up planets however cannot ruin Wrangler jeans (it is an amazing ongoing joke that is deeply meta and also totally shameless product placement).
Rick comments this Beth’s whole storyline is a small overly Star Wars. That’s even more so when Tammy seems alongside a Darth Vader-esque Phoenixperson for several epic battles. The delightful Dr. Wong makes a successful return to the series for a couple of scenes, making this the very serialized episode that relegates Summer and Morty into a fun and easy B-plot where they bicker within an invisibility belt before uniting to help combat the common threat.
What ensues is a tight series of sci-fi conflicts from Tammy, the new Galactic Federation, and Phoenixperson. Rick with all his gadgets that are bionic from Phoenixperson, a veritable danger that outclasses any Terminator ever, is much more of a delight than Rick versus the President from the Season 3 finale. Seeing his buddy mechanized in this way and manipulated breaks the heart of Rick. We’ve always seen Rick be a good friend to Birdperson, although his family might be treated him poorly.
And that is to say nothing to Beth’s appearance with Rick’s confusing responses. Which one is the clone? Because Rick doesn’t even know the brief answer is that we will never understand. To be safe, he used Mind Blower technology to erase the memory, and we see he removed the labels so there’s no way, when we watch it. (We also get a tiny snapshot of Beth’s mother holding her as a child, that is a great little Easter egg)
It’s a moment of deep vulnerability for Rick, for him to admit to this audience at how sentimental he is deep down. He wanted it two ways: To have a Beth that will remain close to providing him validation and focus and another one who went out into the universe to become a badass that makes him happier. Except for trying to have it both ways in this a toxic way, ” he alienated both variations of his daughter, but the rest.
Rick is the most desired man in the world. He grappling with Phoenixperson’s character, his best friend he believed was dead. And he is liked by his family than ever before. As all of the worst fears came to fruition this was the day of Rick’s life. The episode ends with him vocalizing the understanding he’s a dreadful father, so it’s probably about time that Rick starts working an arc towards redemption that is moral down. But that’s a story for Season 5 (hopefully).