Rick And Morty “Full Meta Jackrick”: Motivation Is So Motivating (Review)
Image Source: Adult Swim
Welcome back Rick and Morty from a six-week hiatus! They certainly delivered on the “Full Meta” in this episode. Turns out the concentration of recap in the “previously on” wasn’t as big on this, but the continued thread of Summer’s pregnancy was hilarious. And yes, of course they were in a simulation. But the intro was beautiful. Certainly made this writer mourn Pibby all over again.
The bug that Rick and Morty burst out of and hung onto was Previous Leon. After escaping their hold, he escapes to the Meta Layer, and he’s therefore followed. Talk of TV critics and measurements in terms of Space Jam cameos ensues. The world is labeled, and when he stumbles, Previous Leon prays to summon Jesus, and Story Lord arrives soon after, revealing this to be a sequel to “Never Ricking Morty”. He’s escaped the Christian series he was trapped in, using Jesus to transcend, and now seeks to trap Rick and Morty. Leon was the bait, and Jesus snaps his wings and Rick’s back, explicitly Bane-style. Story Lord takes Rick’s device for motivation, making his way to Citadel Toyz. Leon starts feeding on Jesus, who gets his own fake flashbacks. He finds the writer, Jan, who is very surprised to see his character alive. Who uses a dash in their URL to begin with? He’s upset that he was set up to fail. Story Lord’s motivation becomes…motivation.
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Rick and Morty head to the headquarters of the Self-Referential 6, a team of meta nerds like Miss Lead, ProtagoNick, Flash Back—yeah, the pun names are strong here. And then there’s Connie TinuityError. Mr. Twist’s twist is that there’s no sixth member. To get out, they break out Brett Caan, whose retconning powers allow him to always have been Rhett Caan. And welcome back Butter Robot! Wait until he pulls the lever! Caan’s reality-bending powers are amazing. The way he defeats the Self-Referential 6 felt reminiscent of Wanda’s tearing through the Illuminati in Multiverse of Madness. As the two escape, they find themselves in a frozen wasteland and accept their fate until they’re rescued by Joseph Campbell. Yes, “hero’s journey” Joseph Campbell. Previous Leon betrays them, nearly killing Rick when trusted to find a way back home. Fake flashbacks include being called Back to the Future ripoffs and Morty being pregs.
Image source: Adult Swim
They make it out of the Meta Layer and Story Lord is ready to siphon motivation from everyone in the universe. Joseph Campbell’s ghost (because he died in the ‘80s and they’re no longer in a world of their own fiction) shows up to help Morty give Jan a lesson on creativity so he can stop powering Story Lord’s motivation harvester. Story Lord dies from wounds and suffocation from a Rick plush, and Jan discovers his next movie idea, to Campbell’s horror. And Tag Man is the tag that lives in the tag! Such a dominant wrestler.
“Full Meta Jackrick” was a complicated yet still enjoyable episode. I’m not quite sure the rest of the episode had the fun with the meta concept as it did in the cold open. Pocket Mortys avatars this week are Story Lord Morty and Jesus Christ Morty, and Previous Leon is the new trainer. Next up, you’re in for hero time with “Analyze Piss”.
Score: 7/10
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