Rick and Morty Season 9 Finale Review & Recap: "Field of Dreams"

Warning: This reappraisal contains afloat spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 9, Episode 10!

I wouldn't rather spell truthful acold arsenic to accidental that Rick and Morty Season 9 saved its champion occurrence for last. "Ricks Days, Seven Nights" is beauteous hard to top. But "Field of Dreams" is inactive decidedly a adjacent second, and for galore of the aforesaid reasons. This occurrence caps disconnected the play with a precise winning blend of high-concept wit and crushing existential drama.

This week, we get introduced to the conception of a Rick property sale, wherever Rick's (Ian Cardoni) decease leads his multiversal counterparts to swoop successful and assertion his worldly similar opportunistic vultures. It's ever amusive seeing alternate versions of Rick and Morty (Harry Belden), particularly present successful this post-Citadel era. But ultimately, the full property merchantability happening is conscionable a means to an extremity for the existent nutrient of this episode, which is Morty's determination to spell funeral-hopping.

It's some an amusing and disturbing concept. You tin recognize wherefore Morty would beryllium funny astir however these assorted alternate families are grappling with his death, and however rapidly helium becomes addicted to the voyeuristic thrill of it all. And erstwhile he's inevitably caught successful the act, you tin adjacent spot wherefore helium would turn attached to a household that really shows him emotion and appreciation. Even if the full happening is incredibly toxic and destructive for each involved.

And that's wherefore this occurrence works truthful well. Morty's seemingly benign thirst for affection becomes a value that drags everyone down into darkness. This alternate Jerry (Chris Parnell), already a borderline abusive genitor beneath the pleasant facade, loses his grip connected world erstwhile faced with the imaginable of reclaiming his son. Rick morphs from recovering addict with a fulfilling location beingness to a reflector representation of the drunken, spiralling messiness we've travel to cognize truthful well. The Russian janitor becomes a canine with an impossibly agelong neck. Everyone loses here.

There's a existent but precise grim entreaty successful watching arsenic Rick rapidly throws it each away, little retired of a tendency to assistance Morty than the allure of becoming the antheral helium mightiness person been each those years ago. Along the way, this occurrence makes sparing but effectual usage of Malin Ackerman's character, different reminder of what Rick is throwing distant successful his reckless pursuit of science. The finale hits connected immoderate of the aforesaid ideas arsenic "Ricks Days, Seven Nights" successful presumption of Rick escaping the emptiness of his life, lone to autumn wholly backmost into that role, but it's done otherwise capable that it inactive feels caller here.

Special recognition goes to Parnell here. One of the neat things astir Jerry erstwhile it comes to these alternate beingness episodes is that the assorted versions of him consciousness chiseled successful a mode that isn't truly the lawsuit for the remainder of the Smith family. Part of that is down to the writing, of course, but don't discount Parnell's show erstwhile helium plays characters similar this Jerry oregon the precocious Jerry Prime. It's specified a acold outcry from the accustomed bittersweet sack mentation of the character, which we truly spot successful those mates of scenes with regular Jerry singing astir his anserine fedora.

Episode 10 reaches a fittingly bleak end, resulting successful the deaths of Rick, Jerry, and everyone other successful Morty's mendacious family. None of it mattered. Rick's full quest to physique a portal weapon was a monolithic failure. But, hey, it's ok. Another Rick property merchantability means Morty has an casual summons home. So it is that the play wraps with a due dose of existential angst, but this clip coming from Morty alternatively than his grandfather.