Dying in a vat in the garage.
Warning full episode spoilers follow.
Like most animated sitcoms, Rick and Morty episodes tend to have a main plot and a subplot driving each episode. The weird thing about “Big Trouble in Little Sanchez” is that it didn’t really seem to have a main plot. Both halves of the episode were funny, certainly, but neither had quite the depth or mileage to emerge as the frontrunner. That kept an otherwise entertaining episode from truly rivaling the greats.
The wheels were set in motion this week when Rick became exasperated by yet another round of Beth and Jerry’s marital bickering. His solution was to dump the two (literally) on a far away planet where they could receive therapy from the renowned Glaxo Slimslom (voiced by Community’s Jim Rash). Beth and Jerry can sometimes be the weak link in the show, but it helps that the other characters are so quick to acknowledge their failings and how ridiculous it is that the two are still married. Glaxo didn’t mince words as Beth and Jerry’s “mythologs” broke free and began slaughtering everyone in their path. It was hilarious to see how Beth and Jerry view each other deep down. To Jerry, Beth is a more terrifying and sadistic version of the Xenomorph Queen from Aliens, while to Beth, Jerry is the apotheosis of spineless slugs.
This subplot unfolded in fairly predictable fashion from there. My biggest disappointment was that Glaxo didn’t stick around longer, as Rash did a great job in his few scenes. But at least the character had a great exit (“They’re not therapists! Go, go, go!!!”) From there, the storyline hammered home the now-familiar point that what Beth really wants is for Jerry to take charge and be a manly man. What set the conflict apart from that of “Rick Potion #9,” however, was the fact that Beth summoned an army of Jerry mythologs to her defense. Seeing Jerry after Jerry emerge from the device was hilarious, especially as they began to evolve based on Beth’s emotional state. Seeing a row of smug Jerrys wearing Jerry T-shirts shaking each other’s hands while a group of muscle-bound, gun-toting Jerrys mowed down Jerry slugs was, well, it was certainly something.
While all that craziness was unfolding, Rick was busy getting in touch with his teenage side in what basically amounted to a really bizarre Teen Wolf parody. “Tiny Rick” made for a memorable sight gag all his own, and his habit of shouting “Tiny Rick!” as punctuation to just about everything never failed to amuse. Not to mention the fact that everyone at the school seemed perfectly aware of Tiny Rick’s status as a senior citizen in a teenager’s body and didn’t care.
The problem with this storyline is that it recycled a lot of familiar beats. We’ve already seen the high school dance gone awry, and the house party hosted by Rick, and the scene where Rick leads a bunch of teens in a synchronized dance he made up on the fly. “Let Me Out” may have been catchy in its own way, but it’s no “The Rick Dance.” Most of this material was funny, it just didn’t quite live up to the show’s usual standard for cleverness and creativity. It’s also a bit disappointing that the vampire subplot unfolded mostly offscreen.
That said, there was something fascinating about the idea of Tiny Rick. The show has so often explored Rick’s depression and latent death wish. What can a teenager do when confronted with those thoughts and all the terrible things Rick has seen and done but try to repress them and live the carefree life of a party animal? This episode was more subtle than most about exploring Rick’s angst, which was probably for the best. He even got an unusually happy ending for a change, as he realized the futility of trying to recapture one’s youth and had the cathartic experience of beating his clones to death. The fact that he spent the remainder of the episode naked and covered in clone blood (much to Summer’s chagrin) ended the episode on just the right note.
This episode was enjoyably amusing, rehashing some familiar beats but for the most part putting new spins on that material. Between Jim Rash’s guest appearance and the wacky, violent battle that ensued, the Beth/Jerry storyline was unusually entertaining. Meanwhile, Rick’s transformation into Tiny Rick allowed for further examination of the character’s deep psychological issues. Really, Rick and Morty is just a victim of its own high standards. Neither subplot felt like it reached its full potential or that it could have carried the episode on its own.
