Why do we play? Sure, video games are an immensely popular hobby — and a very lucrative industry — but rarely do we stop to research it. Why so many people are drawn to spend hours and hours in immersive realities that are not our own. Among Rick and Morty‘s latest episode (Season 6, Episode 4: “Bethic Twinstinct”) and last week’s dramatic focus on Roy: A Life Well Livedthe answer is starting to look a bit bleak.cl
Since the return of Space Beth earlier this season, Episode 4’s title has been an obvious twist on “Basic instinct(Paul Verhoeven’s 1992 neo-noir erotic thriller) and the fact that we have two versions of Beth Smith in the show’s main universe. Raunchy shenanigans follow, yes, but some of the more interesting things that happen in the B-Plot are how the Smith kids distance themselves from reality using the most powerful video game console in the multiverse.
“Bethic Twinstinct” does more than a “full San Junipero”
It’s Thanksgiving again, and in a clever throwback to last season’s raucous Christmas special, Rick comes home a turkey. Space Beth is back to celebrate and has given Morty a Pooplickian GamePod XL, which is “the most realistic game console ever”. We soon learn that Beth and Space get Beth terribly friendly while bonding over a host of shared interests, including sipping red wine from Venus and rolling their eyes at Jerry.
In a bit that feels immediately ripped out of the body Spider-Man: No Way Home, the two versions of Beth help crack each other’s backs. Except here, it’s a prelude to the most narcissistic sexual experience imaginable. Beth and Space Beth have a real affair that feels authentic. Rick may be a textbook narcissist, but Beth has always loved herself in a very confident way. Everyone knows Jerry doesn’t deserve her, even Jerry. It doesn’t take long for Rick, Summer and Morty to figure it all out. But Jerry, of course, is totally oblivious and needs to be told that outright at the Thanksgiving table.
In some ways, Beth and Space Beth’s romance was inevitable. It’s one of the show’s hottest episodes ever, but the story is also about self-examination — and radical self-acceptance.
They eventually hack into Rick’s holodeck and have a relationship for many years, culminating in a romantic sunset at what appears to be the Santa Monica Pier. Rick calls it a “full San Junipero,” a reference to an episode of Netflix’s sci-fi anthology series black mirror.
Especially after Jerry and Beth had a threesome with Mr. Nimbus in the Season 5 premiere, this A-plot ends the only natural way it could: with Beth, Jerry, and Space Beth having what sounds like bizarre, kinky fun tapping into their power dynamics. Beth and Jerry have both grown tremendously as individuals and as a couple since their low point at the end of Season 3.
Summer and Morty use a Pooplickian GamePod XL to dissociate
The episode has two brilliant, shocking snippets that would work in almost any domestic drama: Summer and Morty separately witness their mother having the affair. We see their stunned reactions before the shot moves straight into another scene where they play video games. Cinematically, we are immediately shaken from the trauma to the dissociation, with the only consistent visual being their faces.
After Morty steals Rick’s controller to play, Grandpa protests, but Morty says, “It’s mine!” Summer also refuses to split hers, saying, “Make your own controller! Some of us need all the control we can get!”
Their previous level of involvement in games was more interactive and lively, but as Morty claims, now they just stare at them in a numb trance. In an “Inside the Episode” video, writer Anne Lane points out that their arc is all about “avoidance.” This kind of heavy-handed symbolic irony doesn’t always work, but for these kids who cling to “controllers” at a time when things in their households are spiraling out of control, things are going really well.
Rick and Morty laughs at gamers
The games on the Pooplickian GamePod XL all seem quite retro, despite having a legitimate “Realism Setting”. (The default is 4/10 for some reason.) More ‘realism’ makes the space dull though asteroids knock-off much more empty. Most astronomers predict that about 99.99 percent of space is just an empty vacuum. So Morty pilots a ship floating through space in search of an asteroid to blow up.
In a way, this Realism Setting pokes fun at the never-ending push towards gaming immersion. Some games like The Last of Us Part I or even the Call of Duty franchise uses cutting edge technology for the sake of cinematic realism, but for years games had to make do with limited graphics in digitized worlds, relying on the imagination of the players to do some heavy lifting. The most memorable gaming experiences are not immersive because they make you feel like you are in another world; They are compelling because they are captivating enough to make you forget the real world. There is a clear but subtle distinction here that: Rick and Morty laughs at.
What comes next is a sharp indictment of gamer culture in general. “You’re obviously trying to convince yourself it’s cool because you feel bad about it,” Summer says. This one is a little harder to unravel, but Summer has always been the wisest character on the show. When she makes a stray, brutal observation, it’s often the show’s writers who drop a truth bomb.
“Summer, you know nothing about gamer culture!” Rick spits before turning to Morty, “Bro, tell your son you love him.” Morty nods enthusiastically.
There is sometimes a certain kind of inauthenticity in gamer culture. We long to churn out hours and hours of a game, plodding through tasks with reckless abandon. What might otherwise be a loving farewell to a dying father is reduced to a utilitarian game mechanism. But the delusion of “realism” in gaming defeats the purpose of what it means to really “play a game.”
Morty’s Son: Naruto or Morty Jr.?
When Morty plays the “realistic” asteroids game, Rick sees the option to record a video for his “child” in case he dies in space.
Morty blurs the line between reality and video games and shoots a selfie clip for his “son.” Is this theoretical? Or is the video for Morty Jr., his long-ago half-Gazorpian in Season 1? A much more likely explanation, however, is Naruto. You know, Summer and Morty’s giant accidental incest space baby? We even get a callback to Naruto at the end of the episode:
“I’ll keep an eye on my grandchild in space,” Space Beth says as she leaves. Morty is initially confused before remembering his son with a hint of sadness in his voice. The call back feels completely random and a bit uncharacteristic for Rick and Morty, a show that so often leaves plot threads dangling for years on end. It seems very likely that Naruto will return sometime this season. Why else would the writers put in this practical but obviously intentional reminder? We’ll have to wait.
Rick and Morty airs Sundays at 11 p.m. on Adult Swim.
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