In this week’s episode,Rick and Mortytakes its titular grandpa to therapy for a gruesome adventure that grants Rick unprecedented levels of progress, while also paying off that armored Jerry tease fans have been waiting for during all of season 6.
Overall, “Analyze Piss” is one ofRick and Morty’smost hard-hitting episodes in many ways, and perhaps nothing illustrates this as this week’s entry hitting viewers with a disclaimer that warns about the depiction of suicide and self-harm, a rarity even for the show’s standards. Nevertheless, Rick’s hilarious journey may just prove that sometimes laughter can be the best form of therapy.
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The episode does open up rather innocently, withRick and Mortyfighting off Mr. Nimbusand an assortment of ridiculous villains that will surely be back in the series now that Rick has his portal gun up and running again. Both Cookie Magneto and its parody ofThe Flintstones’Gazoo deliver some pretty funny dialogue, but the real gist of the whole bit is seeing how tired Rick has become of fighting these caricatures thatconstantly chase him across the entire multiverse.
Thus, in a rare instance of self-reflection, Rick willingly goes to therapy to consult what he should do with Dr. Wong (voiced by Susan Sarandon), whose advice can simply be summed up as Rick having to learn to be the bigger man and put his pettiness aside, at least for one episode. And the creature chosen to teach Rick this valuable lesson is the icky Pissmaster, yet another wonky supervillain whose entire gimmick is, well, urine.
Rick and Mortyfans should be no strangers to the show using these sorts of repulsive characters as part of its plots, though Pissmaster isn’t really as offensive to the senses as he could be, especially with how easily Jerry beats him to become the galaxy’s new shining hero. That’s right, this isanother Jerry-centered episode (take noteFortnite)to some extent, which really helps drive home the point that the entire Smith family has really evened out in terms everyone’s ability to have real protagonism from time to time.
Naturally, after being granted superhero status by a couple ofIlluminati or Marvel’s the Watcher kind of figures, Jerry’s attitude makes him a fantastic, even if outright foolish crime fighter. Regardless, of that all the jokes that play off Jerry’s Iron Man status land pretty well, with him blasting away an entire planet of Hitler variants really making the entire gag well worth the wait.
Of course, Rick doesn’t take kindly to his dumb son-in-law getting all the recognition he’s always lacked for his exploits, so obviously this rubs him off the wrong way, yet for a change, his response is not doubling down on aggression. Quite the contrary, Rick goes on a big personal development journey, one that cements character growth as thisRick and Mortyseason’s defining trait because,despite being quite on-brand with his drinking, Mr. Sanchez rises up to the ocassion to protect Pissmaster’s legacy is what even his therapist has to admit shows a lot of maturity and compassion.
The scene where Rick tries to save Pissmaster has the perfect tone to it, and though possibly not as graphic or harsh as some might expect, the disclaimer put in place by Adult Swim feels deserved. The motives for Pissmaster’s suicide push Rick to pick up the mantle of the bodily fluids and rebrand him as a hero that can match the virality Flamingo Dad, with the riff onSpace Jam’s“Let’s Get Ready to Rumble”resuming mockery of the franchise from last week.
Jerry is given the task of notifying the reborn Pissmaster of his new superhero status as the ultimate trial for his own pettiness, but Rick’s plans to fake the pee man’s death clash with that. The resulting fight destroys Flamingo Dad’s image and he’s quickly stripped of his superhero status, resulting in a sad but fitting end for Jerry’s time at the top, although at least Rick’s plan works and leaves him a better man than he was before the episode started.
That doesn’t last too long as with Rick being Rick he eventually confesses what he did to Morty, and while that may ruin his selfless sacrifice to protect his former enemy’s honor, the fact is that all of this, coupled with the first twoRick and Mortyepisodes in season 6 do hold a certain degree of linearity for fans to assume Rick is a changed man to some degree.
“Analyze Piss” mostly exhausts the footage thatRick and Morty’smid-season trailer had released, meaning the final two episodes, will feature even more new material in what the showrunners have promised will be very action-packed entries. Even if Pissmaster is a bit too much and suicide can be tough to watch for some, it’s safe to sayRick and Mortycontinues to evolvein its latest season.
