Rick and Morty: “The Old Man and the Seat” is one long poop joke

It’s not every week that we’re treated to a three-pronged episode of Rick and Morty, but I’m definitely on board with the concept. It’s tough to pull off. Most episodes of any show have to limit their narratives to the A storyline and then the B subplot. While this episode was fun and had great jokes, it also seemed a little bloated and I think it undercut Rick’s story a bit at the end.

What does help the episode flow is that the two B-plots are connected. In the beginning of the episode, we meet Glootie the intern, who is working for Rick and trying to get someone to develop an app with him. Rick has tattooed “don’t develop my app” onto Glootie’s forehead, so you know that Jerry is going to develop that app super hard.

And he does. The app is a love connection app called “LoveFinderrz” and along with the terrible name, it also destroys humanity by showing you who  your soulmate is…and then changing it over and over again. Summer gets addicted to the app, and Beth tries to “mother the crap” out of her by keeping her from giving into her constant soulmate urges. Jerry and Morty take Glootie hostage without weapons to force him to take the app down.

It’s a little…sweaty, particularly with Beth and Summer, who just kind of demolition derby themselves through the episode. The idea of an app that presents its users with emotional connections that can be ditched the moment something about the soulmate becomes annoying is a commentary on our consumable social media reality, I guess, but…meh? The jokes are quick and the circumstances are funny, but it never really lands as a concept. At one point Beth is on a hang glider and there’s no explanation as to why.

Jerry and Morty’s attempt to take the app down is way more interesting, thanks in no small part to the guest stars it involves. This episode was slam packed full of guest stars, with Sam Neil playing the leader of the alien app developers (new band name, called it!) Kathleen Turner voicing his wife, and Taika Waititi voicing Glootie. Jeffrey Wright even shows up in the Rick plot, which is the actual important part of the episode that I haven’t even gotten to yet. Like I said, this episode is a little bloated.

Eventually, Jerry and Morty get the app taken down, saving the Earth’s water supply or whatever. After Glootie exits with a hilarious “glootie-dooty doo!” Morty drops one of his best lines in the series on his dad:

"Morty: “I wanted to say something. I started the day disgusted and embarrassed to be your son. And later I thought we were going to die because you’re a loser.”*long pause*Jerry: “There’s no more, is there…”Morty: “Nope, now quit f***ing up and let’s go.”"

Rick’s plot is fairly straightforward: He’s a shy pooper, so he found a beautiful planet and installed a single toilet on it, complete with stunning views and the serenity one needs to truly release. Then he finds a broken stick and Rick’s the crap out of it to figure out just who had the audacity to use his toilet, hunt them down, and kill them.

The episode shines here, because it’s essentially one long poop joke that ends with a depressed Rick wearing a “King of Shit” crown, sitting on his throne with only himself to keep him company. And he’s not very good company, either.

When Rick finally finds Tony the pooper (Wright), he ends up being a good person Rick can’t really bring himself to kill. Deep down, Rick knows it’s just a toilet and not a big deal. But now Rick is totally invested in preserving his toilet integrity. Tony even offers to be Rick’s friend, something that Rick desperately needs, but Rick just can’t accept, and leaves a detached farting buttbomb with a poop hand flipping the bird in Tony’s office. That was maybe the hardest I laughed in this episode.

This really gets to the core of Rick’s flaws: that even when presented with a way out of the hole he’s dug for himself, his inability to confront his issues will keep pushing him deeper into the pit of loneliness. Also, these could all be metaphors for poop, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence.

Tony dies before the episode is over, and Rick is upset. He had rigged somehow, which we assume he set up the commode to explode, but instead, at the end of the episode, a drunk and sad Rick sits down on it and we see the plan wasn’t to kill Tony, but to mock him. And now Rick is mocking himself, in an isolated area of his own design. Because all he has is himself, and that is no one’s fault but Rick’s.

The best thing about Rick and Morty is how far they can take the characters. Sometimes it works incredibly well. Other times it feels like a long way around to reinforce an already established character trait. Rick is isolated, lonely and sad, and it’s all his fault. Morty is anxious and scared but maturing faster than his family realizes. Jerry is Jerry. Summer is impulsive and craves more attention from a family where she is the odd man out, and Beth is trying real hard to be a better parent than Rick was but is too much like Rick sometimes and it backfires.

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That being said, this episode was fine. I laughed out loud several times, and while it didn’t introduce anything new to the characters, sometimes you need to remind the audience where those characters stand. We have plenty of time for some fun episodes like this with the giant episode order from Adult Swim.

Episode Highlights

• Glootie’s ominous beeping app and Morty yelling at Jerry twice.
• Rick’s “Gladiator” style walk through the grain on his way to his poop palace
• Beth and Summer having an Avengers-style airport fight
• The QR code on a funnel tricking the robots
• Finding out that there is a whole race of Crockubots
• Taika Waititi in general
• Jerry’s heaven is apparently him delivering water to people, and everyone loves him because he can do this easy task. That’s kind of dark.
• BIG BAD DOO-DOO DADDY

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