The penultimate Rick and Morty’s seventh season sees the titular pair going on an adventure into the afterlife.
Rick discovers that the afterlife does exist after murdering Jerry seven times. The afterlife can be a source of infinite energy. To harvest this energy Rick concocts an overly complex scheme involving getting himself murdered by Bigfoot and tricking the souls in Valhalla.
The previous three episodes of Rick and Morty had been pop culture reference-heavy. “Rickfending Your Mort” was filled with pop culture-based segments, “Wet Kuat Amortican” was a combination of Taken and Total Recall, and worst of all “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” was a Star Wars spoof. “Mort: Ragnarick” was a step back in the right direction for Rick and Morty since it was a wacky and chaotic adventure for the grandfather-and-grandson duo. There were pop culture references to Thor, Pokémon, and the Universal Monsters but these were sprinkles on top of the episode, taking their imaginary and putting a Rick and Morty coating on them.
Rick and Morty felt more like an episode from the first three seasons since the plot was more original and had something Season Seven has been lacking: a B-Plot. “Mort: Ragnarick” showed Rick being more like he was in the early seasons. He was selfish and had dubious morals and that’s why he’s such a fun character. Rick doesn’t care who he stomps on to get what he wants. In this episode, Rick repeatedly killed the residents of Valhalla, wrecked their shit, and pretended to be Odin.
This episode had a similarity to “The Ricks Must Be Crazy.” In that episode, Rick had created a mini universe that he used as his car battery. He manipulated the people in the universe into thinking he was a benevolent alien when he was using them for electricity. In “Mort: Ragnarick” Rick threatened the warriors with violence and destruction to ensure they didn’t interfere with his energy harvesting machine.
Rick’s cruelty extended to Bigfoot. Rick has a superiority complex since he sees anyone who’s ‘dumb’ as a fair target. Rick was particularly sadistic against Bigfoot since he had the mystical creature in a Pokéball and he let the beast out so it could be tormented. Yet this torture led to Bigfoot desiring revenge against the scientist.
“Mort: Ragnarick” showed Rick can lose. In seasons Four and Five the show esteemed that Rick was the smartest man in the universe. The show built him up so much that he had no risk of failure. In “Mort: Ragnarick” Rick gets a beating from Bigfoot and Rick has to destroy his machine in Valhalla to defeat the Pope. There were consequences for Rick’s actions and it made “Mort: Ragnarick” a bit richer.
Whilst “Mort: Ragnarick” featured Rick and Morty fighting Vikings in Valhalla, the wackiness came from the B-Plot. Bigfoot gets recruited by the Pope so he can act as the Vatican’s enforcer. This was an unexpected direction for the episode and shows that Rick and Morty still have a spark. This part of the story was a loose parody of Van Helsing since that film featured a man working as a warrior for the Catholic Church to defeat the forces of evil. Van Helsing was about the famous vampire hunter fighting the Universal Monsters and those monsters had an appearance in “Mort: Ragnarick” It worked as a parody since it was working on its own merits. Rick, Morty, and Bigfoot’s attack on the superpowered Pope was like Edge of Tomorrow and the conclusion to the first Doctor Strange movie since they were constantly assaulting the Vatican and were killed multiple times for their troubles.
“Mort: Ragnarick” was a mad episode that showed Rick and Morty’s chaotic nature. This was what made it an entertaining episode.
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