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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
Following the previous episode involving Morty Smith (voiced by Harry Belden), the penultimate episode of Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty Season 7 continues to confront death. This time, the show looks into the scientific nature behind Heaven, or at least, some form of it anyway. The episode evaluates religious practices, and at the same time, it highlights the juxtapositions between life and death via rebirth.
The seventh season’s penultimate episode is titled, “Mort: Ragnarick”. It is written by writers’ assistant Jeremy Gilfor and executive producer Scott Marder and is directed by Kyounghee Lim.
In this review, I will discuss Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 9. As the title of this article suggests, there will be no spoilers present here. References to previous series episodes may be made!
Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 9 Logline
According to WarnerMedia Press, here is the logline for Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 9—“Mort: Ragnarick”.
Rick seeks the infinite. Morty tries to help.
Heaven is for real, broh. I saw it, broh, I swear.
Adult Swim Press
Discussion
Gilfor and Marder come charging into this episode with a barrage of jokes and some substantial shots at mythology, whether it’s Norse mythos, classic literary/cinematic mythos, modern-day folklore, or long-lasting colonizing practices. With Rick Sanchez (voiced by Ian Cardoni) being an atheist, there is a rejection of what Heaven is in Biblical terms while also firmly entertaining the concept of another sort of spiritual realm. There are comic means of engaging with his different hypotheses, such as subjecting his son-in-law, Jerry Smith (voiced by Chris Parnell), to death multiple times, which is laughable in the eyes of both Sanchez and the audience.
The episode deals with Sanchez’s pretense of a god complex, almost akin to Season 2 Episode 9, “The Ricks Must Be Crazy”. (There, he fools civilizations upon civilizations of extraterrestrials into powering his spacecraft.) Rather, the writers use a means to combat the very institution of religion itself. It’s an insane notion to think about upon a first watch. Yet, on a second watch, it’s just sufficiently absurd of an idea. When it comes to abstracts and metaphysics such as death, Rick and Morty is no stranger to the loss of life. As is the case with the season’s prior episode, “That’s Amorte”, “Mort: Ragnarick” supplies black comedy to its narrative. Even Morty Smith refuses to kill his grandfather due to the firsthand experiences he’s had in the past, especially with offing a relative enemy.
The season’s second-to-last entry plays off as a sick yet successful joke of what witnessing endless kinds of deaths can imply and how this affects an individual at a human level. Moreover, it even pokes fun at conflicting belief systems. The resulting product is a battle for power over others in a way that has not been conveyed before.
A Work of Art, As Usual
The series’ character designers continue to do a stunning job of painting death as a process of life. Watching the title characters perish over and over again is not as graphic as it was in “Unmortricken”. Even then, it is still a bloody intriguing sight. Seeing Morty’s eyes pop out of his sockets as his body is squeezed like a rubber chicken is one excellent example of the dark comedy that the writers and animators are aiming for. The designs of Rick and Morty’s former corpses inside a castle-like hallway do hold a layer of brutality, but they don’t linger as long as the seventh midseason finale.
The main protagonists’ fight against the “antagonist of the week” also requires them to put on different suits of armor. In the episode, viewers see the momentary return of the Purge armor from Season 2 Episode 9, “Look Who’s Purging Now”, not to mention the characters wearing pillows as armor—an allusion to Dan Harmon’s Community Season 3 Episode 14, “Pillows and Blankets”.
The montage sequences that occur throughout the episode are an epic balance of hilarity and excitement. Particularly, the prop design team’s creations of Sanchez’s different portal guns supplement the idea of rebirth. They may not mean anything from afar, but upon closer inspection, it’s almost as if to add to the cyclical nature of failing and restarting anew until a specific goal is achieved. This is a part of the theme of spirals through death, in this case, by physical means.
References to Popular Culture
At some points in the episode, Sanchez refers to himself as Odin, as well as “Spider-Man’s uncle” (i.e. Uncle Ben Parker), both of whom are fictional characters within the Marvel Comics mythos, with Odin having been derived from Norse mythology. Additionally, there is a famous one-liner by Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that is spoken towards the end of the episode. These references may seem meaningless, but given the number of series writers who have gone on to pen MCU screenplays, one could only imagine…
In one moment during a chase scene with a gorilla-like character, a clone of Sanchez is seen sliding down a flag pole. This appears to be an allusion to the video game franchise, Super Mario, especially with a certain religious figure speaking in a European accent. On that note, the episode’s means of having various characters die and essentially respawn at a given location is very much like that of a video game, such as Halo or Grand Theft Auto. This also parallels Season 4’s Emmy-winning, “The Vat Of Acid Episode”. (There, Morty recklessly uses a device invented by Rick to experience death over and over and over again.)
“Mort: Ragnarick” also marks the show’s third time referencing the Predator science-fiction horror franchise. The franchise was previously referenced in Season 5’s “Rick And Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular”, along with the Season 7 premiere, “How Poopy Got His Poop Back”. I’m unsure of what the end goal is. Although, it would be interesting to see how muskets would be further used within the confines of a Rick and Morty narrative eventually.
The Crew Behind Rick and Morty
Rick and Morty is co-created by Dan Harmon (Community).
The series’ main theme and score is done by Ryan Elder. Hunter Curra serves as the supervising sound editor.
Wes Archer is the supervising director. Alex Song-Xia and Cody Ziglar are story editors. Grace Freud is the staff writer.
Jeremy Gilfor is the writers’ assistant. Michael Kellner, Jax Ball, and Laura Cebula (Solar Opposites) are 2nd writers’ assistants.
Lee Harting and Claire Levinson serve as the editors. David Seger is the assistant editor.
Ruth Lambert and Robert McGee are the voice casting directors. Katelyn Semer and Amanda Ray are casting associates. Sara Jane Sherman is the additional casting director.
Amy Chapman and Nick Reczynski are voice-over consultants.
Animators
Jason Boesch (Fish Hooks, Star Wars: The Clone Wars) serves as the art director. Philip Vose serves as the assistant art director. Carol Wyatt is the color supervisor. Michael LaBash is the storyboard revisions director.
Elisa Phillips (The Venture Bros., HarmonQuest) is the character design lead. Vance Caines (Regular Show, Close Enough) is the background design lead. Brent Noll serves as the prop design lead. Kelly Yoo is the assistant prop design lead.
Scott Alberts, Martin Archer, Rufino Roy Camacho II (Futurama, Sausage Party, Disenchantment, Harley Quinn), Adam Ford, Lucas Gray, Heather Langley, Dan O’Connor, Jim Shellhorn (King of the Hill, Sausage Party, Batman: The Killing Joke, Disenchantment, Harley Quinn), and Steve Yurko (Robot Chicken, Harmonquest) serve as the storyboard artists.
Paul Cunningham, MC Griffin, and Eric Hoff are additional storyboard artists.
Adam Burnier, Sam Brumbaugh, Robbie Erwin, Alexa Hanson, Kari Kilpela, James McDermott (King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head), Maneen Mehta, Byron Merrill, Khang Nguyen, Wilder Rees (Solar Opposites), Maya Shavzin (Final Space), Amy Sherrier, Ken Siu, and Tony Weinstock are the character designers.
Jackie Cadiente and Alex Picar work on the character design clean-up.
Helen Bell, Sean Bodley, Phillip K. Burrows Jr., Daniel Chiu (The Simpsons, Solar Opposites), Leasa Epps-Eisele, Liza Epps, Robbie Erwin, Cynthia Ignacio, Tiffany Kao, Alex J. Lee, McDermott, and Tommy Scott work on the background design.
Devyn Adams and Tyler Justice work on the background clean-up.
The Voice Cast Behind Rick and Morty
Ian Cardoni voices Rick Sanchez, the genius scientist of the series. Harry Belden voices Morty Smith, the teenage grandson of the series.
Spencer Grammer appears as the voice of Summer Smith, Rick Sanchez’s granddaughter/ Morty Smith’s older sister. Chris Parnell voices Jerry Smith, Summer and Morty’s father.
Sarah Chalke (How I Met Your Mother) is credited in the episode as the voice of Beth Smith, Summer and Morty Smith’s mother.
Maria Bamford (The Legend of Korra, BoJack Horseman, Santa Inc., The People’s Joker, Teenage Euthanasia, Big Mouth) makes a guest voice appearance.
Kari Wahlgren voices Rick’s Space Cruiser/ garage. Troy Baker, Echo Kellum, Maurice LaMarche, Nick Reczynski, Rob Schrab, and Gary Anthony Williams also make voice appearances.
Rick Sanchez’s Character Development
Sanchez’s dynamic with other characters, specifically those who can actually level the playing field, is an interesting change in how the narrative is usually told. There is something remarkable about his exchange of dialogue regarding intellect and wisdom that holds meaning in this episode. It used to be that the protagonist had a huge hubris about himself and his capabilities. However, in recent episodes, he has had to deal with humility and learn that people around him matter. This could be a concrete progression of his character, or perhaps that’s solely for this episode. Still, it conveys the fact that he is just as human as anyone else on Earth.
Final Thoughts on Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 9
“Mort: Ragnarick” is a fantastical epic episode about religion without treading too deep down that rabbit hole. On the one hand, it introduces new characters who might prove useful in the near or distant future. It would be awesome to see how mythology and religion continue to collide with scientific belief. On the other hand, there is something quite funny about self-destruction on an individual level. Change, metamorphoses, and evolution are crucial discussion topics to engage with on that matter. Nonetheless, Gilfor, Marder, and Lim deliver on what can be argued as one of the more merit-worthy episodes of the season, especially with how it views life and death through objective lenses. Speaking of which, the season finale also deals with the cyclical nature of self-destruction and transformation. More on that soon…
Rick and Morty Season 7 is now airing on Adult Swim via Cartoon Network. The season will stream via Max (formerly HBO Max) next year!
Have you seen the series yet? If so, then what are your thoughts on it so far? Let us know! For more adventure, animation, comedy, and science-fiction-related news and reviews, do not forget to follow The Cinema Spot on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
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Managing editor & film and television critic with a Bachelor's of Arts in English Literature with a Writing Minor from the University of Guam. Currently in graduate school completing a Master's in English Literature.
