Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Anyone who’s complained about Rick and Morty Season 5 being bad just got a corrective slap in the face from Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland. Not only was “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” one of the best episodes of this season; it also has one of the strongest emotional arcs of the show. You wanted more backstory? More Rick adventures? More giant fights? It’s all there, packed alongside a twist that’s hurts to the core.
While Beth, Jerry, Summer, and Morty go out of town for a family cruise, Rick works on his latest pet project: reconstructing Birdperson. As you may recall, Rick’s best friend was murdered on his wedding day, turned into a Phoenix cyborg by the same Galactic Federation he spent his life fighting, and almost killed by Rick himself. To save his friend, Rick has to dive into Birdperson’s memories. In the process the episode quietly explains some of the most lingering questions about Rick, from his devotion to his family to why he seems to care about select people even while believing the universe is meaningless.
And because this was a big lore episode, you know it was teeming with Easter eggs. Wondering what you may have missed? We have your back.
Thirty-five-year-old Rick looks a lot like Han Solo.
Did Memory Rick’s gun-toting, floppy-haired, vest-wearing look seem familiar? That’s because this version of Rick was almost certainly inspired by everyone’s favorite rogue spaceman, Han Solo. The Han knockoff joke is so on the nose, it’s even mocked down to Memory Rick’s mentality. After learning that he’s not a real Rick but a memory of himself in Birdperson’s mind, Memory Rick says, “I’m coming with you now that I know my whole life is a lie.”
“Wow,” our Rick shoots back, “you really are 35.” And sure enough, Harrison Ford was 35 when the first Star Wars movie was filmed — making this a 1:1 comparison.
Thirty-five-year-old Rick being modeled after Han Solo is also an in-series callback of sorts. Season 4’s “Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri” introduced Space Beth, the possible clone of Beth C-137 who kicks butt around the galaxy. Space Beth’s whole deal paired with her fight with the Gromflomites feels pointedly like a Star Wars ripoff. Rick even notes the comparison a few times, calling the final fight in the episode “a pice of shit Star Wars.” But that’s not all. When Rick meets with Space Beth at a random Shoney’s he tells her that he also had a “hero phase.” That’s what we’re seeing with Memory Rick. Apparently playing hero means copying George Lucas.
Rick and Birdperson used to hangout at Glar's bar.
During one of Rick and Birdperson’s many memories, the duo have a bar fight. That grumpy bartender should look familiar. He’s the same unnamed bartender who worked with Gleer — no, Glar’s — in the piano bar in “One Crew Over the Crewcoo’s Morty.” That implies that Rick and Birdperson may have met Gleer/Glar together.
There was another Charlie Kaufman reference.
We called this one out in Season 5, Episode 6. But since it’s happening again, we’ve got to note the trend. While descending into Birdperson’s mind, Rick calls the experience “Charlie Kaufman bullshit.” That’s a light rib toward the experimental director and writer who’s pretty highly revered by Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon. In conjunction with Harmon’s Starburns Industries, Kaufman directed and produced the critically acclaimed Anomalisa alongside Duke Johnson. The film was nominated for an Academy Award, making it the first R-rated animated film to ever receive a Best Animated Feature nomination.
The episode’s title is also a reference to another Kaufman movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Now can we please see Kaufman’s take on The Wizard of Oz?
Geardude's death explains a lot about Gearhead.
While Rick and Memory Rick are jumping through Birdperson’s memories, they stumble upon one of the worst days of Rick’s life: The Battle of Blood Ridge. Eventually the episode explains why that fated day was so miserable. But before it does, “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” shows that Blood Ridge resulted in the death of Gearhead’s older and far cooler brother, Geardude. It’s a somewhat silly death based on Geardude’s name alone. Yet this moment explains so much about Rick’s supposed friend.
Gearhead (Scott Chernoff) first appeared in Season 1’s “Risky Business” and immediately he didn’t belong. Every time Rick has encountered him, he’s done everything possible to avoid talking to his pal. Geardude’s death sort of explains why. Rick, Geardude, and Birdperson all fought together in a traumatizing and intense war for freedom. That experience bonds people. So when Rick’s awesome buddy died in the fight, of course he let Geardude’s far more annoying all-bark-and-no-bite brother tag along in his group. That also explains why Gearhead was so quick to sell out Rick and Morty in “Mortynight Run.” He was never really Rick’s bro, and on some level they both understood that.
Birdperson also doesn't understand what a plumbus is.
Once Rick tracks down the real Birdperson and convinces him to live, he tries to make his best friend remember a specific weapon. While Rick is rifling through a remembered box in his garage, he pulls out a plumbus instead of the weapon. Birdperson proves that once you see a plumbus, you can never truly forget it.
