‘Rick And Morty’ Season 6, Episode 6 Recap: Extinction Rebellion

Rick and Morty doesn’t always follow plot twists with consequences, but “Evil” Morty’s escape into the wider multiverse ensured that Rick’s portal gun stayed broken, and the rift stayed open.

The broken gun didn’t make a huge difference, ultimately (indeed, Rick used his portal gun so scarcely last season that fans theorized that it was secretly broken), but it’s nice to see Rick still reeling from his encounter with a superior Morty. Rick has been procrastinating with repairing the gun, but in “Juricksic Mort,” Rick faces a species who are capable of multiverse travel too – they simply don’t care to do it.

Earth is “invaded” by the dinosaurs, who, it turns out, were never lumbering lizards, but a highly evolved species who have been spreading peace and love throughout the galaxy, and they’re disappointed to see how their ape cousins have mistreated the planet.

The dinosaurs are shocked to see how Earth has been polluted and degraded in their absence, along with the awkward fact that their ancestor’s remains are being burnt for fuel. Hence, the dinosaurs (who are hilariously, painstakingly polite throughout this whole thing) decide to take Earth out of human hands and create a utopia.

Hence, the dinosaurs erase capitalist exploitation and over-consumption overnight, destroying the concept of money, and scarcity along with it. Amusingly, this leap forward into perfection unsettles humanity, as most have no idea what to do with themselves anymore.

Only two members of the household happily exist outside of the bounds of meaningful work, Rick and Jerry, who have both found their own way to embrace nothingness. In Rick’s case, it’s nihilistic hedonism, and for Jerry, it’s simply accepting his own mediocrity and insignificance.

When the rest of the family beg Jerry for the secret of his satisfaction, he happily obliges, printing out a book about the art of doing nothing that he’s been working on, titled, “Never trying never fails.”

Rick’s life remains unchanged, but the U.S. President is desperately unhappy, having lost all purpose now that the chaos of daily life has been smoothed out. While sharing a rack of ribs together, House of Cards style, the President pleads Rick to return Earth back to its flawed, original state.

There’s not a lot the President can really offer Rick – Rick is, essentially, humoring the man (this is underlined by the Rick revealing that the folksy owner of the rib shack has been a robot the whole time). But he can let Rick host the Oscars, which is something Rick wants, apparently.

Hence, Rick is tasked with taking down the dinosaurs, who he finds suspiciously agreeable. The dinosaurs prove superior to Rick, handing him a replacement portal gun which works better than his murky green goop, holding all of Rick’s knowledge without an ounce of his cynicism.

The dinosaur’s moral (and mental) superiority infuriates Rick more than anything, and he tasks himself with uncovering their dirty secrets. Rick and Morty cover the last few planets the dinosaurs have improved, and soon discover a pattern – the dinosaurs always improve civilization, until they go extinct from a meteor impact. That, and paleontologists always make educated mistakes.

Rick soon figures out the problem; the universe is balancing out the dinosaur’s perfection, through the evolution of a parallel species of barely sentient rock that exist to destroy and undo their accomplishments. Ultimately, the show is confirming Rick to be correct in his cynicism, his belief that nothing can be changed for the better – the universe is stubbornly imperfect, and life is always going to suck.

Meanwhile, on Earth, even Jerry is growing sick of the dinosaurs. His book has been lauded as an important work that everyone on the planet should read, but his name doesn’t appear on the cover, as the dinosaurs don’t believe in ownership. No book deal, no celebrity, no individualized success; turns out, Jerry still has an ego, and he’s just been denied the biggest success of his life.

Rick returns to Earth, and explains that the dinosaurs have attracted a living meteorite, and that the planet is doomed. A hilarious montage shows the dinosaurs going on a speaking tour, from Joe Rogan’s podcast to daytime TV, trying to convince the public that the meteor is real, but they don’t have a solution to it; their pacifism has finally reached its limit.

Ultimately, the dinosaurs decide to save Earth, putting it back into the hands of its flawed stewards, and leave to Mars, to await their meteoric extinction with open arms. Rick, who has achieved his dream of hosting the Oscars, is again enraged by their moral superiority.

Rick flies out to stand with the dinosaurs on the surface of Mars, arguing for his right to die with them. The dinosaurs are forced to admit defeat and destroy the meteor, Rick having shattered their moral code.

For Rick, it’s a win – the man just couldn’t handle the thought of a species that was just as technologically capable as him, and that had managed to transcend his selfishness and immorality. Rick, after all, needs to remain superior.

Life returns to normal, with profit-seeking exploitation and mind-numbing work back in full force. Now, Jerry is left in a funk, trying to repeat the success of his last book, but with nothing more to say. Rick, on the other hand, is inspired by his success, and has finally fixed his portal gun, promising a return to classic Rick and Morty adventures.

And with the status quo returned, the show goes on hiatus; hopefully, the remaining episodes are just as strong as the first six.

If you enjoyed reading, check out my recap of the previous episode here