And here we thought that we’re done with the whole Beth saga since the end of Season 4 of the show. But I guess not, I suppose with this season. Especially in the latter half, mainly this episode, which landed on the list for the countdown. And it has been two years since they last made the list back in 2023, so might as well go and do just that, even if the season finales have been pretty much random at best, just been used to progress the story. And this is one of them that hasn't been touched upon since the early days of the pandemic. So, coming in at number 8 of the Top 12 Countdown of 2025 is Rick and Morty with “Hot Rick”.
Of course, it ain’t a trip down memory lane, and a hassle of a trip it was, until you bring up an old face that we haven’t seen in a long time. Three seasons, to be exact, in the form of one of the Ricks that our Rick came across. That being Memory Rick. And for those who don’t know, it happened to be the version of Rick that our Rick knows back in Season 5’s “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort”. Deciding to go memory hopping since we last saw him and would end up in Jerry’s memories, and was detected at the start of the episode, the moment something doesn’t sit right with Jerry, saying something extremely positive about Rick since returning from an alien bug planet.
But that’s more than enough to make it an episode to get the guy out, so he doesn’t cause too much trouble. Especially when going towards Beth as the next person up for Memory Rick to jump in. Pretty much playing mind games with her when seeing how she behaved the moment she allowed Memory Rick to enter her subconscious. Messing with the moments of her childhood all the way to her early adulthood by having to be a stand-in the moment Rick leaves her.
You could call it memory manipulation because it is. It is memory manipulation at its finest to have Memory Rick enter Beth’s life and be the stand-in and to become a key figure in her life. Shades of what you see in certain pieces of fiction when it comes to people having that ability, mostly in anime, like Eren Jaeger from Attack on Titan or Tsukishima Sukuro from Bleach. And mind you, Memory Rick stems from our Rick, who experienced seeing both his wife and daughter being blown up by Rick Prime just because he refused to help out when it came to portal travel. And mind you, this is right as Rick was ready to move on from Diane and ready to get back in the saddle. Especially when making love with a female bug alien. You think that finally locating and compromise to a permanent end to Rick Prime after years of searching that you think it would finally put an end to that chapter.
So, of course, the focus is on Beth for this episode, as if her character arc has yet to have its chapter closed. Having to behave differently, courtesy of Memory Rick, like the version of her father that never left or died. And you think for a moment in the early parts of the episode, moments after Memory Rick was detected in Jerry’s mind, and having to be extracted out of the head and into the storage device, as long as Memory Rick doesn’t get put back into play, then we should be good for the rest of the episode. Too bad that Beth had to go and do just that once she put on the helmet and did Memory Rick a favor when doing that to jump ship. Especially, sending a memory version of Diane into her mind. And the rest results in Beth having to crash out for the rest of the episode.
Resulting in her getting into a fight with her space counterpart, resulting in Space Beth having her neck snapped, before running out of the house, and plans on taking her own life as a result of taking it too much following her putting on the helmet to help Memory Rick transfer a memory of Diane into her head. And at first, when seeing that, I was like, “Oh damn. Oh damn. Oh... oh, it’s GGs. It is GGs for Space Beth.” Though that was short-lived once Rick had to come and revive her.
Oh yeah, this is where Rick has been when all of this was happening. Attending an event at the alien bug planet and making a name for himself. And that was after making love with a high-ranking member there, named Bug Anne. Resulting in him getting an invite... only for things to not go out well. Leading him to leave the planet, only to spot a dead Space Beth before reviving her and being told what is going on in preparation to go after Beth before she plans on taking her own life.
It has been mind games after mind games with Beth taking all of it in, that you have to say to yourself how much is too much to take on the ol’ memory bank with both Memory Rick and Memory Diane trying to reach the present. The moment Beth enters and drives towards where she is heading, which is a cliff to end it all. Just have to go through various memories of Beth going on the attack towards Rick and Diane. Primarily, Rick, because of how he abandoned her throughout her childhood, and it’s pretty much retribution for that. Even if it means letting present-day Beth drive off the cliff Thelma and Louise style.
Leading up to the moment where Beth is seconds away from doing the job, only to be stopped by Space Beth, and later, Rick, but not before Memory Rick and Memory Diane make an appearance in the back of the car that is heading towards the cliff. Once again, Beth is going full Thelma and Louise before being dragged out by the various memories of Beth. And this is right as Space Beth and Rick entered the scene to stop Beth from taking herself out.
And it’s no secret that Rick is not a good father. He is not a good father, and that’s not my words saying it; he himself said it at the end of Season 4 when the whole Beth clone fiasco came back to bite him. So, the fact that he has to step up and talk to her to show that he’s there now, back in her life, before having to subdue her and take her back home. But this has told you that it is no gimme that Beth has gone through a lot when it comes to not having his father around. Especially since the Rick she is with currently previously lost his wife and daughter by his biggest op that he spent his entire adult life looking for before ending up crashing into this Beth’s life. Someone had to step in and, despite continuously looking for Rick Prime before ending up finding and finally putting an end to that chapter, and this version of Rick would end up being the one to do it.
At least everything is back to normal... sort of. Had to get her memories of the past few hours erased via mind blower, which includes having moments of her mother, since it was eating her subconscious after putting on the helmet at the behest of Memory Rick, going into her head that led to her crashing out that nearly took her life. But at least that chapter should come to a close... hopefully. Give it a season or two before this comes crawling back. But it should at least have Rick try to move on from Diane once he decides to take the memory box that has both her and Memory Rick inside and shoot it away to the depths of space. Finally putting an end to one chapter and the other, once Rick pulled out his phone, hoping for a reply from Bug Anne... yeah, things really didn’t turn out well for them.
So, quite the episode it was to close out the show’s eighth season. Back to the Beth train to end the season. Especially after we had another Beth-centric episode earlier in the season, with her and Space Beth turning back the clock to transform into kid versions of themselves, which became a nightmare for the neighborhood. But it was quite the episode that almost resulted in a major death. Nearly lost Space Beth there before being revived by Rick, and later nearly lost Beth because of the voices in her head, courtesy of the various memories of herself, along with Memory Rick and Memory Diane, hoping for Beth to get to know her mother, which doesn’t involve Rick and/or Morty diving into a fear hole, before blowing up to everyone’s face when it comes to Beth’s mental wellbeing. Hopefully, this should at least put an end to this chapter. Or, at least, have Rick and hopefully Beth move on from Diane. You think that taking out Rick Prime in Season 7 would put an end to the chapter because he did boom her and a young Beth. Hoping to get some closure out of that, but I guess not. So, this episode should at least do the trick.
Day 5 of the Top 12 Countdown of the year 2025 is in the books. What do you think about this episode? Should it be higher, lower, or stay put on your list? Put it in the comments below as we prepare to go into the Number 7 spot of the Top 12 Countdown. Hopefully, I can get through the whole thing for once. Which episode and series will be taking the eleventh spot? Find and see sometime tomorrow. Follow me on Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, and BlueSky for updates and behind-the-scenes stuff. And y’all should know the drill by now...
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