There are very few things stronger than the bond between a grandfather and his grandchild; but usually that relationship isn’t based around the pair traveling through multiple dimensions, killing aliens, and the elder generally not giving squanch. Over the course of two seasons and now a third so much life-changing information has been bestowed upon the world for those really hoping to become better (or maybe worst) people. Wubba lubba dub dub, it’s time to learn some “Rick & Morty” life lessons!
Don’t Erase Your Memories
It shouldn’t be a surprise for fans of the series that the smartest man in the multi-verse and his protégé/verbal punching bag grandson have been on thousands of adventures we, the viewers, have never witnessed. What is surprising is the fact a majority of Morty’s (and even to a certain extent Rick’s”) memories of those harrowing and not-so-harrowing moments have been erased from their respective minds courtesy of a machine dubbed by Rick as,
What is essentially a replacement episode for the two-season norm of “Inter-dimensional Cable” becomes a mixture of apparent random clips of unseen moments and Morty’s growing disgust for himself due to various incidents including a situation where he caused a man to commit suicide for being called a pedophile after seeing a smudge on his telescope lens & believing it was his school’s new guidance counselor (the same believed pedophile) living on the moon while plotting something evil (it was actually a smudge and he was actually a former Marine with no known horrific acts associated with his life), and sending an alien overlord to Hell after making him question the possibility of an afterlife (and then there’s the whole “squirrels running the world” revelation Morty discovers by wearing a machine that turns animals’ random noises into the English language).
Eventually Morty’s anger shifts from simply him being a screw-up to his entire family being terrible people including his mother Beth choosing his sister Summer over him in a situation where she could only save one without a moment’s hesitation; his mom, sister & granddad mocking Morty when he was possessed by a “demon slug”; and Rick using the word “granite” instead “granted” whenever he said the phrase, “We shouldn’t take things for granite.” Reasonably furious that Rick would remove memories both negative & beneficial even if the latter was at Rick’s own expense, Morty starts fighting with his grandfather and causes them to lose their memories completely when they collide with the “Men in Black”-like memory eraser. With a clean slate, Morty is able to recount hundreds of moments while trying to piece together the reality of who he and Rick are; and the results aren’t pretty. So upset over the memories lost and the apparent reasons for them, Morty can only come to one conclusion: suicide. Rick hearing Morty’s speech about the point of living is to have memories wiped isn’t a life worth living convinces him to join his unknown grandson in this suicide pact. Thankfully for them, Summer just so happens to check in and discover their amnesia – saving her family members from certain doom and restoring their minds.
Though Summer is cursed out for her unknown actions, the fact remains Summer is the reason for what’s important being given back to Rick & Morty: memories. Memories should be cherished even if said memories will drive you insane because you’ve learned everything in the universe and can’t handle the pressure. Memories, for good or bad, shape who we are, assist us in learning from our mistakes, and help us not take things for granite. If not for memories we’d all be constant blank slates unable to comprehend why we should or shouldn’t listen to the conversations of squirrels.
