After a two-week absence, Jerry returned to Rick and Morty this week in an episode that ultimately fell flat.
Up to this point, the episodes of season 3 have been very strong. In fact, the previous episode, "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender" could be considered one of the greatest episode in Rick and Morty history. However, "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy" felt like an underdeveloped storyline that was haphazardly thrown together and resulted in a very unfulfilling episode.
The biggest problem was the Summer/Beth/Morty supporting plot — there was little explanation for anything that happened, and it ended abruptly.
After being snubbed by her boyfriend, Ethan, because her chest is too small, Summer attempted to use one of Rick’s gadgets to go up a few cup sizes, but accidentally turned herself giant instead. Beth and Morty tried to put her back to normal, without success.
The storyline had potential. Beth refused to call Rick for an explanation on how to fix Summer because she wanted to prove she’s intelligent, something she’s been unable to do since Jerry left. Without him, she’s become the dumbest adult in the house and can no longer lord over him.
It could have been a perfect opportunity to dive into how Beth is falling apart since the split, but it wasn’t focused on. Really, nothing in this story is. It gets very little screentime and was quickly resolved when Morty conveniently figured out how to operate the device (is he getting smarter?) and turned Beth into a giant like Summer to comfort her about her body.
Jerry and Rick’s storyline wasn’t much better. At Morty’s request, Rick took Jerry out on an “adventure”, which is really just a day at a resort where people can’t die.
Jerry and Rick were bonding until Jerry is confronted by enemies of Rick in the bathroom who convinced Jerry to kill Rick on the Whirly Dirly, a roller coaster that went out of range of the force field that keeps everyone from returning to life if they die.
Jerry had second thoughts once he was on the ride though, and tried to save Rick’s life as they were thrown off the ride. Rick realized that Jerry wanted him dead, and the small bond they built broke.
Eventually, they headed home and they aired their grievances toward one another, and Rick admitted that he had a hand in the divorce.
The episode left the Rick/Jerry relationship close to where it started. They still don’t like each other much, but with Jerry out of the house, Rick’s dislike of him seems a little less.
At the end, Summer was back to normal size with no showing of how she got there, Rick went back to his role as head of the Smith house and Jerry headed back to his apartment.
The ending of this episode brought no satisfaction. It feels as if nothing happened, and not in a good way. Easily the worst so far this season.
Rick and Morty airs every Sunday at 11:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network.
