Adult Swim’s animated series called Rick and Morty recently wrapped up its seventh season. The show follows the story of the leading characters, Rick, a human-hating alcoholic crazy scientist, and his dumb yet slightly emotionally stable lackey cum grandson.
Created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, this season of the show was the first one to not have Roiland’s contribution since the man has been dismissed from work because of domestic violence allegations. This has not stopped the fans from complaining about the change in the voice of Rick and Morty, two main characters to whom Roiland had lent his voice.
The two are now voiced by Ian Cardoni and Harry Belden, but many who have been with the show since the start have found the voices not to be a good fit. Apart from these two, the show also has Chris Parnell voicing characters like Jerry Smith, Rick’s son-in-law, husband to Beth Smith, who is voiced by Sarah Chalke, and Summer Smith, Morty’s elder sister, who is voiced by Spencer Grammer.
This wraps the Smith family that has given space to Rick Sanchez in their house, where he builds strange gadgets and travels through portals that take him to different planets, all while bringing his grandson, Morty, along with him on intergalactic adventures.
The show is best known for being unapologetically twisted. The dark humor remains unmatched, and this, paired with grotesque plotlines and unique character names, has managed to create this addicting concoction of adult animation that we cannot stop watching.
While the changes in the voices of the leads may have been slightly hard for the fans to bear, the season has made sure to make up for it with a confident storyline that is over being soppy. To many, it seemed like the show had finally found a new direction after being confused about its story and characters over the previous seasons.
The controversies around the creator of the show brought much attention not just to Roiland but also to this season. The ten-episode seventh season came to an end on December 17th, 2023, and if you are still not over the season, then continue reading till the end for a recap and the ending explained.
Rick and Morty’s Ending Explained
Each episode of the show usually has the sociopathic grandfather and his anxious grandson going on adventures while risking their lives. The recent episodes of the season had Morty discovering himself and establishing his morals more firmly than ever.
One of the main plotlines for this season was Rick’s revenge against the man who murdered his wife. We witnessed him travel through different realities and planets to get his hands on the man who ruined his life. This final episode of the season, titled Fear No Mort, was directed by Eugene Huang and was as dramatic as you could imagine.
We kick off the episode with Rick and Morty on yet another one of their adventures. They come across a haunted house but remain unfazed, which makes sense considering all the strange things they have witnessed over their time in space. A little horror place should be bearable.
While the two could not stop hoping for a good scare, they heard an enigmatic voice that directed them to Denny’s restroom stall, which should give them the scariest experience of their lives. They reach the spot only to find something called The Hole, which throws at people their worst nightmares.
Not only this, but it also allows people to take control of their fears and conquer them, and those who manage to do so get to hang their Polaroids on the Hall of Fame board. While Rick thinks the whole thing is pointless, Morty is more optimistic about the situation and wants to jump into the hole to conquer his fears and finally live without it.
Inside the Hole
They battle first with maggots and then climb out of the hole, thinking it to be the end.
But as they reach home, they find Diane, Rick’s dead wife, alive and walking out of a portal. Realizing that they are still in the portal, Rick meets his wife and immediately forgets all about conquering his fears, wanting nothing but to spend time with his wife. Rick has been this hateful man throughout the show, and finally, through this unexpected meeting with his wife, we see in him a sense of healing.
The two, meeting after decades, have a rocky start at first, but they soon end up falling in love once again. Rick seemed to have no plans of leaving the hole if that meant dying in it, but he eventually realized that it would be too selfish on his part because it would kill his grandson as well. He is forced to leave his wife once again, and he sets off with Morty to find a way back to the real world.
They run into many situations, each more embarrassing than the last, and each almost convincing them that they had managed to crawl out of the hole. But after a series of repetitive events, they realized that unless they brought out and resolved their deepest hidden secret fear, they would not be going anywhere anytime soon.
Morty’s Fear
Finally, Morty realizes that his biggest secret fear was not being that important to his grandfather. He feared that he had jumped in the hole alone and Rick had never followed, that he had been going through this torture all by himself, while his grandfather never bothered to tag along.
This is true since Morty was in the hole alone, and Rick never jumped in. He was in the stall watching the formed squirm around uncomfortably. Not long after the realization of his fear dawned upon Morty, he managed to combat it, climbing out of the hole just fine.
He did not seem all that angry at his grandfather, who had not bothered to have his back. He could come back only because he had let go of his fear that he was replaceable to Rick. He did not fear the fact that he was not Rick’s entire world and that he was the one more dependent on him.
The Ending Explained
He realized that he did not have to be the center of Rick’s attention and that he could be more independent from then on. Finally, Morty told Rick about what he witnessed inside, skipping the part where his fear dawned on him but telling him that he saw Diane inside.
This was enough for Rick to want to jump in the hole, but before he took a step forward, he took out a photograph of Morty from inside his pocket and hung it on the Hall of Fame board along with the rest. He did not jump in, indicating that he had also decided to let go of his fears and nightmares as well.
The self-destructive Rick we know was nowhere to be seen. The Rick that fans saw in the final episode had healed a bit and was more willing to admit his shortcomings. Rick had feared he was too afraid to confront, and he was okay with that by the end of the episode.
As the two walked out of the stall, fans knew that even though Rick had not jumped, it was the both of them who had conquered their fears and become better versions of themselves, not just little Morty alone.
