Ok so Rick And Morty Season 6 Episode 3 is now out and the entry titled Bethic Twinstinct has a lot going on with it. It’s obviously named after the film Basic Instinct with Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone, and just like that film we’ve been slowing it down, zooming in, and also getting as close as we can to make sure we unearth all the hidden details and things you missed. “Turn the brightness up, I said turn the brightness up”.
Loving this Rick and Morty Season 6 so far, this Episode had a lot of funny moments. The main plot of the episode was focused on the two Beths and literally embraced the Self Love concept. Then there is this side plot where Rick, Morty, and Summer play this Realistic Game, which is too realistic but is fun to watch. The two Beths try to hide their Self-Love but everyone eventually finds out except for Jerry (because he Stupid). Anyways let’s just get into the Rick And Morty Season 6 Episode 3 Recap.
Here is the Rick And Morty Season 6 Episode 3 Recap:
The Thanksgiving
Now as you can guess the episode centers around Space Beth spending some time with the family. This is also a thanksgiving special, and we begin with a callback to the last thanksgiving episode from the fifth season. Episode 6 of that entry was titled Thanksploitation Spectacular, and it had both Rick and Morty transforming into Turkeys so that they could get pardoned by the President. This is a tradition that’s believed to have been stated all the way back in the 1870s, with Presidents pardoning Turkeys every single year.
Rick ends up flying into the window disguised as a turkey. He also asks how he’s got such an advanced game console and first refers to it as the Pooplickian gamepad. We also get a line about the portals. Season 5 ended with Evil Morty rerouting all the portal guns so that they led to instant death for the character, and you might have noticed that they haven’t used them at all in these first three episodes. We do know that there is a golden one out there that doesn’t do this and it might end up being the thing that’s brought across.
Now Rick stands here naked the entire time, but we see in the next scene that he could’ve put clothes on completely effortlessly showing man just wanted to flex. The way these go over him reminded me a lot of a Marvel Nano machine suit-up. Never celebrated Thanksgiving because I’m from India and I’m thankful every single year that I don’t have to (sarcasm of course).
Jerry ends up giving a big speech, and in the end, he reveals that he’d end his own life if he ever lost Beth. Weirdly we’ve actually seen what happens to him if he has a life without her and he sort of becomes his own version of Rick, completely isolated and bitter. Anyway, from here, we cut to the title sequence, and I’d obviously love to hear your thoughts on the intro.
The Wine That Started The Thing
From here we cut to Beth’s chatting away in the kitchen, and this episode is basically about learning to love yourself…which is a nice message I guess. Lots of trying to bone your clone and we see the pair flirting away with Space Path planting a translation chip in the back of Home Beth’s neck.
This is something that was first featured in Marvel comics, and at one point, Kang the Conqueror even gave his younger self this so that he could continue on the path to turning into his older versions. These were both Kang similar to how the Beths are both Beths, but that involved the bootstrap paradox whereas these are just duplicates.
The wine that Space Beth gives clearly makes people….squanchy and this is why we see Rick locking it up behind a mind-bending window cabinet at the end. I think that this is using pocket dimensions in order to be hidden away rather than it just being a fake window. We saw something similar in Peacemaker when we watched where the Peacemaker and his father hid away their costumes. I’m guessing that this means that Rick actually wanted something like this to happen, which he later talks about with the Whale.
He might have even been through this with himself, and he keeps an ice cream tub just in case he needs to pretend he’s been out for some. Space beth brings up that her ship is bigger on the inside which is of course a nod to the Tardis from Doctor Who and it might also work in a similar method to how this window does.
The Actual Reality Game
Cut to Rick, Morty, and Summer playing a game based on Asteroid, the popular 1979 cabinet game that ended up getting introduced to homes on the Atari. The three decide to crank the realism up with the higher settings being closer to what space is actually like. It’s completely devoid of asteroids, and the player dies before ever coming across one. Just before they do all this we see that there’s a donut shape in the top right-hand corner of the game and this is actually what many believe that the universe looks like.
Scientists were able to examine radiation from the first stages of its creation, and they discovered that the universe was expanding. However, in order to do this, they theorized that it would also have to loop in on itself rather than being flat or like a box.
Now Episode 1 of this season had a nod to Tony leaving a message to Pepper in Avengers Endgame, and we sort of get something similar here with Morty’s ship being adrift. He leaves a message for his hypothetical son but we, of course, know that the character actually had one with Summer in Season 5 episode 4. Titled Rickdependence spray, it was another one I incest you watch, and it’s brought up at the end by Space Beth.
Beths Go On A Space Date
Outside Beth and Space Beth almost kiss, and this brings a new meaning to the word masturbation. Anyway back in the game, we see a Street Fighter Parody called Getting To A Street Fight. This centers around fighters trying to meet up, and we see that the two characters are based on Ryu and Blanka from that game. The modes include a battle royale, meth mode, pants free, urban, and slappers only which is like Newcastle’s Bigg Market on a Saturday night.
The pair have been drinking lots of green energy drinks based on Mountain Dew called Battery Fuel. Down said Bigg Market, I learned that a Vodka and Mountain dew is called Rocket Fuel, and the company also has lots of tie-ins with game releases. This is called Game Fuel, but ey, I prefer a night on the town with some slappers and me Rocket Fuel.
Later on, they also play a parody of Finale Fantasy but in this cloud is too weak to pick up his buster sword. The two Beths go on a date together above the planet earth, and this reminded me of the date in Passengers. They also talk about the space station on which that film took place. A really underrated movie that looks great in 4k so go pick it up if you’re interested in that.
I also think that we see a decoy body as well, which was a big feature in the second episode of season 2. The pair get it on with both Summer and Morty being traumatized by what they’ve witnessed to. Jerry still doesn’t notice because he’s stupid, and there is a bit in which they go over how Summer normally picks up on things first before Morty does.
Doing The San Junipero
Cut to Rick ripping apart a space whale, and these creatures have appeared in a lot of tv shows and movies. This idea of them first popped up in the 1970s with the ocean being likened to the vastness of space. The eerie and otherworldly whalesong was also repurposed for their appearances. I also got some flashes of Jaws here when they cut open the shark but it turns out Rick is actually helping it out.
On the roof, the Beths make snow angels when rolling around kissing, and the arms on this are together as one symbolizing the two people actually being the same. They blow things with their vape pens remind me a lot of Gandalf and Bilbo doing it in Fellowship of the rings. After completing his jigsaw and realizing it’s a horse, he plays hide the affair, a role-playing game about two women having an affair together.
In a star trek Esque holodeck, we see that the Beths have aged up and spent their lives together, which Rick refers to as a San Junipero. This is the title of a Netflix episode in which two women fall in love together in a simulation that I won’t spoil the ending of in case you haven’t seen it. Ey, I might be the spoiler man, but I’m not like that b**tch Madisynn from the MCU ruining the Sopranos. What do you mean it’s been 15 years?
Erasing The “Self Love” Memories
Jerry remembers the time that he was warned about her in High School and literally retreated into his Shell which we learn he had installed by Rick. This is based on a pill bug’s ability to roll up, and Rick explains it’s the only way he can take control. Rick got matching eagle tattoos instead, and this allows Jerry to avoid talking about Wonder Woman 1984.
Cut to the family playing a text-based game that used to be popular before Graphics really took center stage. The text layout is similar to the matrix, and it’s about the group waking up in a forest that they’re unable to escape from. Eventually, the Vampires take over, and a lovely little game this is.
Home Beth slowly gravitates towards Jerry due to his vulnerability which Space Beth, of course, doesn’t have. The pair had their lives together in what Home Beth refers to as a video game, again calling back to this simulation. The pair decide to erase their memories, and they end up sitting in chairs that pull directly from Total Recall.
Rick also mentions several movies, including Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind which was about Jim Carrey’s character erasing the memories of his ex so that he could get over her. Rick also talks about Multiplicity, which is a Michael Keaton film in which he gets cloned several times.
Doing It While The Kids Hear
Rick is angry because they’ll not remember, but everyone else will, but Jerry breaks free and says he shouldn’t have promised to off himself. Jerry packs up to leave, and I love how all of his clothes are the same, explaining why he never changes. Jerry gives them permission to make out and basically cucks himself, which Morty and Summer overhear. Morty tries to act normal, but he just pours loads of salt on his food, and it’s one of the clingiest, funniest scenes I think we’ve ever had in Rick and Morty.
So funny just watching them react to the noises, and it’s probably the most awkward Thanksgiving ever. Beth says goodbye, and Rick puts away the wine, and amongst this, we can also see that he has a tequila-like drink with Morty inside of it. Normally you use a worm, but here, I guess Morty is a worm, so he’s just as good.
Rick And Morty Season 6 Episode 3 Post Credits Scene
Cut to the post-credits scene, and we see Jerry going to the Jerryboree. First introduced in Mortynight run, this was a place for all Jerrys to hang out, and we discover that some have been showing up to touch others, so they aren’t allowed in without a chaperone. Down a dark alleyway, Jerry meets another version of himself that he kisses.
It might be a reach, but this could be a callback to the Black Mirror episode fighting vipers. This was about a fighting game where two players met up and had a fight, and they then got it on and decided to meet up in the real world. The pair kissed, and with all the other fighting stuff, I kinda feel like it’s kinda tied in. Again might be a reach, but I thought I’d bring it up.
Anyway, that’s the episode, and so far, I’ve been really enjoying the series. I think this was the weakest of the three, but still, it’s really well put together and a great episode about self-love as well as how awkward I’ve heard thanksgiving can be. This had the potential to be really weird and cringey and though the more you think about it, the worse it is, I think they definitely presented it the best way it could be.
