‘Rick and Morty’: 7 Loose Ends from Season 4

We’ve seen Evil Morty ascend from an eyepatch-wearing murderer who targeted Rick and abused Mortys to the elected president of the Citadel of Ricks. It’s clear that this Morty has more nefarious plans up his sleeve. What are they? And will Dimension C-137 Rick and Morty be able to stop him?

Every season’s opening credit sequence has teased a series of new adventures, from getting punched on a Story Train to having a pillow fight with a parasitic butler. But there’s one brief moment that’s haunted fans ever since Rick and Morty‘s first episode: that giant flying Cthulhu monster. Will Season 5 finally be the season when we see Summer, Rick, and Morty trying to escape with this thing’s baby? Or is this one of those adventures we can only imagine?

We already know that Jerry is a sad sack of a human with raging marital problems. And we also know that Summer’s sexually adventurous friend Tricia has the hots for him. Jerry is just pathetic and self-destructive enough to have an affair with one of his daughter’s friends. It doesn’t seem to be a matter of if this mistake will happen but when.

For everything that we know about Space Beth — her work infuriating the Galactic Federation, her crew of rouge space criminals, her awesome hair — there’s one thing we know nothing about. Does Space Beth have a slam piece? We know that she’s appalled by the very idea that her other self would stay with Jerry, so that’s off the table. But if Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland wanted to do an episode that completely revolved around Space Beth’s intergalactic exploits, possibly with Morty and Summer along for the ride, we wouldn’t complain.

Leave it to Rick and Morty to center one of Season 4’s most emotional arcs around pooping. “The Old Man and the Seat” saw Rick go into full investigation mode as he swept the galaxy for the man who used his secret toilet. Despite Rick’s obvious frustration with him, it’s immediately obvious that Tony is just irreverent and dedicated enough to be a perfect new friend for Rick. But before they become anything more than pooping rivals, Tony dies. Will Rick ever seek out another multiverse’s version of Tony? Or is that potential friendship too painful to revisit?

This is absolutely one of those questions that will never be answered, but it will always haunt us. Why can the cat talk? While Morty, Rick, and Summer were off on a dragon’s quest, “Claw and Hoarder Special Ricktim’s Morty” saw Jerry befriend a talking cat that loved Florida and not answering questions. But by the episode’s end Rick learned the exact origins of this deceptively cute animal. Whatever Jerry saw about that cat’s past was enough to make him vomit and cry. And since Rick didn’t kill the cat and instead drove him away, there’s always a chance this mysterious feline may return.

This was by far the biggest change that distinguished Season 4. Though Rick saved his family multiple times throughout this latest batch of episodes, no one needed him quite as desperately as they did in the past. Morty and Summer had more standalone adventures, whether they were ruling over a species of face huggers or killing a Zeus. Jerry managed to figure out how to stop floating all on his own. The season even ended with Space Beth pretending to punch her father and laughing alongside Regular Beth when he flinched. That’s a far cry from the woman who once chose her father over her marriage.

All of this begs the question: is the Smith family outgrowing Rick? Of course he’ll always have a place with them, but more and more it seems like that place isn’t as a patriarch but as an equal. Will Rick be able to accept his new position? Or was Tammy’s warning that Rick isn’t a threat without other people a foreshadowing of the interpersonal drama that’s to come?

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