Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for Rick and Morty season 7, episode 8.
Summary
While Rick and Morty season 7, episode 8 might not feature Rick, that did not stop the outing from including some of the show’s strongest jokes so far this season. Rick and Morty season 7 needed to change the show’s status quo thanks to the exit of voice actor Justin Roiland. When the original voice of both Rick and Morty was replaced, the show inevitably felt different. However, Rick and Morty season 7 took advantage of this with a string of unpredictable episodes that altered the dynamic between its titular heroes and subverted the expectations that viewers have of the series.
Not only did Rick and Morty season 7 episode 5 kill Rick Prime, the show’s biggest villain so far, but the very next episode was a lighthearted anthology outing that proved the series wasn’t about to start taking itself too seriously. This trend continued with Rick and Morty season 7, episode 7, which paired Morty and Summer in a bizarre misadventure involving psychic alien appendages. Now, Rick and Morty season 7, episode 8, “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie,” has changed this approach with an outing that keeps the show’s tone light while also messing with the formula of the series.
10 Season 7 Episode 8’s Opening Parodied Action Movies
“Rise of the Numbericons” Was a Goofy Blockbuster Pastiche
The opening scene of “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” introduced a world where sentient numbers and letters are at war with each other. Neither Rick nor Morty appeared in this cold open, which saw Ice-T return to his home planet, embrace his destiny to become “Water-T,” and witness his father’s death at the hands of a Numbericon invasion. However, it soon became clear that Morty would have a part to play in the outing’s events after this surreal, silly action movie parody came to a close and the “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” title card appeared.
9 Ice-T Didn’t Remember Morty
The Rapper Proved He Wasn’t A Fan of “Get Schwifty”
Much like Rick & Morty season 7, episode 7’s aliens wanted Morty as a pet Kuato, Ice-T wanted to enlist the help of Morty’s math teacher, Mr. Goldenfold. Unfortunately for Morty, Goldenfold had put him in detention seconds before Ice-T arrived. As such, Morty was dragged along on this adventure. Hilariously, Morty attempted to build a rapport with Ice-T by reminding him about “Get Schwifty,” the pair’s earlier collaboration in Rick & Morty season 2. Ice-T dismissed him and said he had no recollection of Morty, a comically brutal put down that Morty tried to shake off.
8 P’s Attempted Catchphrase
Ice-T’s Sidekick Couldn’t Get His Catchphrase to Catch On
In a twist that made series history, Morty didn’t bring Rick with him on his adventure with Goldenfold and Ice-T. Thus, “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie” became the first episode of Rick and Morty to feature no appearance from one of the show’s two title characters. However, the trio did have ample support from Ice-T’s sidekick, the letter P. In an attempt to establish a catchphrase for himself, P repeatedly apologized for being late since he had to “Go P.” This only exacerbated Morty, Goldenfold, and Ice-T, even though Rick and Morty’s Rick C-137 likely would have loved the immature pun.
7 Rick & Morty’s Back To The Future Parody
Episode 8 Spoofed the Infamous Chuck Berry Gag
In a bizarre flashback, Goldenfold proved that he was instrumental in Ice-T’s successful musical career by showing him how to rap on beat. This involved Goldenfold explaining time signatures in mathematical terms, allowing Ice-T to finally embrace the subject he hated in school. The moment led to a hilarious Back to the Future parody as Chuck D’s cousin “Marvin D” called him up to put his relative onto that new sound he had been trying to find. Unlike his Back to the Future counterpart, Marvin D then simply farted down the phone instead of showing the Public Enemy musician Ice-T’s rapping prowess.
6 Morty Questioned His Teacher’s Storytelling
Rick & Morty Snuck In A Clever Meta-Joke
Morty noted that Chuck D should have stopped answering Marvin’s calls, which a frustrated Goldenfold insisted wasn’t the point of his story. Morty then noted that his teacher was the one who kept that detail in, a goofy meta-gag which poked fun at the flashback itself. After Rick and Morty season 7, episode 6 spent an entire episode bouncing between flashbacks within flashbacks, this meta-humor could have gotten tiresome. However, the gag didn’t overstay its welcome and instead felt clever and silly at the same time.
5 Morty’s Detention Ended Early
Goldenfold Tried to Cut Morty’s Adventure Short
When Ice-T, Morty, Goldenfold, and Ice-T’s Numbericon enemy 7 all crash-landed on an alien planet, they met a primitive species that predated both letters and numbers. Goldenfold revealed more details of his feud with Ice-T while the rapper and 7 got to the bottom of a strange artifact that led them to the planet, but Morty was at a loose end. Goldenfold attempted to get rid of him by telling Morty that he had learned his lesson and could leave detention, since he now knew how hard it was to teach. When Morty pointed out that he hadn’t learned anything of the sort, a frustrated Goldenfold cursed him out.
4 Rick And Morty’s “S” Was “8” All Along
Episode 8’s Big Reveal Was Also Its Silliest Twist
While Rick and Morty set up a new villain only one episode after Rick Prime’s death, Morty’s talking churro couldn’t hold a candle to the antagonist of “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie.” The letter S was seemingly an ally of Ice-T, but he soon revealed himself to be a double agent who was in league with the Numbericons. S turned out to be the number 8 all along, and when he accessed the full extent of his powers, he became the number infinity. This clever visual pun elevated the episode’s final act.
3 Ice-T Explains Why He Never Thanked Math
Goldenfold and the Rapper’s Story Came to A Surreal Conclusion
The end of Ice-T’s backstory redeemed him in the eyes of Goldenfold, as his former teacher learned the tragic reason that he refused to thank “Math” in a Grammys acceptance speech. It turned out that Ice-T’s father was ashamed of him for utilizing math in his lyrics instead of focusing on letters, adding another layer to this bizarre beef between letters and numbers that defined the episode’s plot. Although this might have seemed inane, Goldenfold immediately understood and forgave Ice-T.
2 “That Ceiling Was Poisoned”
Season 7 Episode 8’s Most Inspired Weirdness
When Ice-T’s enemy-turned-love interest, 7, pointed out that Numbericons killed his father, Ice-T noted that his father was actually killed by a falling ceiling. The obvious rebuttal would have been that this ceiling fell thanks to a Numbericon attack, but 7 instead resounded with a wild non-sequitur. She said the ceiling was poisoned as part of a plot to kill Ice-T’s father, and the rapper accepted this ridiculous twist with hilarious stoicism.
1 Ice-T Finally Did His Homework
Goldenfold Got His Wish In The End
In the closing scene of “Rise of the Numbericons: The Movie,” Ice-T paid his debt to Goldenfold by finally doing his math homework. Even Morty became newly enthusiastic about the subject, but it was the bizarre sight of Goldenfold celebrating the arrival of a long-awaited piece of math homework that made this gag shine. To make this Rick and Morty joke even better, Ice-T didn’t even do well in his homework despite being a sentient letter who was in love with a talking number.
New episodes of Rick & Morty season 7 release each Sunday on Adult Swim.
Release Date: 2013-12-02
Cast: Spencer Grammer, Justin Roiland, Kari Wahlgren, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke
Genres: Animation, Adventure, Comedy
Seasons: 6
Season List: Rick and Morty – Season 1, Rick and Morty – Season 2, Rick and Morty – Season 3, Rick and Morty – Season 4, Rick and Morty – Season 5, Rick and Morty – Season 6, Rick and Morty – Season 7
Summary: Rick and Morty is an adventure/Sci-Fi animated series that follows the intergalactic, inter-dimensional adventures of super-genius Rick Sanchez and his less-than-average grandson Morty Smith. Rick’s daughter, Beth, his granddaughter, Summer, and his hated stepson, Jerry, also take center stage more often than not. Hailing from creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the series blends comedy with science fiction as a way of exploring a wide variety of themes aimed at an adult audience.
Story By: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Tom Kauffman
Writers: Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Tom Kauffman, Eric Acosta
Network: Cartoon Network
Streaming Service(s): Hulu
Franchise(s): Rick and Morty
Directors: Dan Harmon, Ryan Ridley, Lee Hardcastle
Showrunner: Dan Harmon
