Rixty Minutes

"Rixty Minutes"
Rick and Morty episode
Jerry watches an alternate reality version of himself, while Beth is observing him.
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by Bryan Newton
Written by Tom Kauffman
Justin Roiland
Original air date March 17, 2014
Running time 22 minutes

"Rixty Minutes" is the eighth episode of the first season of Rick and Morty. It premiered on Adult Swim on March 17, 2014. The episode was written by Tom Kauffman and Justin Roiland, and directed by Bryan Newton. In the episode, Rick and Morty watch cable from other dimensions, while Jerry, Beth, and Summer watch alternate reality versions of themselves using a pair of interdimensional goggles. The episode was well received and watched by about 1.48 million viewers in the United States.[1]

Plot

After Rick expresses his disgust for the quality of modern television, he replaces the Smith family's normal cable box with a device that allows them to watch different shows across infinite realities. Each of the television programs have strange quirks that vary from subtle to blatantly obvious such as a detective show where the protagonist has "baby legs", or a parody of Garfield named "Gazorpazorpfield", where the characters (male Gazorpians) have arms growing out of their heads. Rick flips through the channels to show the endless possibilities, before the family sees Jerry in a reality where he was a famous movie star. While the rest of the family gets excited over this discovery, Rick gets upset and says they are focusing on the wrong things.

When Jerry, Beth and Summer beg Rick to show them their alternate lives, he pulls out a pair of Inter-Dimensional Goggles that will allow them to see through the eyes of their alternate selves. Morty stays with Rick and the two continue to watch various commercials and clips from alternate realities.

While Rick and Morty are watching Interdimensional cable, Jerry, Beth and Summer are in the kitchen taking turns using the goggles. Jerry sees himself doing cocaine with Johnny Depp while Beth sees herself operating on a person instead of a horse. While Jerry and Beth are finding realities where they achieve their dreams, Summer has trouble finding any other realities of her, except for a moment of the family playing Yahtzee. Jerry and Beth then reveal to Summer that she was an unwanted pregnancy, and that her birth prevented them from achieving their goals. This greatly upsets Summer, and she announces her plans to run away.

After Jerry and Beth see how their lives could have been if they were not married, they decide that maybe it'd be better to spend time apart. While Summer begins to pack her bags, Morty attempts to console her. After she attempts to push him away, Morty shows Summer the graves that he dug in their backyard (from the episode "Rick Potion No. 9"). He reveals the truth that the Morty from her reality is dead, and that he is not, in fact, her brother, but a brother from another reality. He then concludes by saying "Nobody exists on purpose, nobody belongs anywhere, everybody is going to die... Come watch TV?" Summer agrees to stay, and the two of them go back downstairs to watch TV with Rick and Jerry.

The television in the main room shows alternate reality Jerry having a nervous breakdown, driving a mobility scooter on a freeway while being chased by police. They watch as alternate reality Jerry arrives at the doorstep of his counterpart Beth, telling her that he hates his life and regrets not continuing their relationship. After seeing how important their relationships are to each other, Beth and Jerry rush back into each other's arms while Rick, Morty, and Summer continue to watch TV.

In the post-credit sequence, the Smith family is watching the news in a Hamster-in-Butt World. They ask Rick a wide variety of questions about the world until he begrudgingly creates a portal to the world so they can find the answers for themselves. The Smith family then spends a vacation in Hamster-In-Butt World.

Reception

"Rixty Minutes" has received high praise since its release, and it has since been referred to as one of the best episodes of the entire series. Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode an 8.8 out of 10, saying, "It's been a while since an animated series truly entertained like this one has - not sacrificing humor for strangeness, but integrating them together perfectly."[2] Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an A, and says "In case my review did not make it clear, this episode pretty much blew me away."[3] Stacy Taylor of Geek Syndicate gave the episode a 5/5, and said that "‘Rixty Minutes’ is, without a shadow of a doubt, as close to a perfect 20 minutes of television as I think we may ever get."[4] Den of Geek gave the episode a 3.5/5, with Joe Matar saying much of the episode "is effectively the same kind of stuff, turning a lot of the episode into a weird sketch show. But, as with all sketch shows (especially improvised ones), the output is hit or miss."[5]

References

  1. ↑ Bibel, Sara (March 18, 2014). "Monday Cable Ratings: 'WWE Raw' Wins Night, 'Fast N Loud', 'Teen Wolf', 'Bates Motel', 'Switched at Birth' & More". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
  2. ↑ Fowler, Matt (2014-04-16). "Rick and Morty: Season 1 Review". IGN. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  3. ↑ "Rick And Morty: "Rixty Minutes"". 2014-03-17. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  4. ↑ "TV REVIEW: Rick and Morty, S1 E8 - Rixty Minutes - Geek Syndicate". Geek Syndicate. 2015-06-24. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
  5. ↑ "Rick and Morty: Rixty Minutes review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2017-04-08.
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