Rick & Jerry are Two Guys, Burger and Fries
Rick and Morty S7 Ep 2 Review
Rick Sanchez and Jerry Smith couldn’t be greater polar opposites even if they tried. Rick’s a super-genius who can travel the multiverse at his leisure. Jerry’s the average Joe that married his daughter and represents the mediocrity that Rick despises. Yet as the show’s proven over the years, when they’re put into situations together, they mesh well. Jerry keeps Rick grounded, and Rick helps Jerry man up more than he would otherwise. It’s a genuinely fun dynamic to watch, and their last adventure at the fortune cookie company was a highlight of Season 6. The people writing Rick and Morty seem to enjoy making Rick and Jerry episodes, because this week’s sees them get closer than ever in a Freaky Friday-esque scenario. Now, they’re Burger and Fries!
Burger and Fries are Born
The episode starts off with how Rick and Jerry’s interactions usually begin. Jerry asks for help with the mundane problem of Gene stealing his rake, and Rick gives him the bare minimum of attention. However, when Jerry says that he’d do way more with himself if he had Rick’s smarts, Rick gets offended. Wanting to show him how being smart wouldn’t change Jerry from being Jerry, Rick comes up with a solution that parallels the Freaky Friday scenario.
In the years since it was published, plenty of works of fiction have come up with some version of the Freaky Friday story. I even reviewed one in an episode of The Owl House on this blog. It’s a fun way to demonstrate how two characters would react to the situations in each other’s lives, and often fumble at it. However, the story goes out of its way to explain how this one differs. They’re only swapping their minds, memories and personalities, while their inherent intellect and brains stay the same. Or, as Rick puts it, they’re keeping the hardware. Their dare quickly goes off the rails, though, when both get hurt and Rick’s garage AI has to combine their brains.
What results from this are two people who aren’t wholly Rick or Jerry. Instead, each of them has various aspects of both Rick and Jerry, and not only do they get along well, they end up becoming best friends. They also take to calling themselves “Burger and Fries” to show they’re now their own people.
A Unique Take on the Freaky Friday Story
This is a very creative take on the usual Freaky Friday story, even if Rick says it’s not like Freaky Friday. Instead of gaining a better perspective on each other, viewers are shown what Rick and Jerry would be like if they weren’t always at odds as much as they are. It’s a compelling idea, and one that’s been touched upon at various points throughout the series. A major part of me wanted things to stay like this. Even if Burger and Fries wouldn’t last past the end of the episode, having their friendship remain would’ve been interesting. Alas, it was not meant to be, as when Burger and Fries fuse into a single entity called “Jerricky” to save the family from mobsters, the writing’s on the wall. Before the episode’s out, their true personalities resurface thanks to the rake that Gene did steal hitting them on the head.
No, really. That’s how they get Rick and Jerry out from beneath Jerricky. I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a funny way of doing it, but it seems like a lazy deus ex machina. That makes two episodes now where Rick and Morty has seemingly dropped the ball.
An Average, if Safe, Episode
The episode did have some redeeming features beyond the short-lived Burger and Fries, though. The whole mess started when Morty gets caught selling crystals in the Underworld. The sight of Morty acting unfazed as the mobsters try desperately to please him shows how experienced he’s become. He knows he can get out of that mess, or his Grandpa will do so, and acts like a badass. Seeing him not caring in this image makes it all worth it.
Plus, the stinger also reveals that Memory Rick still exists, albeit now he’s stuck inside Jerry’s head. Maybe more will come out of that down the road. As far as episodes go, though, this was pretty average.
In other news, this episode doesn’t make it clearer if the new guys voice Rick and Morty or this is just Justin’s old lines. If it’s the former, then they’ve completely mastered their new roles.
I Give “Jerrick Trap” a 3/5
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Adult Cartoons, Animation, Blog Posts, Rick and Morty, TV Shows
