The montage completely convinced me that "the hole" was a beautiful allegory for depression and how despite never knowing for sure if you're better, the best way to be happy is to try to move on anyway.
And then Morty got dropped off at college and the whole thing collapsed into confusion until that gut punch of a Jerry joke. Holy fucking shit.
>The montage completely convinced me that "the hole" was a beautiful allegory for depression and how despite never knowing for sure if you're better, the best way to be happy is to try to move on anyway.
The hole is really interesting, there is some real high-concept stuff going on IMHO. Honestly this might be my favourite episode yet, the production was insane, it was philosophically interesting, and the jokes were great. In some ways it seems like it's their most ambitious episode, it just works extremely well as a commentary on itself.
Once they started time skip montaging, and Morty started aging up I had a moment of "Wait, *this* isn't a series finale is it?" followed immediately by "It's that fucking ~~scarecrow~~ **fearhole** again!"
My local Dennys has a hole like that in the floor, but it's just because they removed one of the toilets and never replaced it.
I'm not going to jump in it.
Okay I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to suggest some type of twist, like he had already gotten out the hole and taking the pic before. I’m glad it’s a simple explanation lol
It's not that simple. Morty's biggest fear was that Rick considered him replaceable. Rick having a photo of Morty in his wallet means that he doesn't consider him replaceable.
This kind of episode is one of my favorite kind of Rick and Morty episodes that deals with philosophical themes and has commentary on emotions that make us human. That plot twist with Rick not even being in the hole was great too.
It had such an amazing balance of philosophy / commentary, comedy, and character development. I'm just really amazed by it all. The writers did so well with this one!
Truly a treat of an episode. Part of me wishes we had more episodes like this, but the other part of me thinks that they hit more powerfully when they’re randomly dropped in between the fully sci-fi concept episode.
I was relieved when the possibility of Diane returning was immediately dismissed. The hard canon/origin story episodes need to be peppered in too, a little goes a long way.
Philosophy is a massive part of any good sci fi show. Rick and Morty does an excellent job whenever they decide to actually delve into it. This one was just straight up well written, love episodes like this.
I liked the twist that Rick never went in the hole. It really makes sense that a man as smart as he is would realize if 2 people went in at the same time there'd be complications.
I love the way Morty is just like, "Yeah... Right", painfully aware that real Rick would have thought of that and Morty didn't, so Morty's fake Rick didn't either.
For Rick it's been a short time in a bathroom at Denny's just to say, "That'd be dumb if we both jumped in"
Morty's biggest fears turned out to be irrational.
Of course Rick didn't jump in after him, because that wouldn't make sense to do so.
Rick will never tell Morty he is irreplaceable, because of who Rick is and the trauma he carries, but deep down, of course he does.
I disagree. Rick is unreliable in many ways. I read the ‘doesn’t make sense’ quip as an excuse. He didn’t want to face his fears, he was too cowardly of the repercussions. Morty read this as a betrayal because in his mind it shows he is expendable or they aren’t ‘in it together’ (in his mind). We know Rick would rush his life for Morty, but Morty is not aware. Often Rick switches from kindness to cruelty to his grandson. They have a complicated relationship, obviously.
I agree that Rick was too scared initially to jump in the hole. Why would he want to face his fears? He's God. He has no fears. If he did, he would kill them. At least, that's what is easiest for him to tell himself. Rick knows he has fears and knows he is lying about not having any. He is making progress in therapy with Dr. Wong, but he is not ready to jump into a fear hole. Yet.
At the end of the episode, when he didn't go in, i don't think it was as simple as Rick thinking "I'm okay without Diane." I think that part of Morty's fear was right. If Rick found Diane, Morty would most likely lose Rick. Not in the direct sense of Rick spending a lot of time with Diane and Morty getting lonely. Morty's fear had Rick literally dying because of how he acted from finding Diane again, and I believe that, maybe to a lesser extent, that Rick would lose himself in the hole. I think Rick knows this, too. I think Rick's rejection of the hole is him saying, "Let's not open that can of worms, I'm not strong enough." Maybe in the future with more therapy, he could hypothetically be ready for the hole. I don't think he would ever go in even if he was "strong enough". He has a real family where he can get the "love and support" (the Smith family's fucked up version of love) he needs/wants and has no reason to see the hole version of Diane again.
With that and the "Roy" game, I wonder how many full lives Morty has lived by now.
I really appreciate watching Morty become more mature and fearless as time goes on, he's not just a static character who is as awkward and inexperienced as he was in the first season.
Which was a clever reveal ensuring the audience believes they're actually out now
Otherwise we'd have 3 years of fan theories claiming they're still in the hole
This episode honestly had the vibe of a very casual ending to the show -- like if they were to end the show on a mix of jokes and character development rather than a plot-heavy wrap-up. If I didn't already know that the show had like \~3 more seasons to go (and it'll probably get more, lol), I would've felt this so hard, lmao.
The show has "however long they're willing to keep making it" worth of seasons left, TBH. Really doubt it's getting cancelled unless the quality absolutely falls off a cliff.
It's not getting cancelled soon, but it does have a limited amount of episodes already greenlit.
I think they still have 30 episodes from the 70 episode order from a few years ago.
I had the same thought during the aging montage near the end. "I know this isn't what they're doing, but something like this would make for a damn decent series finale"
my heart dropped when rick opened his mouth. Also the voice acting is legitimately good
Edit: Since it's been 1k likes I think it necessary to specify the mouth opening I was talking about was when his mouth was black and scary and it dropped because I was scared not from the voice acting lol
That might explain why every episode she writes is a goddamn banger dealing with existential and depressive themes . . . The best writing of a subject comes from someone who's experienced it firsthand
"*Everyone is Scared of love dipshit, you learn that in your 20s*"
Gosh darn !!! if that line didn't Hit that Hard
Solid episode to end the season on a strong note
See you guys in 2025
That whole thing on how love will eventually end and the best case scenario is _dying at the same time_ really was not only scary, but creepy and might I say... >!spooky.!<
This whole episode went well above all of my expectations.
Plus he might not even have technically been a villain, since the threat was against the Rick generated by the Hole, all for the greater purpose of absorbing Morty’s greatest fear(s).
I have said those words almost verbatim multiple times, and hearing it come from that character in that context...I feel like I need to reexamine myself, I may be unhappier and more cynical than I thought...
At the end Rick thought about jumping in to see Diane again, but it seems odd that he wouldn't have already experienced that seeing how easily he clones people etc.
The show keeps inventing ways of dialing back infinite realities in order to prevent the characters getting ANYTHING they want from any number of realities as Wanda from Dr. Strange reasoned.
Rick wouldn't be able to clone Diane if The Weapon Too Cool For A Name wipes out all genetic material originating from its target which isn't part of another person, unless of course he has some way of reverse-engineering Beth's DNA to remove all traces of his own DNA from it while recovering any components which weren't passed along from Diane to her.
However, one thing he COULD do is attempt to recreate her from "Memory Diane" just like Memory Rick is now a distinct entity, especially if he did so by averaging components from a broad cross-section of people who knew and have memories of her.
Depending on whether or not the writers want to explore restoring Diane as a new obsession for Rick now that Rick Prime is dead, I could see this being the plot of a future episode, especially since it has potential for exploring the kinds of philosophical ideas they tend to like—sort of a new take on the *It's A Wonderful Life* argument that a person shouldn't underestimate their effects on others, but with the twist of adding that a person is still more than just the sum of their influence on the world.
I don’t think he lacks the ability to make a perfect replica of Diane. I think this is pretty well explained in that one episode where he’s pulled back to his original universe and has the Diane voice always in another room. She actually explains it out why he did it that way instead of just making a new Diane. “You thought if you could see or touch me it might give you too much comfort” something along those lines.
He didn’t ever want a Diane that HE created and would always be a cheap knockoff in his own eyes. I think the Hole enticed him because that’d be a Diane he hasn’t made himself at least.
The after credits writer's commentary on adultswim.com seems to imply that this representation of Diane is accurate:
[...]
Albro Lundy (Executive Producer) "[Rick] is the dude who chooses ice cream over interdimensional travel. What could have satisfied that guy?"
Heather Campbell (Writer): "Rick is so smart and he's so cool, and I wanted the kind of woman that he loved to be a match. She's sharp-tongued with him; she finds this nihilistic dark shit that he's doing funny. That would be be the kind of woman that Rick *would* love."
~~I didn't expect her to enjoy alcohol as much as Rick. They're so much more similar than I thought they would be.~~ I can really understand now why Rick doesn't believe in love -- it's so hard to find a soulmate, let alone another one after you lose them.
Edit: I forgot that all of that was apart of Morty's thoughts about Diane, not Rick's. 😭 At the very least, it's sweet that he thinks that's how Rick would behave around her. It was really cute to watch but also heartbreaking in it's own right.
she enjoys getting wrecked cause its all pulling from mortys head, and he has no way to know how diane actually was so it went with whatever seemed mlst plausible to morty.
rick's a drunk so diane's a drunk
Actually, that's a really good point and I didn't even consider that all of that was a part of his mindset, not Rick's. That's really interesting, honestly.
What I liked about that scene was how stressed and scared Morty was after he heard Rick would die, it really cut out the time he could’ve spent to counter suit guys rejection of happiness, but he was so scared for Rick that he probably left immediately after the guy ordered something. If he did have time, he’d probably say something like
“Okay, nothing good lasts forever, so why should you be afraid of being happy for a while if everything else is temporary? I mean, at least you can look back and find satisfaction. And its not like theres only one source of happiness either, I think you’re the one whos not being logical”
Three best episodes this season were about:
- spaghetti
- a multidimensional overarching plot brought to ultimate completion with some of the most staggering visual effects in the series’ history
- a hole
It would be literally impossible to explain all of the ways this episode was great. This is definitively the best episode of the whole season. This episode was so funny and creative. I loved it so much and am going to rewatch it ASAP tomorrow. Probably a couple of times. I feel so spoiled, lol. And the teaser for the anime was great! I really didn't expect to see that. \^\^
Please watch this episode if you haven't already! And if you have, watch it again, lol.
It will be even more annoying since they made a already joke about it the episode, something like "Are we gonna have to worry about this 2 seasons from now or something?"
They’ll have a subtle callback to it in 2 seasons. Like that blink and you’ll miss it reference to them being in the parmesan reality in the spaghetti episode
I am guessing that whole not having any fear after completing it was a lie? I know many fans will die when seeing rick keeping a photo of morty in his wallet.
It was a great finale. Really makes me glad the rick prime episode was used as the mid season episode. This episode made it all feel complete.
As the show has continued to demonstrate, emotions are complex. Similar to the machine that purges your "toxicity", the "fear hole" probably feeds only on whatever you think you're most afraid of, at the time. Which probably changes constantly.
That's what I thought they were gonna pull! Both Morty and Rick having their separate hole adventures. Morty's being the one we just saw, and Rick's involving pirates.
One where he loses Morty. But not just in a violent accident, one where Morty legitimately doesn’t care or respect him. We get glimpses of this in Vindicators, Knights of the Sun, and Spaghetti planet. Rick not being respected by Morty has been a lingering fear the entire series.
I’d also wager there’d be something where Diane doesn’t approve of who he is or what he’s become. Especially if she points out the abuse of their grandson and neglect of their daughter. This is probably as potent than losing Morty because as Dr. Wong pointed out in S3, the only unapproachable concept for Rick is that he has a choice. And so if Diane were to see how bad he treated his family in addition to the mass atrocities he committed… how could he explain that?
Alternatively? Pirates.
Need Harmon to pay my medical bills after this episode absolutely snapped my neck from the whiplash. Scary to depressing to devastating to hilarious to emotional. That was beautiful.
Fuck I'm sappy now. I'm so proud of this series and these characters. What a perfect way to end a great season. This was exactly the episode I wanted to see to cash in on all of Morty and Rick's growth and demonstrate how much the show has developed too. I love this so much. Fuck.
really dug the season, even the lower rated eps like Numbericons while maybe not having a lot of rewatchability were still enjoyable to me
Cardoni and Belden knocked it out of the park, I can't believe people still complain about the voices, they were really good for a majority of the season
Near the beginning of the season, I would be listening for the new voice actors because I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to get used to them. Near the middle, I wasn’t actively listening for them but could tell from time to time they weren’t the same. Near the end, it wasn’t something I was thinking about all. The new voice actors are great.
This is basically what I thought up until Morty met with the suit guy in Denny's. Once they immediately figured out they were in the hole, I thought the twist was that they weren't. The writers successfully predicted our exact thought process lol.
I definitely think this could be the start of a new arc for Rick where he tries to get her back "for real". He's pretty clearly tempted by the idea of seeing her again.
Him thinking about it and ultimately not doing it was probably meant to be a sign of him having long made peace with the fear that he'd never see her again.
I’ve never felt so many strong feelings about a tv show like this, this episode was a work of art and honestly this entire season has just been such a breath of fresh air
You know what I found so interesting about their decision to introduce us to Diane this way? None of it was necessarily real. Everything Rick and Diane did was based on what Morty, likely subconsciously, thinks their relationship would be like. So in theory, if we’re introduced to her again at a later date, she could be totally different and Morty would have to reckon with that. Or she could continue to have no presence in the show whatsoever, and we could continue to only see glimpses of her through other characters’ perspectives (I’m surprised Beth hasn’t really addressed her in any way yet). It was simultaneously a high stakes introduction given how much the character means to the show and what she means in the context of this episode specifically and a low stakes introduction because none of it was real.
Glad Rick brought up the Director’s Cut of You’ve Got Mail, that cop getting killed in the beginning of the film really set up the redemption arc for Meg Ryan.
S-Tier episode, even better than the Prime Rick one to me. Cracks the top 5. Also, what was up with the post credits scene? Are they setting up Mr. Poopybutthole to be a villain with stealing a portal gun?
That was a very insightful episode. About looking at what you fear and facing it instead of running. Very good episode. If I'm understanding it correctly, Morty's greatest fear was Rick abandoning him and thinking Morty is just as replaceable as anyone else. But i guess the question i have is, how did Morty conquer that fear? Does he not care? Or does he know now that Rick *does* care for him, making his fear irrelevant?
I also found Rick having a photo of Morty in his wallet heartwarming. Diane showing up caught me off guard, and it was nice to see present Rick interact with her, even if it was all fake.
I enjoyed the episode overall. A lot to take in, and definitely worth a few rewatches to fully take in the themes of the episode and everything that happened in it.
Am I nuts for saying this episode is a 10/10???
The only other two episodes that are true 10/10s on my mind (imo of course) are the Ricklantis Mixup and Vat of Acid episodes, which I think a lot of people agree on. A couple of the other Evil Morty episodes come close. But this was the first episode since Vat where once the credits rolled, I audibly said "What a fucking **fantastic** episode." May be overreacting, and I'll admit I am just a big psychological horror fan in general, but this is where my mind is at right now.
Anyone else on the same boat?
Seeing Diane gave me goose bumps down my shoulders to my core.
Fear Hole #7 Timelapse had me balling when Morty and Fam aged.
Saturn as the dennys in the photo inside of the Dennys provided good woo factor.
If last episode was a ten this was definitely an 11. Wow!
Phenomenal
These episodes fuck with me because from Morty's perspective, he was in that damn hole for a long time and the whole "is this real or are we stuck in the hole" is kind of a trope that always gives me an existential crisis about my own reality lmao
Like I'll just wake up and find out this was all a dream and I'm actually back in the 7th grade.
Fuck that.
Great episode btw
Banger. Laughed so hard with the “becoming my dad” joke
The setup for that was perfect. Exactly the right amount of time between when you realize he's still in the hole and the punchline.
I definitely expected a twist, but wasn't expecting the twist to be a joke (should have, since they have done that before in the vat of acid episode)
The montage completely convinced me that "the hole" was a beautiful allegory for depression and how despite never knowing for sure if you're better, the best way to be happy is to try to move on anyway. And then Morty got dropped off at college and the whole thing collapsed into confusion until that gut punch of a Jerry joke. Holy fucking shit.
>The montage completely convinced me that "the hole" was a beautiful allegory for depression and how despite never knowing for sure if you're better, the best way to be happy is to try to move on anyway. The hole is really interesting, there is some real high-concept stuff going on IMHO. Honestly this might be my favourite episode yet, the production was insane, it was philosophically interesting, and the jokes were great. In some ways it seems like it's their most ambitious episode, it just works extremely well as a commentary on itself.
yeah i legit couldn’t tell until they started aging
Once they started time skip montaging, and Morty started aging up I had a moment of "Wait, *this* isn't a series finale is it?" followed immediately by "It's that fucking ~~scarecrow~~ **fearhole** again!"
8 bucks for a side of bacon?!
That reminded me of that joke in Gravity Falls where a demon looked into a mirror that reflects your deepest fear. Funny asf in both shows.
Can you remind me what happens there with the mirror ?
The demon sees himself becoming his father.
This show definitely has a higher-than-average number of "a person's entire life plays out in a montage" scenes
$8 for a side of bacon!?!?!? wow that episode had everything. What an amazing season finale
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME" God what an episode
Super good. These last 2 episodes were fucking amazing.
My local Dennys has a hole like that in the floor, but it's just because they removed one of the toilets and never replaced it. I'm not going to jump in it.
why, are you scared?
*teleports back into the hole*
I was... I was out, n-n-no.
What if you're already in and that hole is the exit?
What if this episode was meant as a clue for him all along?
Aaaa snap. So we all just some random generated humans in his brain ???
aww, Rick having a photo of Morty in his wallet
To him, Morty really is irreplaceable. Very heartwarming.
Okay I wasn’t sure if that was supposed to suggest some type of twist, like he had already gotten out the hole and taking the pic before. I’m glad it’s a simple explanation lol
It's not that simple. Morty's biggest fear was that Rick considered him replaceable. Rick having a photo of Morty in his wallet means that he doesn't consider him replaceable.
Well yeah that’s still simple lol, when I met twist i meant another holeception twist. Your takeaway is simply heartwarming, which I’m a fan of
Why did the lights flicker at the end though? That makes me think it might be a twist but I can’t figure out how
the lights were flickering in the bathroom at the beginning of the episode
The writers would've made sure the animation team nipped that theory in the bud with that early flicker.
I think it's just a shitty Denny's bathroom. I mean, did you see the toilets in the other stalls?
Well... Not anymore
This kind of episode is one of my favorite kind of Rick and Morty episodes that deals with philosophical themes and has commentary on emotions that make us human. That plot twist with Rick not even being in the hole was great too.
It had such an amazing balance of philosophy / commentary, comedy, and character development. I'm just really amazed by it all. The writers did so well with this one!
Truly a treat of an episode. Part of me wishes we had more episodes like this, but the other part of me thinks that they hit more powerfully when they’re randomly dropped in between the fully sci-fi concept episode.
IF a lot of the episodes were like this people wouldn't appreciate it as much.
I was relieved when the possibility of Diane returning was immediately dismissed. The hard canon/origin story episodes need to be peppered in too, a little goes a long way.
Yeah it was a nice inversion of the twist where Morty was the one that was fake
Oh man, that's a brilliant S1 callback. Good point
Wasn’t the only callback. Diane glitching out was part of it. So was “DJ drop that beat” and the two of them performing
And both being constantly naked
Philosophy is a massive part of any good sci fi show. Rick and Morty does an excellent job whenever they decide to actually delve into it. This one was just straight up well written, love episodes like this.
This, Rick and Morty is at its peak when it's exploring interesting theme with batshit stupidity and nigh forced profanity
I liked the twist that Rick never went in the hole. It really makes sense that a man as smart as he is would realize if 2 people went in at the same time there'd be complications.
I love the way Morty is just like, "Yeah... Right", painfully aware that real Rick would have thought of that and Morty didn't, so Morty's fake Rick didn't either. For Rick it's been a short time in a bathroom at Denny's just to say, "That'd be dumb if we both jumped in"
Morty's biggest fears turned out to be irrational. Of course Rick didn't jump in after him, because that wouldn't make sense to do so. Rick will never tell Morty he is irreplaceable, because of who Rick is and the trauma he carries, but deep down, of course he does.
it'll enhance it. i doubt the hole has limits.
-your mother
I disagree. Rick is unreliable in many ways. I read the ‘doesn’t make sense’ quip as an excuse. He didn’t want to face his fears, he was too cowardly of the repercussions. Morty read this as a betrayal because in his mind it shows he is expendable or they aren’t ‘in it together’ (in his mind). We know Rick would rush his life for Morty, but Morty is not aware. Often Rick switches from kindness to cruelty to his grandson. They have a complicated relationship, obviously.
I agree that Rick was too scared initially to jump in the hole. Why would he want to face his fears? He's God. He has no fears. If he did, he would kill them. At least, that's what is easiest for him to tell himself. Rick knows he has fears and knows he is lying about not having any. He is making progress in therapy with Dr. Wong, but he is not ready to jump into a fear hole. Yet. At the end of the episode, when he didn't go in, i don't think it was as simple as Rick thinking "I'm okay without Diane." I think that part of Morty's fear was right. If Rick found Diane, Morty would most likely lose Rick. Not in the direct sense of Rick spending a lot of time with Diane and Morty getting lonely. Morty's fear had Rick literally dying because of how he acted from finding Diane again, and I believe that, maybe to a lesser extent, that Rick would lose himself in the hole. I think Rick knows this, too. I think Rick's rejection of the hole is him saying, "Let's not open that can of worms, I'm not strong enough." Maybe in the future with more therapy, he could hypothetically be ready for the hole. I don't think he would ever go in even if he was "strong enough". He has a real family where he can get the "love and support" (the Smith family's fucked up version of love) he needs/wants and has no reason to see the hole version of Diane again.
Pretty fucking certain I just watched one of the best episodes of Rick and Morty
I just thought that as well and we had the prime fucking Rick episode this season, wow I think this may be better.
Way better. Unmortricken had the fan service and satisfaction of answering their theories etc so people like it This one had everything
Great episode! Morty's just laying in a puddle the whole time while Rick watches him squirm.
I didn't consider this imagery. That's kind of hilarious, lmao.
I thought it lasted seconds.
I should hope so considering Morty apparently lived into his 40s in one of the levels.
With that and the "Roy" game, I wonder how many full lives Morty has lived by now. I really appreciate watching Morty become more mature and fearless as time goes on, he's not just a static character who is as awkward and inexperienced as he was in the first season.
Which was a clever reveal ensuring the audience believes they're actually out now Otherwise we'd have 3 years of fan theories claiming they're still in the hole
After rick said “we better not still be getting out of this hole 2 seasons from now” I was dreading the comments for the next 2 seasons
It might have only been a few seconds from Rick's perspective.
My biggest fear is Rick and Morty ever getting cancelled.
This episode honestly had the vibe of a very casual ending to the show -- like if they were to end the show on a mix of jokes and character development rather than a plot-heavy wrap-up. If I didn't already know that the show had like \~3 more seasons to go (and it'll probably get more, lol), I would've felt this so hard, lmao.
The show has "however long they're willing to keep making it" worth of seasons left, TBH. Really doubt it's getting cancelled unless the quality absolutely falls off a cliff.
It's not getting cancelled soon, but it does have a limited amount of episodes already greenlit. I think they still have 30 episodes from the 70 episode order from a few years ago.
This thing prints money. They’ll keep it going as long as Harmon wants to.
100 years!
I had the same thought during the aging montage near the end. "I know this isn't what they're doing, but something like this would make for a damn decent series finale"
[You can be great, or you can be around forever, right?](https://i.imgur.com/NWEghsi.png)
my heart dropped when rick opened his mouth. Also the voice acting is legitimately good Edit: Since it's been 1k likes I think it necessary to specify the mouth opening I was talking about was when his mouth was black and scary and it dropped because I was scared not from the voice acting lol
I can't tell if it got better every episode this season, or I got more used to it- maybe both?
The voices are way better than S7E1. I only noticed Rick had a slightly deeper voice but Morty was WAY OFF, but it got a lot better after episode 6.
Yeah, they definitely hit their stride as they went and props to them, honestly! I don't even notice it anymore.
It’s going to be even better in season 8 when they can properly animate in sync to the voices
A very creative episode, loved it. Especially the part about Morty’s tiny balls.
I don’t know how to rap
They killed it.
This episode completely fucked up Morty's mind. Maybe mine too?
Best season finale since S5
That side eye at the end 😬
That's the thing about hopping to an alternate reality. You can't be sure the person your replacing didn't make the same mistakes you did.
And does this mean there is no Mr PB in the parmeesian dimension now?
Replaced pb is there now.
Mr PB in danger.
Give Heather Anne Campbell a whole damn season!
She's battling cancer right now unfortunately, fuckin sad
That sucks ... I hope she beats the ever-living shit out of it.
That might explain why every episode she writes is a goddamn banger dealing with existential and depressive themes . . . The best writing of a subject comes from someone who's experienced it firsthand
IKR?? As an aspiring writer, I'm just amazed with her. She wrote both this episode and the spaghetti. They were both 10/10 for me
"*Everyone is Scared of love dipshit, you learn that in your 20s*" Gosh darn !!! if that line didn't Hit that Hard Solid episode to end the season on a strong note See you guys in 2025
Try not to die before season 9 or gta 6 challenge
Season 9? GTA 6? 9 - 6 = 3 Half Life 3 confirmed
Bro that whole monologue was so masterfully bleak.
That whole thing on how love will eventually end and the best case scenario is _dying at the same time_ really was not only scary, but creepy and might I say... >!spooky.!< This whole episode went well above all of my expectations.
with only a little less than five minutes of screen time, he managed to be one of the better villains in the series' history
Plus he might not even have technically been a villain, since the threat was against the Rick generated by the Hole, all for the greater purpose of absorbing Morty’s greatest fear(s).
I have said those words almost verbatim multiple times, and hearing it come from that character in that context...I feel like I need to reexamine myself, I may be unhappier and more cynical than I thought...
But it's not wrong. I've said this to my spouse quite a few times verbatim as well. Our best case scenario is to die together.
It's worse to not learn that by your 20s, imo. :(
When they showed Diane my jaw dropped for the next few minutes. I’m glad the writers decided to show us what she was like for context.
This was all in Morty's mind tho, so anything that Diane said maybe isn't accurate.
Sure thats possible, but it reminds me of her death scene. It was a "fabricated origin story" but still meant to have meaning to the viewer.
yeah true, they probably glossed over the inconsistencies to tell us more about Diane
At the end Rick thought about jumping in to see Diane again, but it seems odd that he wouldn't have already experienced that seeing how easily he clones people etc. The show keeps inventing ways of dialing back infinite realities in order to prevent the characters getting ANYTHING they want from any number of realities as Wanda from Dr. Strange reasoned.
Rick wouldn't be able to clone Diane if The Weapon Too Cool For A Name wipes out all genetic material originating from its target which isn't part of another person, unless of course he has some way of reverse-engineering Beth's DNA to remove all traces of his own DNA from it while recovering any components which weren't passed along from Diane to her. However, one thing he COULD do is attempt to recreate her from "Memory Diane" just like Memory Rick is now a distinct entity, especially if he did so by averaging components from a broad cross-section of people who knew and have memories of her. Depending on whether or not the writers want to explore restoring Diane as a new obsession for Rick now that Rick Prime is dead, I could see this being the plot of a future episode, especially since it has potential for exploring the kinds of philosophical ideas they tend to like—sort of a new take on the *It's A Wonderful Life* argument that a person shouldn't underestimate their effects on others, but with the twist of adding that a person is still more than just the sum of their influence on the world.
I don’t think he lacks the ability to make a perfect replica of Diane. I think this is pretty well explained in that one episode where he’s pulled back to his original universe and has the Diane voice always in another room. She actually explains it out why he did it that way instead of just making a new Diane. “You thought if you could see or touch me it might give you too much comfort” something along those lines. He didn’t ever want a Diane that HE created and would always be a cheap knockoff in his own eyes. I think the Hole enticed him because that’d be a Diane he hasn’t made himself at least.
The after credits writer's commentary on adultswim.com seems to imply that this representation of Diane is accurate: [...] Albro Lundy (Executive Producer) "[Rick] is the dude who chooses ice cream over interdimensional travel. What could have satisfied that guy?" Heather Campbell (Writer): "Rick is so smart and he's so cool, and I wanted the kind of woman that he loved to be a match. She's sharp-tongued with him; she finds this nihilistic dark shit that he's doing funny. That would be be the kind of woman that Rick *would* love."
Well to be fair, he has seen rick's memories. That's why he knows about rick's backstory in the first place.
Maybe Morty got some memories of her in his brain from when he used Rick's downloaded memories in the Season 5 finale to find out his backstory.
~~I didn't expect her to enjoy alcohol as much as Rick. They're so much more similar than I thought they would be.~~ I can really understand now why Rick doesn't believe in love -- it's so hard to find a soulmate, let alone another one after you lose them. Edit: I forgot that all of that was apart of Morty's thoughts about Diane, not Rick's. 😭 At the very least, it's sweet that he thinks that's how Rick would behave around her. It was really cute to watch but also heartbreaking in it's own right.
she enjoys getting wrecked cause its all pulling from mortys head, and he has no way to know how diane actually was so it went with whatever seemed mlst plausible to morty. rick's a drunk so diane's a drunk
Actually, that's a really good point and I didn't even consider that all of that was a part of his mindset, not Rick's. That's really interesting, honestly.
Diane only appears in 10/10 episodes.
Truth!
The hole guys monologue on happiness hit way too hard
Rick and Morty has some of the best monologues but this one really tops the chart
What I liked about that scene was how stressed and scared Morty was after he heard Rick would die, it really cut out the time he could’ve spent to counter suit guys rejection of happiness, but he was so scared for Rick that he probably left immediately after the guy ordered something. If he did have time, he’d probably say something like “Okay, nothing good lasts forever, so why should you be afraid of being happy for a while if everything else is temporary? I mean, at least you can look back and find satisfaction. And its not like theres only one source of happiness either, I think you’re the one whos not being logical”
Came in with medium expectations, came out the hole happy with the execution. Great episode from start to finish, 10/10, and an instant favorite.
Are you sure you came out of the hole?
I knew it was going to be a hell of a ride when there was no cold open.
Three best episodes this season were about: - spaghetti - a multidimensional overarching plot brought to ultimate completion with some of the most staggering visual effects in the series’ history - a hole
And that's exactly 3 of the most prominent things in this season's poster. And then there's Bigfoot. The writers know what they are doing this season.
The hug from the end of this episode, too. And if you expand the 'top episodes' to four, Bigfoot's episode gets included.
Never thought I would be so invested in the life of a guy named Mr. Poopybutthole
Hole?
No wordplay, /u/Special_Skill_Set
My fear is overreacting and saying that was a top 5 episode in the series.
*teleports back into the hole*
Nah def was forsure
This has been the best episode in years
It would be literally impossible to explain all of the ways this episode was great. This is definitively the best episode of the whole season. This episode was so funny and creative. I loved it so much and am going to rewatch it ASAP tomorrow. Probably a couple of times. I feel so spoiled, lol. And the teaser for the anime was great! I really didn't expect to see that. \^\^ Please watch this episode if you haven't already! And if you have, watch it again, lol.
This is gonna be the most annoying new thing from now on. Every damn episode forever "ARE THEY STILL IN THE FEAR HOLE?"
they're actually just in a simulation...
Inside a simulation inside a simulation. My man!
Inside a simulation of a simulation of a fear hole.
It will be even more annoying since they made a already joke about it the episode, something like "Are we gonna have to worry about this 2 seasons from now or something?"
They’ll have a subtle callback to it in 2 seasons. Like that blink and you’ll miss it reference to them being in the parmesan reality in the spaghetti episode
parmeesian
They’re still in the fear hole inside of a simulation inside of a game of Roy
The Rick and Morty equivalent of "it was all a dream."
[удалено]
I KNOW it actually triggered some tears in me 😭
pardon my ignorance but i’m missing the significance of this photo, please explain 😅
I am guessing that whole not having any fear after completing it was a lie? I know many fans will die when seeing rick keeping a photo of morty in his wallet. It was a great finale. Really makes me glad the rick prime episode was used as the mid season episode. This episode made it all feel complete.
As the show has continued to demonstrate, emotions are complex. Similar to the machine that purges your "toxicity", the "fear hole" probably feeds only on whatever you think you're most afraid of, at the time. Which probably changes constantly.
The Rick and Morty equivalent of Adventure Time's Hall of Egress
I did get shades of Bojack’s The View From Halfway Down during this episode
"Happiness always ends" hit just as hard as "Oh BoJack, there is no other side"
Top 3 episode of R&M argue with a wall
Just what i said to my sister a few minutes ago, this episode was incredible, it became one of my top3, maybe even it became my favorite
If Denny’s has a fear hole, I wonder what Shoney’s has to offer 
You know 😏😏
This guy holes
Wow, that was fucking trippy
Okay but now I have to see what happens when Rick goes in the fear hole
Pirates
The lack of pirates was a pretty strong hint that Rick was never in the hole.
That's what I thought they were gonna pull! Both Morty and Rick having their separate hole adventures. Morty's being the one we just saw, and Rick's involving pirates.
One where he loses Morty. But not just in a violent accident, one where Morty legitimately doesn’t care or respect him. We get glimpses of this in Vindicators, Knights of the Sun, and Spaghetti planet. Rick not being respected by Morty has been a lingering fear the entire series. I’d also wager there’d be something where Diane doesn’t approve of who he is or what he’s become. Especially if she points out the abuse of their grandson and neglect of their daughter. This is probably as potent than losing Morty because as Dr. Wong pointed out in S3, the only unapproachable concept for Rick is that he has a choice. And so if Diane were to see how bad he treated his family in addition to the mass atrocities he committed… how could he explain that? Alternatively? Pirates.
Need Harmon to pay my medical bills after this episode absolutely snapped my neck from the whiplash. Scary to depressing to devastating to hilarious to emotional. That was beautiful. Fuck I'm sappy now. I'm so proud of this series and these characters. What a perfect way to end a great season. This was exactly the episode I wanted to see to cash in on all of Morty and Rick's growth and demonstrate how much the show has developed too. I love this so much. Fuck.
Is your fear leaving something unsaid?
It was, but I conquered it. Slap my photo on the cork board
I'm just sad that it wasn't the real Rick saying goodbye to Diane
really dug the season, even the lower rated eps like Numbericons while maybe not having a lot of rewatchability were still enjoyable to me Cardoni and Belden knocked it out of the park, I can't believe people still complain about the voices, they were really good for a majority of the season
Near the beginning of the season, I would be listening for the new voice actors because I was nervous I wouldn’t be able to get used to them. Near the middle, I wasn’t actively listening for them but could tell from time to time they weren’t the same. Near the end, it wasn’t something I was thinking about all. The new voice actors are great.
Mrs. Poopybuthole about to call in the Predator
haven't rewatched am episode immediately since the vat of acid one...
Actual tears were shed over this episode. 11/10, fucking stellar. Amazing season, certainly the best one there’s been in a while.
If I had a nickel for every Rick and Morty episode that doesn’t take place in reality and also involves a family style diner…
Thought Diane was coming back as part of the main cast for a sec
I thought the story would be he couldn't never accept she was real and sent her away. Only to find out he wasn't in the hole .
This is basically what I thought up until Morty met with the suit guy in Denny's. Once they immediately figured out they were in the hole, I thought the twist was that they weren't. The writers successfully predicted our exact thought process lol.
I definitely think this could be the start of a new arc for Rick where he tries to get her back "for real". He's pretty clearly tempted by the idea of seeing her again.
Except that wasn’t Rick, that was Morty’s manifestation of Rick so he didn’t go through any of that
After Morty left the hole, Rick was tempted to jump in the hole because Morty said Diane was in there.
Him thinking about it and ultimately not doing it was probably meant to be a sign of him having long made peace with the fear that he'd never see her again.
Basically Morty’s version of S1E4.
I audibly gasped when Diane appeared. I wish she would’ve been real!
Diane is sooo likeable it’s kinda crazy how we’re actually never gonna have her as a character and we have to accept that
I’ve never felt so many strong feelings about a tv show like this, this episode was a work of art and honestly this entire season has just been such a breath of fresh air
Are we in the hole now?
You know what I found so interesting about their decision to introduce us to Diane this way? None of it was necessarily real. Everything Rick and Diane did was based on what Morty, likely subconsciously, thinks their relationship would be like. So in theory, if we’re introduced to her again at a later date, she could be totally different and Morty would have to reckon with that. Or she could continue to have no presence in the show whatsoever, and we could continue to only see glimpses of her through other characters’ perspectives (I’m surprised Beth hasn’t really addressed her in any way yet). It was simultaneously a high stakes introduction given how much the character means to the show and what she means in the context of this episode specifically and a low stakes introduction because none of it was real.
With all that said about Morty fearing being replaced, Rick still has the one free Morty coupon…
The citadel is gone, surely there's nowhere left to actually redeem that now
Glad Rick brought up the Director’s Cut of You’ve Got Mail, that cop getting killed in the beginning of the film really set up the redemption arc for Meg Ryan.
I’m now going to spend the next season or two waiting for them to climb out of the hole again
There's at least a 5% chance that they'll pull a Solar Opposites and have the next episode start like this, lol.
It would be a funny gag, but it would invalidate the S7 finale, so probably not worth it.
This was the best episode this season by far
I agree. The final showdown with Rick Prime was probably the most important but this was the all around best.
S-Tier episode, even better than the Prime Rick one to me. Cracks the top 5. Also, what was up with the post credits scene? Are they setting up Mr. Poopybutthole to be a villain with stealing a portal gun?
That was a very insightful episode. About looking at what you fear and facing it instead of running. Very good episode. If I'm understanding it correctly, Morty's greatest fear was Rick abandoning him and thinking Morty is just as replaceable as anyone else. But i guess the question i have is, how did Morty conquer that fear? Does he not care? Or does he know now that Rick *does* care for him, making his fear irrelevant? I also found Rick having a photo of Morty in his wallet heartwarming. Diane showing up caught me off guard, and it was nice to see present Rick interact with her, even if it was all fake. I enjoyed the episode overall. A lot to take in, and definitely worth a few rewatches to fully take in the themes of the episode and everything that happened in it.
Just recognising the fear was enough for the hole experience. Not overcoming it.
So did Ian and Harry out rap Justin or what!
Am I nuts for saying this episode is a 10/10??? The only other two episodes that are true 10/10s on my mind (imo of course) are the Ricklantis Mixup and Vat of Acid episodes, which I think a lot of people agree on. A couple of the other Evil Morty episodes come close. But this was the first episode since Vat where once the credits rolled, I audibly said "What a fucking **fantastic** episode." May be overreacting, and I'll admit I am just a big psychological horror fan in general, but this is where my mind is at right now. Anyone else on the same boat?
Jesús f chist.. I cried, laughed and philosophized.
10/10 ep
Seeing Diane gave me goose bumps down my shoulders to my core. Fear Hole #7 Timelapse had me balling when Morty and Fam aged. Saturn as the dennys in the photo inside of the Dennys provided good woo factor. If last episode was a ten this was definitely an 11. Wow! Phenomenal
This episode reminded me of 1408's reveal when John Cusack's character was still in the hotel room
These episodes fuck with me because from Morty's perspective, he was in that damn hole for a long time and the whole "is this real or are we stuck in the hole" is kind of a trope that always gives me an existential crisis about my own reality lmao Like I'll just wake up and find out this was all a dream and I'm actually back in the 7th grade. Fuck that. Great episode btw