New 'Rick and Morty' Presents Intriguing Alternative Story

This week’s Rick and Morty episode is titled The Rick, The Mort, and The Ugly. It opens with the renowned protagonists collecting Citadel rubble in outer space. They must land on a planet inhabited by Rick and Morty clones. The duo touches down in a field of crystalline corn, but someone suddenly ambushes them. Their attacker is a duplicate of Rick dressed and acting like a typical paranoid farmer. The titular characters leave without a fuss, and then the real story begins.

The farmer, Rick, dubbed Homesteader, completes his chores before heading into the Western-themed Morty town. His first stop is a shop run by two Mortys named Arcade and Doc. Suddenly, a Rick clone gang attacks, then kidnaps every Morty, and guns down Homesteader. The Rick gang takes its captives to a makeshift Citadel run by Big Rick. This Louisianan Rick clone is trying to reestablish Morty cloning to complete his future utopia.

Back on the planet, Homesteader survived his shooting but discovered his home vandalized. He goes after the clone gang for revenge, with Arcade and Doc tagging along. They locate and wipe out their foes, but Doc is fatally wounded. Homesteader and Arcade locate the other Mortys and the cloning lab. After being revealed as an actual Rick, Homesteader frees the captives and destroys the Citadel. Arcade, afterward, takes each of the clones to their ideal new homes.

The Plausible End to an Arc

The Citadel episodes of Rick and Morty are considered highly popular with viewers and fans. They offer complex themes and narratives, as well as showcasing alternate realities. These installments even gave us the iconic character known as Evil Morty. This latest chapter indeed featured the previously mentioned quintessential qualities but with a Western twist. But it seems it has also provided a plausible conclusion to this renowned overarching plot.

Homesteader Rick kills all the clones while destroying Big Rick’s makeshift Citadel. And all the Mortys are scattered across the universe, living new and better lives. There is no one left to rebuild the Citadel and govern over it. These aspects are evident signs that this renowned B-story has met its ultimate conclusion.

Of course, the chance of the Citadel, the location, and plot returning remains. There are an infinite number of realities, meaning there are infinite Ricks and Mortys. One or a group of them could effortlessly reestablish the society. The only question is if they’ll be friends or foes to our Rick and Morty. We’ll have to wait to see whether the Citadel returns or stays gone.

Final Verdict and Thoughts

I give this newest Rick and Morty episode a perfect score of 10! It adheres to the standards of Citadel episodes but with a charming Western theme. The latter aspect reminded me of The Wall segments from Season 5 of Solar Opposites. It was also interesting to see various ‘normal’ Ricks instead of the typical overpowered ones. And I’m especially intrigued to see if the Citadel of Ricks returns or not. I guess we’ll find out either next week or in a future episode or season.