Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 7 Review

Join Swimpedia as we review a screener of the seventh episode of Rick and Morty Season 7 with minimal spoilers.

[MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD]

Summer Smith has experienced some of the most interesting character growth throughout Rick and Morty’s seven seasons. She started off as a generic high school girl/older sister archetype, who only wanted to find popularity with the cool kids. This aspect of her character has never truly gone away, being one of her motivations even in this episode, but her dynamic with Rick has become one of the most interesting things about her. Summer was initially kind of a second Morty, someone to occasionally tag along on Rick and Morty adventures, or, to go on adventures with Rick while the episode necessitated Morty to have his own B-plot. While Summer mostly stayed in this role throughout seasons 1-2, we began to see more of her development during seasons 3 and 4 especially in installments like the Mad Max episode and the Facehuggers episode, both entries that prove that Summer can take over a planet as easily as a Rick. By season 5, Rick is sending Summer on her own missions because he trusts her that much, and this week’s installment we finally gain more insight into why Rick seemingly trusts Summer more than Morty, but likes her less.

This week focuses on a sci-fi accident that lands Summer in a new social standing and Morty in a state of peril, forcing Rick and Summer to team up and figure out a solution. It’s great to see Rick and Summer back in action together, as Summer has been severely sidelined for the first 6 episodes of this season. She’s had some standout moments like her argument with Rick in 703, but this is the first time in a while that we’ve gotten to shift focus to Summer’s perspective. As her and Rick work together to rescue Morty, we learn that Rick actually thinks of her more as an equal, which is why he coddles her less than Morty. He reveals that his respect for her is also born out of how much he sees Diane in Summer, which is something that was also hinted at in 601, when Rick was discussing Summer with the Diane AI he put in his original house.

This episode also has another brief reference to Rick finally killing Rick Prime back in 705. While such a huge story bomb being dropped in the middle of the season feels like a sign that the show will not be going big for its season finale, it does feel like they might be building to something. Where is Rick going to go in the rest of the season? And will Beth finally get something to do? We’ll have to wait and see.