*Rick spray-paints a symbol on a closed door*

Morty: Uh, what's that?

Rick: This will make the cops write it up as a looting by the Korblocks.

Summer: That's horrible!

Rick: I hear you man, cops are racist.

Auto Erotic Assimilation is the third episode in the second season of Rick and Morty and one of the major character establishing episodes for Rick.

Plot Synopsis

The Episode opens on Rick , Morty, and Summer cruising through some random quadrant of space when they get a distress signal. Rick instructs them that you should always respond because there's usually an empty ship waiting to be looted. Upon entering the ship they encounter survivors who claim their home world was overrun by a body snatching hive mind only to be assimilated almost immediately. Rick pushes Morty and Summer behind him, brandishes his ray gun, and prepares to kill the assimilated crew only for them to collectively pose suggestively and greet him. Rick, looking embarrassed, introduces his ex-girlfriend, Unity.

They all head down to a planet's surface where Unity has assumed control of every inhabitant of a blue skinned humanoid species. Summer loudly proclaims the whole thing morally abhorrent and Rick suggest that she and Morty go hang out with Unity while he catches up with Unity. He and Unity talk about their past and how they've both matured only for it to turn into a make out session. He stops it before it goes further but only to start adding weird stipulations. We next see Rick hang gliding into a stadium full of naked redheads while wearing a crotchless Uncle Sam costume to the chorus of "Go, son, go" from men in the stands. After ... whatever that was, Unity is visited by Beta-7, another hive mind, which expresses concern over Unity's behavior under Rick's influence. Meanwhile Morty and Summer are eating hamburgers while they watch Unity carve their likenesses into a mountain. Summer remains adamant about the whole co opting peoples bodies is wrong thing and begins imploring random folks to break free. At first all she gets from this are Unity's explanations of how things are better but soon the body she's talking to barf up the Unity goo. Soon everybody is barfing their way back to individuality.

Back on Earth Jerry and Beth have stumbled upon the secret hatch to the underground lab in the garage. Despite Beth's protestations Jerry climbs down to investigate gurgling noises and she follows. They find an alien chained to the wall and argue whether or not to free it which boils down to Jerry not trusting Rick and Beth not wanting to do anything to upset him. The alien get so fed up with their bickering it frees itself, grabs a translator off the wall, and proceeds to tell the couple off for having what it considers the most codependent, dysfunctional relationship it's ever seen.

Back on Unity's world people begin to act like themselves which almost immediately devolves into a race war between the cone nipple folk and the concentric ring nipple folk. Morty and Summer become a target for both sides because of their regular nipples and only survive thanks to a timely save by a Unity controlled S.W.A.T team. Summer tearfully laments that her wish ended with people killing each other and Unity mentions that it's actually to do with how drunk parts of her have gotten partying with Rick. Summer and Morty meet up with Rick and demand to go home. Rick portal guns a way home but Summer insist that he should come too; that he's been a terrible influence on Unity. Morty agrees but Rick is having none of it and dismisses the two of them who leave through the portal. Later Rick goes to the bathroom to wash his face, congratulate his reflection on the best weekend, and tells himself to see how long he can make it last. Coming out of the bathroom Rick discovers all of Unity is gone and the environment is covered in hand written notes. Rick reads his way through what amounts to an "it's not you, it's me" break up. She's a different person around Rick and it scares her just how well he absorbs the lives of the people around him without even trying. Rick goes back home and Summer asks him how things went with Unity. Rick gives a vague response to the effect of it's over but who cares and goes to the garage. He attempts to kill himself but fails at the very last moment when he passes out from intoxication.

Themes

Rick tried to kill himself over a break up. One of our protagonists tried to kill himself on screen. I don't think I've ever seen that on TV. The episode asks the question of whether autonomy is worth the pain it causes. Unity answered the question with a simple no and on the planet she controlled she seemed to be right. By that same token Rick tries to maximize his and Unity's fun only to be reminded just how lonely he is. The previous season shows us that Rick is in a boom/bust cycle of adventure and hedonism that eventually leads him back to himself, with all the problems that entails. In the last season Rick dropped his Wubbalubbadubdub catch phrase because he said he didn't need it anymore. It's clear from this episode that he needs it more than ever.

It's also worth noting Summer's behavior in this episode. Previous episodes did little to establish Summer as much more than the typical vapid teen girl stock character we all know and loathe. She got a bit more characterization in the season one episode Raising Gazorpazorp but it reinforced her earlier stereotype. By comparison this episode shows us a Summer who values individuality and is more than willing to speak out in opposition to Ricks indifference. It of course bites her in the ass because youthful idealism must always go up like the Hindenburg in Rick and Morty but it still sets up what will become a much more complex character arc.

"Oh, Unity I am so sorry. I didn’t know freedom meant people doing stuff that sucks! I was thinking more of… a choose-your-own-cellphone-carrier thing."

IRON NODER X: XTREME XCELLENCE

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