Warning: Spoilers for Rick and Morty season 7 episode 6 below!Rick and Morty season 7 adventure “Rickfending your Mort” saw the series pay homage to Stephen King – and accidentally pitching a superior sequel to one of his 2023 movie adaptations. Adult Swim’s animated sci-fi series is well-known for its pop culture parodies, from Doctor Who to A Nightmare on Elm Street and everything in between. It also has fun riffling on the clip show format, which first came about with the classic Interdimensional Cable episode “Rixty Minutes” from season 1.
In the years since they’ve mixed up the format with the likes of season 3’s “Morty’s Mind Blowers” and now “Rickfending your Mort.” This season 7 outing sees Rick and Morty getting into an argument over what counts as an adventure, with the former calling in a sentient alien rock called the Observer for help. The Observer “sees all” and can play clips from their adventures, but a feud between it and the titular adventurers soon turns ugly. “Rickfending your Mort” has a lot of fun with the traditional clip show format, which includes nods to movies like Blade and Rick and Morty’s cameo in Space Jam 2.
Rick & Morty’s Season 7 Just Paid Homage To 2 Classic Stephen King Tales
Rickfending Your Mort” riffs on Pet Sematary and Maximum Overdrive
While doing an “audit” of what counts as an adventure and what doesn’t, season 7’s sixth episode nods to a couple of Stephen King tales. The first is Maximum Overdrive, which was the author’s sole attempt at directing. Despite being considered a terrible movie, it has nonetheless received a cult following, and “Rickfending your Mort” viewers briefly bear witness to an adventure that is, as Morty states, “Maximum Overdrive with clothes.” True to the title, it sees the titular duo wearing cardboard boxes while being chased by sentient clothing.
Rick comments this is at least better than being attacked by cars – until he witnesses a jumper ripping off a woman’s face and attempting to wear it. Later in the episode, Rick and Morty explore the “Pet Sematary”, where they bury Ben Franklin’s corpse and then run a bunch of tests to see what the limits of the graveyard’s resurrection abilities are. In contrast to the other Pet Sematary movies, they at least don’t pay any moral price for using the cemetery.
Rick & Morty’s Pet Sematary Scene Pitches An Intriguing Sequel Concept
A Pet Sematary sequel would be better than 2023’s prequel
2023 saw the release of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, a prequel to the 2019 remake. While the reviews were largely bad, Bloodlines was still a streaming success on Paramount+, becoming the platform’s most-viewed original film. In truth, there’s some B-movie fun to be had with the prequel, and King himself gave the project a thumbs up. It adds some intriguing additions to the franchise’s existing lore, but Rick and Morty’s latest adventure may have accidentally pitched a more intriguing Pet Sematary sequel idea.
Of the four Pet Sematary films to date, all follow a similar format of grief driving the protagonists to bury the body of a loved one in the graveyard – and paying a terrible price. If another entry happens, it can’t be the same basic concept repeated, so maybe the notion of a team of scientists discovering the abilities of the cemetery and running some tests isn’t such a bad one.
They probably wouldn’t be burying their phones to see if the soil recharges them (like Morty does), but a follow-up that blends science with the supernatural – like John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness – could yield something interesting. Maybe the story could involve a look into how the resurrection process works, and what lies beyond death. Of course, things will inevitably go wrong and the team will still discover that sometimes “dead is better.”
Rick & Morty’s Other Stephen King References
The show often pays homage to The King
For the countless movie and TV parodies featured on the show, it’s notable there have been so many references to Stephen King’s work. The first season featured one of the most obvious, with “Something Ricked This Way Comes” featuring a store filled with cursed objects and run by a demonic owner. This was a clear riff on King’s Needful Things, but there have been more subtle easter eggs to the author’s books throughout the show’s run.
Season 3 premiere “The Rickshank Redemption” pays homage to The Shawshank Redemption, both in its title and the premise of Rick breaking out of prison. The Time Cops that have appeared in two episodes are interdimensional creatures with a passing resemblance to King’s Langoliers, while another season 3 Rick and Morty offering “Tales From the Citadel” features a group of Morty’s setting out on a coming-of-age adventure. This was inspired by the author’s short story “The Body,” later adapted as 1986’s Stand by Me.
Rick and Morty
- Release Date:
- 2013-12-02
- Cast:
- Spencer Grammer, Justin Roiland, Kari Wahlgren, Chris Parnell, Sarah Chalke
- Genres:
- Animation, Adventure, Comedy
- Seasons:
- 6
- Summary:
- Rick and Morty is an adventure/Sci-Fi animated series that follows the intergalactic, inter-dimensional adventures of super-genius Rick Sanchez and his less-than-average grandson Morty Smith. Rick’s daughter, Beth, his granddaughter, Summer, and his hated stepson, Jerry, also take center stage more often than not. Hailing from creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon, the series blends comedy with science fiction as a way of exploring a wide variety of themes aimed at an adult audience.
- Story By:
- Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Tom Kauffman
- Writers:
- Dan Harmon, Justin Roiland, Tom Kauffman, Eric Acosta
- Network:
- Cartoon Network
- Streaming Service(s):
- Hulu
- Franchise(s):
- Rick and Morty
- Directors:
- Dan Harmon, Ryan Ridley, Lee Hardcastle
- Showrunner:
- Dan Harmon
