i think that a lot of people tend to understate the importance of "vindicators 3: the return of worldender" in regards to rick's progression as a character and evolution back into a family man (or "a different kind of rick").
season 3 and season 4 are, to me, the most pivotal seasons in regards to rick's shift in priorities. we see him come face to face with the consequences and emotional impact of his actions multiple times in s3 and early s4, and we see a huge shift in his priorities by the latter half of the 4th season.
watching this episode for the first time was one of the times i really saw morty as a child stuck under the thumb of a "hot and cold" abuser. substance abuse often plays a huge role in the cycle of abuse and in child victims' experiences of trauma. i think that this episode did a great job of showing the consequences of rick's actions on morty's psyche. even though rick is most definitely the one "in charge" of the duo, morty has had to step up and learn to be rick's conscience and be the more responsible party. in a lot of ways, morty is the adult in their duo.
one moment in particular that really sticks out to me and pangs me in the heart is when morty has to disarm the drunkenly improvised neutrino bomb (something we can assume he had to do for the first time after the opening scene in the pilot).
"there's a 40% chance it's a dud, but you should still stay back."
i know that it's explicitly stated that morty has had to do this quite often, but this really makes it obvious just how experienced morty is with this type of thing.
it also really goes to show that morty isn't as "stupid" as he's been conditioned to believe he is. there are a lot of parallels between rick and morty as children (which is something to get into a different time), and i would go as far as to say that morty is just as smart as rick (this is also coming from someone who believes that morty is also on the spectrum, so take from that what you will).
rick's reaction to the whole thing, too, conveys bewilderment and guilt at the same time. he spends most of this episode being embarassed that he's done this, and morty is the only one "smart" enough to deduce how to get them out of the game. his attitude (albeit, still an ass) is relatively somber, and he even acknowledges that he's being "high roaded" because of the obvious impact of his negligence, abuse, and substance abuse on morty.
kind of interesting to see from someone who spent the beginning of the episode sulking and threw this giant fit in the first place because morty didn't see him as his "hero." i think that this was kind of a reality check for rick.
("maybe i don't deserve to be morty's hero. maybe i am a bad person and there's no excuse for my actions, no matter how much pain i'm acting on...")
"too many, rick! too many!"
another thing worth mentioning that gets reintroduced in this episode is morty's adventure punch card.
i think that this is something that's previously established and shows his covert respect- or at least fondness- for morty. his willingness to do this and not just sci-fi his way into his version of a perfect family/dynamic with morty one way or another is really telling.
he values genuine human connection (especially with morty) and compromise in a way we hadn't seen before. he's grumpy about it, but he accepts morty's declaration of "exercising his right to choose one in every ten rick and morty adventures."
i think that's kind of cute.
i can't get the image of rick and morty sitting together at the computer designing the punch card- or rick carefully creating a stamp of morty's face.
he really goes above and beyond here. he could have just used a whole puncher, stapler, previously existing stamp, or even marked it with a pen.
of course, this way, he ensures that it's more difficult for morty to forge a stamp, but it's also just sweet to me that he made a little morty stamp.
c'mon, guys... rick picking out a font for "morty adventure card"???? such an adorable premise.
another moment worth mentioning is when rick suggests putting morty on the platform.
rick is sober in that moment, but he explains his exact thought process while drunk. he was being coy for some hidden love for morty. he was saying "you can have him, but only if you know how special he is!"
i also think that it's telling that rick gets angry with vance for calling morty "the learning disabled kid we do photo ops with." say what you want about rick, but he doesn't stand for other people bullying his little buddy (he's the only one allowed to insult morty's intelligence, and i like to think that he was extra pissed because vance wasn't just calling morty "stupid," he was being ableist. if you view it through that interpretation- and keep in mind that morty has a canon disability of some sort- it's a great moment to place alongside rick's s1 blurb about the use of the "r word" to highlight the progression of his character in a general sense).
anyway, this is one of my favorite episodes. i really feel for morty here. i like episodes that address that he's still a child and that the trauma he's going through is seriously affecting his development. that being said, it's also a great exploration of rick's guilt.
it is interesting to me that this happens before "the vat of acid episode," though, where we really see how sadistic rick can be in his emotional manipulation of morty when there are a thousand other painless and easier ways to keep morty pliant and subservient.
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