What did you think about the new episode?
Oof, I'm kinda scared to answer that if I'm being honest, lol. The fandom is so torn about it that I'm a bit worried about getting in the mix. I'm not gonna go into full detail, but I will lay out the cheese.
I liked it. Simple as that. It was funny, unexpected, and crazy. Plenty of folks have already explained the good and the bad, so I'm gonna skip going into theory mode and go straight into fanfiction mode (platonic, no shipping).
I've daydreamed plenty about an episode where either Rick or Morty gets a new friend thus causing the other to become jealous/dejected. And we finally got an episode with Evil Morty and Rick. It felt awesome. The angst and betrayal. I love me some good angst. This episode provided canon reactions from Morty which helps give me ideas for potential fanfics.
Morty doubted himself. He felt inferior. He felt dumb, left out, useless, angry and replaced. He fought to gain control over the situation which didn't go as well as he would have liked. Rick was still the one who outsmarted Evil Morty in the end. And, even though Rick appeared to have wanted EM out of his business, you could tell he was somewhat upset about how it all went down- this leads me to believe that Rick would have been completely happy partnering up with EM if EM hadn't held his family hostage.
So knowing that Rick is capable of enjoying adventures with a different grandson, and knowing how Morty feels about it makes for some interesting fanfiction potential.
I have a fic in mind that I want to base off this episode, and I think it'll be fun to write. Thanks for the ask! Did you enjoy the episode?