Toxic Parents in Rick and Morty

My older brother and I are slowly going through Rick and Morty. I’ve seen mainly episodes from season three and it’s been interesting — and gross — to start from the beginning. Jay agrees that it’s a show you need to see in small doses or you get depressed and disgusted at the same time.

Then someone I know got into a disagreement with me. They said that Rick is the only person who knows what’s going on and really does care about his family. He is not a toxic human being.

I’m nonplussed. You’d think after someone saw the therapist episode in season three that the writers don’t want us to take Rick’s side wholeheartedly. Emotional investment is not the same as considering a character immune to criticism because of the justifications he makes.

First, SPOILER WARNING because we are going to talk about the show in detail.

The Cliff Notes

Rick and Morty is an affectionate parody of Back to the Future and every show where a kid hero is asked to go on whacky adventures with a questionable adult. The title characters travel dimensions to defy death and prove that nothing matters, not even your family when you find their parallel lives. As Rick traumatizes his grandson with science and alcoholic behavior, Morty becomes more cynical about how the world works and his family disintegrates.