Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Look, when you have the whole multiverse at your disposal even pooping is an adventure. Rick and Morty Season 4, Episode 2 revolved around Rick trying to poop in peace, and you better believe that things went off the rails immediately.
Really “The Old Man and the Seat,” a clear nod to Ernest Hemingway’s literary classic The Old Man and the Sea, is a love letter to the elusive and hard-fought joy of a perfect bathroom experience. Rick (Justin Roiland) needs to go to the bathroom, so he travels off world to his perfect toilet. That’s when the worst happens — someone has used his bathroom before him, and Rick doesn’t take that betrayal well. Meanwhile Rick’s alien intern Glootie is left behind. There’s only one thing people aren’t supposed to do with Glootie, and it’s tattooed on his head: do not develop his app. Naturally Jerry (Chris Parnell) wants to go into the world of app development 50/50 and chaos ensues.
To borrow from last episode, it was a classic Rick and Morty adventure. Though Rick and Morty weren’t technically together this time around, it was all silliness with no higher, therapy-inspired emotional stakes. But even an episode all about poop jokes can be hiding some secrets of its own. Wondering what you may have missed in this week’s episode? We have you covered. Here’s your guide to Rick and Morty Season 4, Episode 2. And if that’s not enough Jan Michael Vincents for you, here’s your guide to Episode 1.
Beth's soulmate match is Ted Danson.
No matter what she said to Jerry, of course Beth (Sarah Chalke) used Lovefinderrz. Though Jerry (Chris Parnell) didn’t get any matches at all, Beth got a very cool first match: Ted Danson.
Chalke hasn’t appeared is anything with the beloved star, but his universal appeal is sort of the point. The antithesis of the hapless Jerry would be someone naturally charismatic and beloved by everyone, aka Ted Danson. But the most interesting part of this revelation isn’t Beth’s awesome match but her reaction to it. Whereas the rest of the world seems consumed by the app’s magnetic powers, Beth shrugs it off. Not only that but she dismisses Jerry’s worries with the incredibly Rick-esque “We’re all good, dog.” She truly is her father’s daughter.
Did Pamela Adlon make a surprise guest appearance?
Fans are convinced that Bobby Hill made a Rick and Morty cameo. While Rick is threatening this episode’s fly drug lord, that mob boss takes a call from one of his 4,000 children. And the voice on the other end of that line sounds suspiciously like Pamela Adlon.
Adlon isn’t credited in “The Old Man in the Seat” but she has one of the most iconic voices in animation. Her role as Bobby in King of the Hill won her a well-deserved Emmy. Currently she’s best known for the emotional and funny comedy Better Things, which she created, stars in, and directs.
Hey Sam Neil, Kathleen Turner, Jeffery Wright, and Taika Waititi are all in this!
Speaking of King of the Hill crossovers, there is an official one hiding in “The Old Man and the Seat.” The legendary Kathleen Turner makes an appearance as the late wife of Tony the errant pooper. Turner played “Miss Liz” Strickland in King of the Hill. But the Body Heat star’s best known voice acting role is as Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?
But that’s far from the only celebrity who appeared in Season 4, Episode 2. Jurassic Park star Sam Neil and Thor: Ragnarok director Taika Waititi starred as two members of the same alien race. Waititi voiced Glootie, the alien intern with a “Do Not Develop My App” tattoo, and Neil voiced his water-obsessed boss. Also Westworld and James Bond star Jeffrey Wright made an appearance this episode as Tony, Rick’s pooping enemy turned eventual friend.
Jerry's office contains some very Jerry references to past episodes.
This is the first episode in a while that we’ve gotten a good look at Jerry’s office, and it’s very… him. Predictably there’s a poster for his favorite James Cameron movie Titanic. That’s a low-key reference to Season 1’s “Ricksy Business,” which follows Jerry and Beth as they go on a romantic Titanic-themed date night that ends with Beth beating up a deranged maid. There’s also a golf poster with the phrase “Life Is Rough!” If “Meeseeks and Destroy” taught us anything it’s that Jerry sucks at golf. His inability to get two strokes off his golf game resulted in a mass existential crisis for an army of Meeseeks before they turned to murder.
That butter robot is still kicking.
Remember that cute little robot in “Something Ricked This Way Comes?” The one that’s only purpose in life is to pass butter? It’s still around to panic about life. In Season 4, Episode 2’s closer the butter robot can be briefly seen in the fridge.
New episodes of Rick and Morty premiere on Adult Swim, Sundays at 11:30/10:30c p.m.
