Rick and Morty: “Auto Erotic Assimilation” (2.03)
I always wondered how Beth “happened.” It seems unlikely that Rick had ever been a normal guy—someone who’s so deep into being an absolute monster probably had scrubbed himself of his morals long ago. While we don’t get the answers to that in “Auto Erotic Assimilation,” the show does start to address some lingering questions I’d had. Why does Beth so unequivocally love her horrible dad? Who in the world would Rick date, let alone have a child with?
To answer the latter, we were introduce to Unity, a hivemind that had, at that point, taken over an entire planet. Unity, voiced largely by Christina Hendricks, is extremely willing to start dating Rick again, much to Summer and Morty’s chagrin. Summer, for her part, is mostly unnerved by the idea of even being around a collective consciousness that takes over the minds and bodies of other living organisms. Reasonable for a normal human concept of reality, of course. Turns out that this species is more than willing to dive into a race war the second they regain control. Let’s take a moment to bask in the speed and deftness in how Rick and Morty charges through philosophical arguments for and against absolute free will.
Morty just seems a little grossed out that his grandpa is dating anyone at all, but it turns out Unity is pretty nice to the two of them. By the end of the episode, Morty might like Unity a little more than Rick, or at least pities her. Rick is toxic in relationships—unsurprising—and sends Unity into a days long bender. She gets completely wrapped up in Rick’s wants and needs, his whims, even making an entire television show just for him (“Now cancel it! Now bring it back!”). Morty can sense that something is wrong, but Summer, having a slightly more adult perspective, is the one that makes the call to leave Rick with Unity until she comes to her senses and leaves him. And, eventually, Unity does.