Note: There are spoilers for “Rick and Morty” Season 7, Episode 4 in the following article.
In Sunday night’s new episode, “Rick and Morty” directed a jab at Warner Bros. Discovery, claiming that a world devoted to depression and suicide was similar to “their whole planet was bought by Discovery.”
“That’s Amorte” from Season 7 of “Rick and Morty” needs some explanation, just like every other episode. As part of a brand-new weekly ritual, Rick (Ian Cardoni) began the episode by giving his family some delectable spaghetti. But spaghetti can’t just be noodles and tomato sauce—this is a show about a nihilistic super-genius mad scientist. It actually originates from a world where suicide victims’ insides transform to spaghetti.
The show really went out of control when Morty (Harry Belden) attempted to make up for his grandfather’s moral transgressions. “Spaghetti World” quickly descended into despair as world leaders attempted to persuade people to take their own lives so they could profit from their delectable demise as soon as Morty discovered the source of his delicious dinner. Rick once took Morty on a tour of this new, much darker world, which has somehow turned its sun “institutional grey,” has spaghetti strainers in place of bridge guardrails, and allows lousy therapists to get their licenses back for free.“Oh and for TV, wall-to-wall reality television, but not the good kind,” Rick tells his grandson. “It’s like their whole planet was bought by Discovery.”
Immediately after, Morty said, “Jesus Christ, this is depressing.”
“That’s definitely what they’re going for,” Rick responded.
“Rick and Morty” has a history of criticizing Warner Bros. Discovery. For instance, Rick was concerned that the story-focused episode “Full Meta Jackrick” in Season 6 would do harm to them both due to its “meta radiation.”
“Our credibility is being permanently eroded. Every second we spend here is the equivalent of 10 ‘Space Jam’ cameos,” In a reference to Rick and Morty’s highly talked-about performance in “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” Rick commented in the episode.
But aside from making jokes about its own place in the WBD universe, this is the first time the show has made direct fun of its parent company, with the Discovery jibe.
Given how long it takes to produce new seasons of animated television shows, Season 7 of “Rick and Morty” is most likely the first to be written after the merger. Warner Bros. Discovery was formed via the merger of WarnerMedia and Discovery in April 2022. The company has frequently stated that one of its most popular series is the Adult Swim original.
“Rick and Morty” Season 7 debuts new episodes on Adult Swim every Sunday at 11/10c.
