The ABC's of Beth

"The ABC's of Beth"
Rick and Morty episode
Episode no.	Season 3 Episode 9
Directed by	Juan Meza-León
Written by	Mike McMahan
Featured music	Ryan Elder
Original air date	September 24, 2017 (2017-09-24)
Running time	22 minutes
Guest appearances
Thomas Middleditch as Tommy Lipnip Jennifer Hale as Keara Brandon Johnson as Mr. Goldenfold Kari Wahlgren as Jessica

"The ABC's of Beth" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Rick and Morty. Airing on September 24, 2017, the episode was directed by Juan Meza-León and written by Mike McMahan.

Plot

Rick and Beth enter Froopyland, a fantasy world created by Rick for young Beth. Their goal is to recover Tommy, Beth's childhood friend who has been trapped in Froopyland, and prevent the execution of his father, who is being falsely accused of eating him. Tommy, who has survived all these years by resorting to bestiality, incest and cannibalism, refuses to return to the real world. Rick and Beth manage to save his father's life by creating a clone of Tommy. Back at home, Beth is presented with the option of having a replacement clone of her created, so that she will be free to travel the world. Meanwhile, Jerry dates an alien hunter named Kiara, to Morty and Summer's dismay.

When he decides to get out of the relationship, Kiara is enraged and tries to kill the kids, whom she holds responsible. The situation is resolved following the revelation that Kiara was using Jerry to get over her previous boyfriend, much like Jerry was doing with her. In the post-credits scene, Jerry's answering machine plays messages warning him that Kiara's boyfriend is coming to kill him, and Rick saying that he has killed Kiara's boyfriend, but also had sex with her.

Production

On September 11, 2017, it was revealed that the episode title would be "The ABC's of Beth", as well as the release date of September 24, 2017. The episode's writing credit of series producer and writer Mike McMahan was revealed upon the episode's airing, as was the directorial credit of Juan Meza-León. "The ABC's of Beth" stars series regulars Justin Roiland as Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith, Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith, and Spencer Grammer as Summer Smith, respectively.

In addition, Thomas Middleditch voices the character Tommy Lipnip, an old friend of Beth's who became such in Froopyland as a child and resorted to terrible means to stay alive. In the ned, Tommy is presumed dead and Beth and Rick create a clone of him to return to his parents. Also, Jennifer Hale voices Keara, an alien huntress whom Jerry briefly dates in the episode, and Brandon Johnson and Kari Wahlgren reprise their roles from previous Rick and Morty seasons as recurring characters Mr. Goldenfold, Morty's school teacher, and Jessica, Morty's long-time crush.

Inverse noted that the "biggest Rick and Morty season 4 mystery" of whether Beth or Space Beth (later introduced in "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri", the finale of the fourth season) is the real clone made by Rick. The article also delved into the concept of evil in the episode, saying, "'Evil is a construct that Rick doesn't really believe in,' series creator Dan Harmon says. 'The universe is populated with stupidity, and you’re the smartest person in it. Then you're always going to be the most cruel. You're always going to be burdened by their dumbness. You're all alone in your intellect.'" In an Inside "The ABC's of Beth" video, writer Ryan Elder said, "[Rick] designed Froopyland to both entertain Beth so he didn’t have to, but also to protect her from herself." In a review for the episode, in which The A.V. Club called it "stellar" and "consistently hilarious, while also touching on the show's biggest theme," Michael Walsh noted that "once again the show hit hard on its recurring idea that nothing matters."

Reception

Viewing figures

The episode was viewed by 2.49 Americans upon its airdate.

Critical response

The season has an approval rating of 96% from Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, and an average rating of 8.95 out of 10, with the site's consensus:

Rick and Morty dives into new and even kookier cosmic dilemmas in a third season that interrogates familial bonds, love, and nihilism—treating all existential topics to the series' trademark serrated wit.

IGN commented on the fact that Beth and Jerry usually don't play a starring role in given season 3 episodes, saying ""The ABCs of Beth" felt like a concerted effort to make up for lost time, and it didn't disappoint." Jesse Schedeen, the writer of the review, also said, the episode contained "Some pretty dark stuff, in other words ... It's enough to wonder if the writers went a little too far exploring the dark creature that lurks beneath Beth's pleasant exterior." Den of Geek called the entire season, especially "The ABC's of Beth", overstuffed, saying that it "loses the plot a little ... It’s unfortunate because this series has been so good about gradually fleshing out all its characters beyond Rick and Morty and this was Beth’s time to shine."

Writer Joe Matar of Den of Geek gave the episode three out of five stars. Jenny Jaffe of Vulture said that "If the fact that "The ABCs of Beth”"comes right after “Morty’s Mind-Blowers” is at all significant, we might conclude that they’ve done all of this before and they’ll continue to do this again, in every conceivable universe, until the end of time. But as Rick—or Beth—might remind us, it doesn’t really matter. Nothing does.