Meeseeks and Destroy

"Meeseeks and Destroy" is the fifth episode of the first season of Rick and Morty. It premiered on Adult Swim on January 20, 2014. The episode was written by Ryan Ridley and directed by Bryan Newton. In the episode, Rick provides the family with a solution to their problems, freeing him up to go on an adventure led by Morty. The episode has been well received, and was seen by about 1.6 million viewers when it was first aired on Adult Swim.[1]

"Meeseeks and Destroy"
Rick and Morty episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 5
Directed byBryan Newton
Written byRyan Ridley
Original air dateJanuary 20, 2014
Running time21 minutes

Plot

After a particularly traumatic adventure, Morty strikes a bet with Rick to lead his own adventure. When the rest of the Smith family asks Rick for solutions to several mundane problems, he gives them a Meeseeks Box, a gadget capable of summoning blue humanoids named "Mr. Meeseeks". These creatures live in pain until they execute the first order they are given; once it is completed they vanish. Rick warns the family to keep their tasks simple.

Jerry summons a Meeseeks and asks it to help him take two strokes off his golf game, but despite its coaching he struggles to improve. Since a Meeseeks cannot die until it completes its task, it summons another Meeseeks to help. Soon Jerry is surrounded by many desperate Meeseeks. Jerry and Beth, exasperated, go to dinner together in spite of the Meeseeks' protests. All the Meeseeks blame each other for their predicament and fight over the correct solution, concluding that their only hope is to take all the strokes off Jerry's golf game by killing him. A horde of armed Meeseeks descends upon the restaurant and takes hostages to coerce Jerry to come out. Jerry almost gives in, but Beth inspires him and encourages him to try his golf swing one last time. Jerry uses a severed piece of shelving and a tomato to show that his game has improved, and the delighted Meeseeks all cease to exist.

Morty and Rick arrive in a medieval fantasy world to begin their adventure. They stop at a poor village that requests their help to steal a giant's treasure in order to raise money. Morty and Rick climb up a giant beanstalk to the giants' world, but an accident sees them arrested for murdering a giant. They are tried in a Giant's Court, but are acquitted through a technicality.

The heroes stop at a tavern for a drink, where Morty confronts Rick over his negativity before heading to the bathroom. There, he meets Mr. Jellybean, an at first friendly character who tries to rape him. Morty fights him off but is visibly shaken. Meanwhile, Rick is beginning to enjoy himself, winning a sizable amount of money from playing cards. Morty begs Rick to go home, and admits to losing the bet. Rick sees a battered Mr. Jellybean leaving the bathroom and, realizing what happened, raises Morty's spirits by giving his winnings to the poor villagers. The villagers declare Rick and Morty heroes and ask them to stay and meet their king: Mr. Jellybean. Morty quickly convinces Rick to open a portal to leave; Rick does so, then shoots through it and kills Jellybean.

In a post-credits scene, two of the villagers find incriminating photographs in King Jellybean's lockbox, but they burn it to keep the king's legacy untainted.

Development

Justin Roiland claimed the idea for the episode occurred when, frustrated with the progress of a writing session, he suggested the introduction of a character blurting "I'm Mister Meeseeks, look at me!" and the concept evolved from there.[2]

Reception

Zach Handlen of The A.V. Club rated the episode A-, quoting that it "[may have had] the most weirdly upbeat ending of the show so far".[3] David Roa from Dead Screen gave the episode 9.1 out of 10, noting its great story and re-watchability.[4] Junkie Monkey's gave it a mixed review, stating that although it wasn't the best episode of the season, it was far from the worst.[5] Den of Geek gave the episode a 5/5 rating, reviewer Joe Matar said that the episode was a good challenge of the concept of adventure.[6]

References
  1. "Monday Cable Ratings: 'Love & Hip Hop' Wins Night, 'WWE Raw', 'Single Ladies', 'Klondike', 'The Fosters' & More". TV By The Numbers by zap2it.com. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  2. "We are Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland creators of Rick and Morty on adult swim NEW EPISODE TONIGHT MARCH 10 ON ADULT SWIM!!! AUA! Even about our personal secret stuff too! • /r/IAmA". reddit. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  3. "Rick And Morty: "Meeseeks And Destroy"". www.avclub.com. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  4. "Rick and Morty: S1E5 "Meeseeks and Destroy"". Dead Screen. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  5. "Rick and Morty "Meeseeks and Destroy" Episode Review | Junkie Monkeys". www.junkiemonkeys.com. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
  6. "Rick and Morty: Meeseeks and Destroy, Review". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2016-01-17.
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