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Warning: This review contains full spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 9, Episode 9!
I think most of us would agree that Rick and Morty Season 9 was way overdue for a Beth-centric episode. After being relegated to the background for eight episodes, things finally change in the penultimate chapter of Season 9. “Salute Your Morts” is an overall fun romp, but it really excels when it comes to exploring how Beth (Sarah Chalke) and Jerry (Chris Parnell) deal with the curse of eternal intoxication.
“Salute Your Morts” benefits from a solid and very sensible premise. It only makes sense that all this exposure to advanced tech and multiversal capers and a grandfather who can bail them out of literally anything would transform Summer (Spencer Grammer) and Morty (Harry Belden) into entitled, elitist little brats. And of course, Rick’s (Ian Cardoni) solution to that problem is to ship them off to an intergalactic afluenza camp.
That leads to an enjoyable dual-pronged storyline, as Summer and Morty experience a camp where the inmates are running the asylum and their parents enjoy their newfound freedom back home. Though, again, the Beth/Jerry storyline definitely overshadows the Summer/Morty one to some degree. It’s a lot of fun watching these two stuffy dorks unwind and then find themselves lost in the never-ending high.
That storyline only grows more wacky as the two venture into space via Rick’s intergalactic Uber device and travel to a world that’s just one massive shopping mall. None of this would hit the same if it were Rick, Morty, or Summer dealing with the struggle to find Space Narcan. Beth and Jerry as the protagonists adds an extra level of novelty and silliness to the whole ordeal. It helps that Chalke and Parnell really go all-out with their vocal performances here.
It also helps that this episode uses Rick so sparingly and effectively. Rick being shuffled off to the side for a while allows Beth and Jerry to shine on their own before they finally cave and call him for a rescue. Then it turns out that Rick is just as incapacitated as they are, which leads to still more hilarity. The little subplot with Rick transforming people into oversized carrots is also a nice bonus, particularly with that excellent stinger scene at the very end.
None of this is to say that the Summer/Morty storyline doesn’t have its share of laughs. You have to love the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie reference when the two are being introduced to their new, hedonistic playground. And it’s certainly fun to watch as that playground rapidly devolves into a waking nightmare. I do think this storyline loses a bit of steam as it goes along, with the whole “townies vs. rich camp kids” development feeling a bit halfhearted. But still, it’s impossible not to be entertained by watching a drugged-out Rick going to town on their wouldbe kidnappers. It’s a rare episode where the entire Smith/Sanchez clan is allowed to shine.
