Meeseeks and Destroy

"Meeseeks and Destroy"
Rick and Morty episode
The group of Meeseeks threatening hostages in a restaurant.
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 5
Directed by	Bryan Newton
Written by	Ryan Ridley
Original air date	January 20, 2014
Running time	21 minutes
Episode chronology

"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 airing.^[1]

Plot

After a particularly traumatic adventure involving demon-possessed clones of his family, Morty tries to quit all future escapades. Rick  argues that he should keep being his sidekick, but ultimately allows him to lead his own adventure. The two strike a bet with each other to see whether Morty's quest fails or succeeds, with Morty agreeing to no longer complain if he loses. The rest of the Smith family bugs Rick for a solution to several mundane problems. Rick gives the family the Meeseeks Box, a gadget capable of instantaneously summoning helpful beings, all named Mr. Meeseeks. These blue creatures exist only to solve the task at hand. Once their task is solved, they instantly disappear from existence. Rick assures the family that the creatures are happy to die, and warns them to keep their tasks simple. When Rick and Morty leave, Beth asks her Meeseeks to help her become a more complete woman, while Summer wants hers to make her more popular at school. Jerry, convinced that Beth and Summer's requests are too challenging, asks his Meeseeks to do something comparatively simple sounding - to help knock two strokes off his golf game.

Morty and Rick arrive in a stereotypical fantasy world to begin their adventure. They stop at a poor village that requests the help of two heroes to help raise money for them. The villagers point the duo towards the sky, where a world of giants awaits. Morty and Rick climb up a giant beanstalk to the giants' world, but a freak accident sees them wrongly arrested for the murder of a giant  named Dale.

Summer's Meeseeks quickly makes her more popular at school by giving an inspiring speech which wins her a lot of friends, while Beth's takes her on a date and gives her some encouraging advice. However, Jerry struggles to improve at golf despite the coaching from his Meeseeks. Jerry is ready to give up, but his Meeseeks can't stop existing until it completes its task and decides to summon another Meeseeks to help. It isn't long before Jerry is surrounded by several Meeseeks, all desperate to get Jerry to improve, since Meeseeks develop existential dread if they are alive for too long. An exasperated Beth heads to dinner and Jerry goes along, telling the complaining Meeseeks that his golf game is more their concern than his. After they've gone, all the Meeseeks blame each other for their predicament and argue over the correct solution, rapidly descending into a massive brawl. The Meeseeks physically tear into each other, but this cannot kill them, and out of desperation more and more Meeseeks are spawned from the box to further the conflict. Eventually the original Meeseeks, having been alive for over two days (an eternity in Meeseeks time) concludes that the only way to fulfill their mission is to "take all swings off Jerry's golf game" by killing him.

Rick and Morty are tried in a Giant's Court, but are acquitted due to a technicality. Rick tries to convince Morty to throw in the towel, but he refuses. As the duo begin climbing down the courthouse's giant-scale stairs, they find a tavern called the Thirsty Step and decide to stop for a drink. Morty confronts Rick over his constant negativity before heading to the bathroom. There, he meets  Mr. Jellybean, a seemingly friendly character who is curious about Morty and his adventure. However, Mr. Jellybean restrains Morty when he attempts to leave and tries to rape him. Morty fends him off but is visibly shaken afterwards. Meanwhile, Rick has loosened up and is beginning to enjoy himself; he sings karaoke and wins several hands of cards, collecting a sizable amount of money. A dispirited Morty begs Rick to go home, and admits to losing the bet. Rick pieces together what happened when he notices the bruised Mr. Jellybean leave the bathroom.

Back on Earth, Beth and Jerry are enjoying their peaceful dinner until the horde of armed Mr. Meeseeks descends upon the restaurant. Jerry and Beth escape into the restaurant's freezer, and the Meeseeks begin taking hostages to coerce Jerry to come out. Jerry almost gives in, but Beth encourages him to try his golf swing one last time. Jerry emerges from the freezer and uses a severed pipe and tomato to prove that his swing has improved. The delighted Meeseeks all cease to exist, save for a "stickler" Meeseeks who asks to see Jerry's short game. Jerry hits an onion into a coffee cup, which finally dispatches all of the Mr. Meeseeks. Jerry and Beth are brought closer together by the experience.

Rick keeps Morty's spirits up by offering to give his card winnings to the poor villagers. Morty accepts the idea and the two return to the village, where they deliver the gold and celebrate their successful adventure. The villagers then ask Rick and Morty to meet their king, who turns out to be Mr. Jellybean. Morty quickly convinces Rick to open a portal to leave. Before the portal closes, Rick shoots through it with a laser gun, killing Mr. Jellybean.

In the post-credits scene, two of the villagers find a box of photographs showing the full extent of Mr. Jellybean's unsavory nature, but they burn it to keep the king's legacy untainted.

Development

Justin Roiland claimed the idea for the episode occurred when he started screaming "I'm Mister Meeseeks" 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

External links

• Meeseeks and Destroy at the Internet Movie Database