Uploaded December 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is a video essay on one of the darkest episodes of Rick and Morty which covers an aspect of the human experience so terrifyingly: the heartbreak of love lost and the incapacity to do anything about it.
Because unlike most media, which usually depicts heartbreak as the pain felt when someone ends a relationship because of a terrible thing someone did or a mistake that someone made, in Rick and Morty, we get something different: the portrayal of love that ends from your own dissatisfaction and your own inability to be with someone who’s perfect for you.
This happens in season 2 episode 3 with the relationship between Rick and his former flame Unity, a hive mind species that assimilates other life forms into one collective organism. Rick and Unity’s relationship ends because of Unity and importantly, not due to Unity feeling unhappy with Rick but instead, due to Unity feeling unhappy with herself, despite realising that she does truly want him.
But how could you still choose to leave someone who is perfect for you?
This is my video explaining why.
Thank you to my Patreons for continuing to support this channel. You guys are amazing.
At the time of this being made, these include the lovely people: “Jack Pollard, Dr_Slurp, ThatEvilCanadian”.
If you’d also like the option of becoming a Patreon, head to:
patreon.com/motioninart
Website:
motioninartmedia.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/motion_in_art
Reddit:
reddit.com/user/motioninart
What is Rick and Morty?
Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures.
Roiland voices the eponymous characters, with Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer and Sarah Chalke voicing the rest of Rick and Morty's family. The series originated from an animated short parody film of Back to the Future, created by Roiland for Channel 101, a short-film festival co-founded by Harmon. Since its debut, the series has received critical acclaim for its originality, creativity and humor. They have won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The fifth season premiered on June 20, 2021, and consisted of ten episodes. A sixth season was confirmed as part of a long-term deal in May 2018 that ordered 70 new episodes over an unspecified number of seasons.
Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures.
Roiland voices the eponymous characters, with Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer and Sarah Chalke voicing the rest of Rick and Morty's family. The series originated from an animated short parody film of Back to the Future, created by Roiland for Channel 101, a short-film festival co-founded by Harmon. Since its debut, the series has received critical acclaim for its originality, creativity and humor. They have won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The fifth season premiered on June 20, 2021, and consisted of ten episodes. A sixth season was confirmed as part of a long-term deal in May 2018 that ordered 70 new episodes over an unspecified number of seasons.
Rick and Morty was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. The duo first met at Channel 101, a non-profit monthly short film festival in Los Angeles co-founded by Harmon. At Channel 101, participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot, and a live audience decides which pilots continue as a series. Roiland, then a producer on reality programming, began submitting content to the festival a year after its launch, in 2004. His pilots typically consisted of shock value—"sick and twisted" elements that received a confused reaction from the audience. Nevertheless, Harmon took a liking to his humor and the two began collaborating. In 2006, Roiland was fired from working on a television series he regarded as intensely creatively stifling, and funneled his creative energies into creating a webisode for Channel 101. The result was The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti, an animated short starring parodies of Doc Brown and Marty McFly, characters from the Back to the Future film trilogy.
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire.
copyright.gov/title17/92c
https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
This is a video essay on one of the darkest episodes of Rick and Morty which covers an aspect of the human experience so terrifyingly: the heartbreak of love lost and the incapacity to do anything about it.
Because unlike most media, which usually depicts heartbreak as the pain felt when someone ends a relationship because of a terrible thing someone did or a mistake that someone made, in Rick and Morty, we get something different: the portrayal of love that ends from your own dissatisfaction and your own inability to be with someone who’s perfect for you.
This happens in season 2 episode 3 with the relationship between Rick and his former flame Unity, a hive mind species that assimilates other life forms into one collective organism. Rick and Unity’s relationship ends because of Unity and importantly, not due to Unity feeling unhappy with Rick but instead, due to Unity feeling unhappy with herself, despite realising that she does truly want him.
But how could you still choose to leave someone who is perfect for you?
This is my video explaining why.
Thank you to my Patreons for continuing to support this channel. You guys are amazing.
At the time of this being made, these include the lovely people: “Jack Pollard, Dr_Slurp, ThatEvilCanadian”.
If you’d also like the option of becoming a Patreon, head to:
patreon.com/motioninart
Website:
motioninartmedia.com
Twitter:
twitter.com/motion_in_art
Reddit:
reddit.com/user/motioninart
What is Rick and Morty?
Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures.
Roiland voices the eponymous characters, with Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer and Sarah Chalke voicing the rest of Rick and Morty's family. The series originated from an animated short parody film of Back to the Future, created by Roiland for Channel 101, a short-film festival co-founded by Harmon. Since its debut, the series has received critical acclaim for its originality, creativity and humor. They have won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The fifth season premiered on June 20, 2021, and consisted of ten episodes. A sixth season was confirmed as part of a long-term deal in May 2018 that ordered 70 new episodes over an unspecified number of seasons.
Rick and Morty is an American adult animated science fiction sitcom created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon for Cartoon Network's nighttime programming block Adult Swim. The series follows the misadventures of cynical mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his good-hearted but fretful grandson Morty Smith, who split their time between domestic life and interdimensional adventures.
Roiland voices the eponymous characters, with Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer and Sarah Chalke voicing the rest of Rick and Morty's family. The series originated from an animated short parody film of Back to the Future, created by Roiland for Channel 101, a short-film festival co-founded by Harmon. Since its debut, the series has received critical acclaim for its originality, creativity and humor. They have won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program.
The fifth season premiered on June 20, 2021, and consisted of ten episodes. A sixth season was confirmed as part of a long-term deal in May 2018 that ordered 70 new episodes over an unspecified number of seasons.
Rick and Morty was created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. The duo first met at Channel 101, a non-profit monthly short film festival in Los Angeles co-founded by Harmon. At Channel 101, participants submit a short film in the format of a pilot, and a live audience decides which pilots continue as a series. Roiland, then a producer on reality programming, began submitting content to the festival a year after its launch, in 2004. His pilots typically consisted of shock value—"sick and twisted" elements that received a confused reaction from the audience. Nevertheless, Harmon took a liking to his humor and the two began collaborating. In 2006, Roiland was fired from working on a television series he regarded as intensely creatively stifling, and funneled his creative energies into creating a webisode for Channel 101. The result was The Real Animated Adventures of Doc and Mharti, an animated short starring parodies of Doc Brown and Marty McFly, characters from the Back to the Future film trilogy.
And if you’re still reading this – hello.
This video is made through Fair Use under copyright law for the purposes of education in criticism or review; as well as parody or satire.
copyright.gov/title17/92c
https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod
