Many fans didn’t care for Rick & Morty season 4 episode 4, and the reasoning behind the episode’s mixed reception is certainly understandable. Not every episode of an adult animated sitcom can be a hit with critics and fans alike. As proven by The Simpsons' disastrous Joe Rogan parody, sometimes even iconic and influential shows have a bad week.
While Rick & Morty has an enthusiastic and committed fanbase, the show’s IMDB rankings alone are evidence that not every episode earns unalloyed acclaim. For example, “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty” (season 4 episode 4) is the lowest-rated episode of Rick & Morty’s five seasons, currently sitting at a 7.4 rating out of a possible 10, based on nearly 11,000 votes.
A big part of the problem is that Rick & Morty season 4, episode 4 relies on raunchy, sex-centric humor more than most of the show’s outings. In addition, the episode's fantasy parody premise isn't explored in great detail, leaving its commentary on fandom culture seeming both unclear and indecisive. As a result, the Rick & Morty season 4 episode ended up understandably unpopular, despite a typically game appearance from guest star Liam Cunningham.
Rick & Morty Season 4 Episode 4’s Plot Explained
Opening with Morty demanding a dragon from Rick, and Rick warning him against the idea to no avail, “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty" seems set to be a Game of Thrones/high fantasy parody. However, the episode doesn’t spoof the hugely popular HBO show or even the fantasy genre specifically, instead taking vague aim at fandom itself. Rick warns Morty that he doesn’t want a dragon, and that the adventure will turn out weirder than expected, but Morty ignores his advice. As a result, he quickly finds that the bond between people and dragons is awkwardly sexual. This eventually leads to Rick bonding with the dragon in question, the dragon being castigated for bonding with multiple people, and an eventual overthrowing of an evil wizard, but a lot of this story is used primarily as window dressing for some misjudged sex-focused gags.
Why Rick & Morty Fans Hated The Episode
The central joke of “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty” is that the bond between dragons and humans is akin to sex. While South Park's childish, slyly smart satire has proven many times (as has Rick & Morty) that a concept this silly and juvenile can be the source of surprisingly clever gags, that never really comes about in the episode. The joke that is intended to drive the plot is that dragons bond in a psycho-sexual way with humans, making Morty grossed out and leading him to abandon his own fantasy when he realizes this. It is a gag that doesn’t go anywhere after this big reveal but does prompt an absurd amount of repetitive sex jokes, all of which are about as innovative and unexpected as Rick & Morty's revelation that dragons who bond with numerous human partners are branded “slut dragons.”
Was Rick & Morty's "Claw and Hoarder" Anti-Fantasy Fans?
There’s an argument to be made that the Rick & Morty episode was laughing at people getting too invested in fictional universes. Like The Simpsons spoofing obsessive Lost fans, "Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty" arguably sees Rick & Morty take issue with fantasy fans who want stories to be fun adventures but can’t handle them including anything morally messy, unexpectedly mature, or frankly sexual. This specifically seems like a transparent criticism of Game of Thrones fans who objected to the show’s downbeat turn in its closing season but, if this was the intention, the execution falls flat.
After all, the joke seems to be at the expense of fans who don't understand that fantasy isn’t always what they want it to be. However, the dragons being uncomfortably frank about sex is cringeworthy and uncomfortable. As such, any attempt to satirize (for example) Game of Thrones fans who wanted a more accessible and fun fantasy show was lost, since Morty isn’t wrong for finding the revelations about dragons to be weird and discomfiting. The Rick & Morty gag doesn’t work as a result, since viewers are left with much the same feeling as both Rick and Morty—namely, that the show’s dragons aren’t worth engaging with and any attempts to add them to a story will be a misguided mess, making the preceding episode an oddly self-aware sort of misfire.
What Rick & Morty Season 4 Episode 4 Got Right
Despite its flaws, "Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty" is still a solid episode of Rick & Morty thanks to its B-story. The subplot about Jerry being led astray by an unexplained talking cat was offbeat, darkly funny, and surreal. And, although it did rely on Rick & Morty’s tendency to make the sadsack Jerry a perennial victim of bad luck, it still sticks out as the strongest part of what IMDB calls the show’s weakest episode. Much like South Park's risky season 25 episodes that focus on only one story always run the risk of being major missteps for the series, Rick & Morty tends to hedge its bets by following a pair of interlinked plots.
Interestingly, plots wherein Jerry endures embarrassment after embarrassment at the hands of Rick tend to fare less well with fans since Rick’s advantages over his son-in-law are long-established. As a result, the show avoided retreading the B-plot of Rick & Morty’s Terminator parody by making Jerry the victim of a bizarre, previously unseen villain, a less familiar dynamic that felt fresh despite still leaving the luckless charter in the lurch time after time. While it was not enough to stop "Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim's Morty" from becoming one of Rick & Morty’s least-liked outings, the gag did at least improve the episode's reception overall.