Warning: This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 6 episode 1, "Solaricks."
Rick and Morty season 6, episode 1, “Solaricks”, revisited Rick-C137’s original universe and it explained why Rick is so mean to the Smith family. Initially played as false memory Rick came up with to trick the Galactic Federation, the circumstances of Diane and Beth’s death on Dimension C-137 were later confirmed to be real. The Rick audiences have been following since the beginning of Rick and Morty had to watch his family die in from of him, and now Rick and Morty’s season 6 premiere reveals that Rick C-137’s personal trauma is even more complex than it seemed.
Following the events of Rick and Morty's season 5 finale, Rick’s portal gun was no longer working. Rick and Morty were eventually rescued by Space Beth, but the portal gun problem remained. Rick tried to reboot the portal gun equipment, which inadvertently led every person who was not in their original universe to be teleported to where they originally came from. That was the perfect setup for Rick and Morty to revisit old storylines, such as Morty’s fallen original universe and Rick’s tragic background.
Rick and Morty had already shown Rick C-137’s original universe through flashbacks, but “Solaricks” revealed what Rick’s life in that dimension truly felt like after Beth and Diane’s deaths. Not only did Rick imprison every person in his neighborhood in an endless loop that recreates the day Diane and Beth were killed, but he also created an AI version of his dead wife. The AI sounds exactly like Rick’s wife Diane, but it is aware that it is nothing but an AI created by a forever-grieving Rick. In fact, Rick designed AI Diane to torment him by remembering that he could not save his family. “Solaricks” suggests that Rick continued living in that house listening to AI Diane for a while, which explains why he is so hard on himself and others – especially the Smith family. The only connection Rick had for what might have been years was a twisted AI designed to make him upset, meaning that he was never ready to have a new, real family.
How Rick's Origin Universe Explains His Season 1 Smith Family Arc
Rick was shown to be particularly rude towards the Smith family in Rick and Morty season 1. Granted, Rick never went to become a perfect father to Beth or a father-in-law to Jerry, but recent Rick and Morty seasons have shown Rick to be a slightly more loveable person. In Rick and Morty season 1, however, Rick’s trauma was still fresh in his mind. The Smith family were nothing but strangers to Rick C-137, who had never actually raised Beth or seen her get married. Therefore, seeing an adult Beth with her own family must have reopened Rick-C137’s old wounds. That is why Rick is so mean to the Smiths in Rick and Morty season 1. Not only that, but Rick and Morty’s season 1 “original” dimension was the home of Rick Prime, the Rick who killed Rick C-137’s family, which must have made it even more difficult for Rick C-137 to live there.
Fortunately, Rick would eventually open himself to new bonds. The key to that was Morty, who considers Rick C-137 to be his grandfather even though they are from different universes. Ironically, most of Rick and Morty season 1’s Smith family is now dead, but at least the current Smith family can live with a more loveable Rick.
New episodes of Rick and Morty air Sundays on Adult Swim.