The first trailer for Rick & Morty season 6 confirms that the Smith family will once again play a bigger role in this outing’s adventures, which is promising news after the successes of season 5. Rick & Morty’s season 5 finale changed the status quo of the series for good by destroying the show’s version of the Multiverse. When Rick & Morty’s recurring villain Evil Morty annihilated the Central Finite Curve, this implicitly meant that future episodes of the show could no longer simply reset their reality before next week’s adventures, and the characters will now need to face the consequences of their actions more than ever before.
However, while this was the most direct and obvious way that season 5 changed the show’s formula, Rick & Morty had been quietly rearranging the show’s status quo for some time before the finale. Both season 5 and season 4 featured Rick & Morty episodes wherein the central duo was split up, Rick’s almost-Godlike powers failed him, and Morty grew as a character without his grandfather’s toxic influence. Fortunately, Rick & Morty season 6 looks set to keep this trend alive moving forward.
The first trailer for Rick & Morty season 6 shows that Summer will be the focus of at least one outing, a promising change that proves Rick & Morty won’t be returning to its pre-season 5 routines. Another clip from the trailer sees Jerry and Rick working together in Morty’s absence, another clue that Morty may have more time to grow on his own in this outing and that Rick might find himself stuck with less easily led partners. Finally, the sight of Space Beth returning in Rick & Morty’s season 6 trailer proves that the show might finally force Rick to work with characters who are as intelligent as him, a threat that could lead to more growth for the show’s co-lead.
Rick & Morty’s Season 6 Trailer Proves The Smiths Will Play A Big Role
From the return of Space Beth to Summer “doing a Die Hard,” Rick & Morty’s recently released season 6 trailer makes it clear that the Smith family will all have major roles to play in the show’s action this time around. This is a positive change and one that Rick & Morty has been paving the way toward for some time now. Even though Rick & Morty season 5 had not yet destroyed the Central Finite Curve, the outing did feature episodes like season 5, episode 5's “Amortycan Grickfitti,” wherein Rick was paired off with Jerry, Morty was left to hang around with Summer, and both storylines were stronger as a result. Continuing in this vein is the best route for Rick & Morty to take, not only to flesh out the Smith family members more but also to give a unique, new perspective on Rick and Morty themselves.
Why Rick & Morty Season 6 Should Focus On Summer
Summer’s role as the heroine of Rick & Morty’s episodes “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion” (season 5, episode 7) and “A Rickconvenient Mort” (season 5, episode 3) changed up Rick & Morty’s routine and provided new insight into her character as well as giving a new view to Rick and Morty’s adventures. Summer’s refusal to go along with her grandfather’s whims in the latter episode proved that Morty could potentially challenge Rick if he tried, while her willingness to do anything for Rick’s approval in the former episode proved that Morty wasn’t alone in his inability to confront his grandfather. Even Summer's part in Rick & Morty season 4, episode 7, “Promortyus,” allowed the show to depict Rick and Morty themselves as more complicated characters and give Summer more depth.
Why Rick & Morty’s Family Focus Works For Morty
As proven by his doomed season 5 romance with Planetina, which occurred while Summer and Rick were on a separate adventure, Morty has grown chiefly as a character when he is out from under his grandfather’s thumb. This is easier to achieve when other family members like Jerry and Summer are on adventures with Rick, giving Morty room to make his own choices as a character. When Morty has had this space, he has proven braver, more flawed, and more human than his usual agreeable, placid self, as evidenced in standout episodes like "The Vat of Acid Episode," whose lack of Rick screen time provides more proof that Rick & Morty has been preparing to give characters other than the mercurial super-genius more story focus for some time now.
How Rick & Morty’s Family Episodes Improve Rick’s Character
Ever since Rick & Morty’s pilot, the power imbalance between the duo has always been in the background of their interactions. Morty rarely challenges Rick, and, on the rare occasions that he is, the character always had an answer that can silence him. This is no accident, as Morty’s meekness and naiveté are why Rick chose his well-meaning, not-too-bright grandson to be his right-hand man and errand boy in the first place. However, when Rick is paired up with other characters like the more wilful Jerry or sharper Summer, his darker side becomes more apparent, and the character is forced to either grow and change or expose his often outright villainous persona.
Maybe the most notable case of this can be seen in Rick & Morty's season 4 heist episode. This outing sees Rick pull off a heist whose secret objective is to steal Morty’s enthusiasm around the very idea of pulling off the perfect heist, hence ensuring Morty will stop trying to stage his own adventures and will instead accept Rick’s directions without question. While this enforced conformity proves a funny twist in this episode, this doesn’t change the fact that characters like Summer, Beth, and Jerry don't provide Rick with the same opportunities to exploit them and are warier of the morally ambiguous figure. As s result, Rick & Morty’s choice to give these Smith family members more screen time with Rick in season 6 can allow Morty the space to see his grandfather for the flawed figure he is. Whether Morty will side with Rick despite his dark side (as he did in Rick & Morty’s season 5 finale) or will decide to end their eponymous partnership remains to be seen, but either choice would flesh out both characters further. Thus, it is promising to see that Rick & Morty season 6 looks set to make this character growth more likely by keeping the Smith family in the loop.