Rick And Morty (S08E02)

“Valkyrick”

As Space Beth attempts to assassinate the Gromflomite queen, things go awry when she finds out that the queen has already been assassinated. 

Needing an extraction, Beth calls the assassination committee that she’s working for, but since her assassination attempt was technically unsanctioned, she gets no help from the committee, and reluctantly calls her father Rick for help. 

So the story focuses on the relationship between Rick and Space Beth, which is a dynamic that we don’t often get to see explored on its own. We’ve seen Rick spend time with Morty (obviously), Summer, Beth, and even Jerry, but this is the first time we really get to see him spend time with Space Beth. And I really enjoyed that. Especially considering how their relationship is… complicated. 

Space Beth is embarrassed by her father and the fact that she’s a “nepo baby,” but that doesn’t change the fact that she basically is her father. She’s awesome. She’s badass. She’s probably the best assassin on the assassination committee. But, when she gets herself into a pickle, or unintentionally becomes involved with an intergalactic bug conspiracy, she knows that she can call her father for help; even if she doesn’t want to. 

And I liked seeing how Rick is happy to assist. Whether or not she’s a clone doesn’t really matter to him. She’s his daughter and he loves her. So I really enjoyed seeing how Rick stood up for her on several different occasions in this episode. 

I also enjoyed how they were able to go on a solo father-daughter adventure  in this episode, since nobody else from the Smith family ever shows up. Including Morty! He isn't even mentioned here. 

But that was fine with me. Rick and Space Beth haven’t spent a lot of time together in the series, so I’m glad that the episode took the time to focus on their two characters. Who doesn’t love a character-driven story, after all? Especially one that may affect the larger continuity of the series? I mean, the episode does end with Rick and Space Beth brokering some kind of truce between them and the Gromflomites. So it’ll be interesting to see what kind of role the Gromflomites may play in the series moving forward. 

It’ll also be interesting to see if Rick and Space Beth’s dynamic will also be affected by the events of this episode. Though I can’t imagine it’ll be too drastically different from how it is already. Status Quo has to be maintained, after all. 

But even if it doesn’t change too much in the future, that doesn’t take away from how good this episode actually was. The story was appropriately character-driven, the action was quite engaging, and the jokes were just as funny as they’ve ever been. 

So, Season 8 of Rick and Morty is off to an incredibly strong start. I absolutely loved the first two episodes of the season, and I genuinely cannot wait to see more.