When Rick from Dimension C - 137 impatiently chased away his parallel - universe counterpart who was fundraising for Ricklantis and rushed off on an adventure to Atlantis with Morty, he had no idea that a brutal drama about power, class, and freedom was unfolding in the "dump" he had abandoned. The protagonists of this episode are not the grandfather - grandson duo we know so well, but the countless struggling Ricks and Mortys in Ricklantis. Four intertwined storylines weave together a satirical social landscape.
The central stage of Ricklantis is the presidential campaign venue. After the collapse of the parliamentary system, five Ricks competed against a special candidate — "Evil Morty" (later known as President Morty), who first appeared in the first season. Initially, this neatly dressed Morty was regarded as a farce amid the laughter of the Ricks. Reporter Rick's questions were full of contempt, as he thought Morty was completely unqualified to talk about "equality between Ricks and Mortys". But his speech hit a nerve in Ricklantis: "We see Worker Ricks and Mortys toiling side by side, and police partners guarding the streets. The so - called divisions are nothing but lies fabricated by those with ulterior motives." These words electrified the Mortys in the audience, and he was eventually elected president by a narrow margin.
Shortly after taking office, President Morty showed his iron - fisted rule. A business district representative Rick, along with a group of councilors, went to his office and said bluntly: "You just need to give speeches as we instruct; the real power is in our hands." Faced with the arrogance of the Ricks, President Morty simply snapped his fingers. Security guards immediately rushed in and executed the rebels. His cold gaze swept across the room: "Does anyone else agree with him?" This instantly shattered the control of the old forces. The bloodshed of this "regime change" laid the groundwork for a new power structure in Ricklantis.
On the other side, a newly graduated Police Rick from the police academy was shocked to find that his partner was an overweight Police Morty. Surprisingly, this Police Morty discriminated against his own kind even more than the Ricks. When he encountered a Morty demonstration march for votes, he directly stunned the participants with a taser and cursed them as "animals without a Rick". The story of their partnership is a complete tribute to Training Day. Police Rick represents an idealist who believes in "procedural justice", while Police Morty is a dissimilated "pragmatist" within the system — he secretly colluded with the leader of the Yellowjackets gang, profited by eliminating dissidents, and even admitted that his previous Rick partner had been killed for refusing to cooperate.
During their investigation into a supermarket robbery, they infiltrated the chaotic "Yellowtown" — a slum where homeless Mortys gathered, forgotten by the rest of Ricklantis. The Cashier Morty's description of the robbers was absurdly vague: "Four yellows around fourteen, wearing yellow T - shirts", as if all Mortys were indistinguishable in his eyes. When Police Morty was mocked by gangsters as a "Rick's lackey", he flew into a rage and pressed a gun to the gangster's throat: "Say that again and see." This extreme sensitivity to his status as a "supporting role" is a distorted act of resistance from someone who has suffered long - term discrimination. In the end, Police Rick fell out with his partner for adhering to his principles. In a shootout at a nightclub, he witnessed Police Morty kill Boss Yellow with his own eyes, and had no choice but to end his partner's life with his own hands. As he walked out of the nightclub, when asked by patrolling police, he replied tiredly: "Just a Rick killing a Yellow." This line, echoing the earlier context, fully reveals the absurdity and helplessness of racial discrimination.
The factory storyline exposes the exploitation of individual value under capitalism. The seemingly warm advertisement for "Happy Waffles" in Ricklantis hides a cruel truth: capitalists have imprisoned "Simple Rick" — a Rick who loved woodworking and cherished his daughter above all else. Through a device, they continuously replayed the memory of his daughter's third birthday to extract the happiness hormones secreted by his brain, which were then made into waffles for other Ricks to enjoy. The advertising slogan "Every bite tastes like love" is actually a desecration of family affection.
Worker Rick was a victim of this exploitative system. He had worked diligently in the waffle factory for many years, only to watch the newly transferred "Cool Rick" take over the position of supervisor — a man with no qualifications who secured the high - ranking job solely through "connections". The despair of class solidification drove him to a breaking point. He modified a processing device into a gun, rushed into the office, and shot his superiors. He took Simple Rick hostage and demanded an unregistered portal gun, hoping to escape Ricklantis with this fellow Rick. But when he pushed Simple Rick through the portal, the latter was instantly torn into mincemeat — the portal had long been tampered with. In the end, Worker Rick was surrounded. Meanwhile, the capitalists quickly launched "Freedom Waffles", packaging his spirit of resistance into a new commercial gimmick.
At Morty School, the teacher's teachin gs were filled with utilitarianism: "Every Morty needs a Rick" and "Mortys must learn to be reused". When a Handsome Morty made a joke, the teacher immediately retorted with a hurtful remark: "How funny, just as funny as when your fifth Rick was beheaded." Four student Mortys refused to accept the fate of being assigned to unfamiliar Ricks. After hearing the legend of the "Wishing Portal", they decided to skip school to find it. They trekked over mountains and ridges, only to discover that the "portal" was nothing but an abandoned signal tower. When the most naive Morty made a wish to the tower, they were greeted by the arrival of patrolling Ricks and arrested. The demise of this youthful adventure implies that there is almost no possibility for the bottom - tier Mortys in Ricklantis to escape their fate.
At the end of the episode, the four storylines quietly converge. The sound of Police Rick's gunshots, Worker Rick's roars, and the student Mortys' cries of despair are all overshadowed by the silence in President Morty's office. In the post - credits scene, Rick C - 137 and Morty return from Atlantis. Morty is still curious about life in Ricklantis, but Rick disdainfully turns on the TV — the news is broadcasting President Morty's speech. At this moment, the camera pans over a photo in the president's office. In this reversed photo, Morty's eyes are unusually sharp, hinting that the secrets of this newly empowered ruler are far from being uncovered.