Rick And Morty Season 6 Episode 1 Hilariously Glosses Over A Devastating Jerry Reveal
Contains spoilers for "Rick and Morty" Season 6, Episode 1
Adult Swim's "Rick and Morty" Season 6 is here to bend time, space, reality and minds as it sees fit. In the first episode of the season, it's clear that everyone in the Smith family has grown jaded to Rick Sanchez's (voiced by Justin Roiland) constant antics. When Rick returns from space with Morty (Roiland) and Space Beth (Sarah Chalke) and accidentally resets interdimensional travellers back to their original dimensions, virtually none of the main characters bat an eyelid. Even when Beth (Chalke) finds out that her dimension's Rick and Morty died and were buried on the property halfway through Season 1, she's mainly relieved to finally find out why possums have been digging in the backyard.
Amidst all this chaos, it turns out that Rick and Morty aren't the only dimensional travellers in the family, because Jerry (Chris Parnell) also starts glowing the distinctive reset glow. Shortly before the three are whisked away into their starting dimensions, Jerry wonders about the situation. Nevertheless, everyone — including the man himself — quickly writes it off as a "Jerryboree" situation before moving on to more pressing matters. So, what's going on here, and why does "Rick and Morty" Season 6 Episode 1 hilariously gloss over this potentially devastating Jerry reveal?
The Jerry we know is a Jerryboree changeling
Jerryboree first appears in the second episode of Season 2, "Mortynight Run." It's an appropriately boring off-world daycare where Ricks of various dimensions can leave their Jerrys to keep them safe from whatever adventures are about to occur. However, this means that the place is crowded with virtually identical Jerrys. Some of them get dumped there forever, and apparently, mix-ups can happen.
Thus far, the Jerry the show has mostly been following has seemingly been the version from dimension C-131 — the one Rick and Morty escaped into after accidentally Cronenberging Morty's original home dimension. This episode reveals that this is very much not the case, and Jerry has actually been an alternate-dimension character for quite a while now. It's possible that he got switched up into a completely different Jerry all the way back in the end of "Mortynight Run," or perhaps during later, offscreen visits to Jerryboree. It's more than likely that he's been the "main" Jerry for a long time, since the other characters are attached enough to rescue him from the downtrodden family life in his native dimension.
The fact that the show essentially glosses over the potentially monumental revelation about Jerry's changeling status and the unknown whereabouts of the true C-131 Jerry is a very "Rick and Morty" thing to do. Perhaps the show intends to sit on this plot thread, and the mix-up becomes an important chapter in the entire "Rick and Morty" story. Then again, perhaps the whole thing will never be mentioned again. After all, it's just Jerry. If things get awkward, they can always take him to Jerryboree.