Rick and Morty Season 7 wrapped up with an emotional hole-filled finale, and while Sarah Chalke's promising update about Season 8 may have fans already looking ahead, others are still looking back at the show's first batch of eps without fired co-creator Justin Roiland. Such fan-alysing has spotlighted an unexpected and ew-worthy milestone that quite a few viewers have been celebrating: Rick and Morty went an entire season without any storylines dedicated to incestuous plots. I really hate that it's something that deserves acknowledging, but here we are.
Season 7 featured the lethal, game-changing defeat of Rick Prime along with the return of Evil Morty, and plenty of other narratives that didn't force viewers to endure uncomfortable moments involving family members' sexual escapades. Considering the Adult Swim series previously delivered Summer and Morty's giant incest baby Naruto, it was seemingly a direct choice to avoid such taboo material, and that choice was celebrated by fans on Reddit, with eddie_fitzgerald joking that the Season 7 finale even contained the "ultimate anti-incest" message. As they put it:
Not only that, but the entire final episode was about Rick and Morty not going into the same hole at the same time. Ultimate anti-incest season!
Those who watch Rick and Morty regularly already know the show has featured an arguably uncomfortable run by way of incest-related humor. Personally, I admittedly didn't notice the all-around lack of that trend while Season 7 was airing, but others like TheElocutionist certainly did. They joked that the upcoming season will make up for what was absent this time around, saying:
Season 8 will be the incest season.
It wouldn't be the internet without some questionably healthy debates, so of course there are people who wonder if Rick and Morty Season 7 can truly be considered free of all incest stories if Space Beth is still a prevalent part of the clan. The character's return in Season 5 has done more than spark theories about who the real Beth is, even if some think they've figured it out. As ResplendentShade noted, her presence adds a kink into the mix, and not even that kind of kink.
I mean Space Beth is still around, so while it may not be depicted, Beth is definitely still having threesomes with Jerry and her clone. Does self-incest even count though?
It's a valid question, and one I'm not sure I know the answer to. Is self-love via clone something that falls under the category of incest? I guess if we were to look at the pure definition of the word, in that it's sexual intercourse by two people too closely related to each other, clone sex might even be worse than incest, morally speaking. Others might take the perspective that it's more self-masturbatory than anything.
I think making any definitive ruling is above my expertise as an entertainment writer without any clones of his own, so I'll leave readers to debate amongst themselves while sharing the same sentiment as Optimal_Ad6274, who chimed in with:
Yes! No incest! Let’s go!
For those who may be a little bummed about the lack of such questionable material, there are plenty of classic Rick and Morty moments to look back on via a Max subscription. And hey, let's not forget that Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon is also available on streaming over on that platform, so anyone who really needs to scratch that itch can do so. That probably won't be the tagline WBD will run for the streamer anytime soon, especially as rumored negotiations with a merger with Paramount continue.
All that aside, the company and writers deserve a pat on the back for any involvement it might've had with squashing incest in Rick and Morty. This fan didn't even wait until the end of the season to share praise.
Honestly, I'm proud of the writers of #RickandMorty in Season 7... so far I've caught only one incest joke in the entire season, so that's progress!#RickAndMortySeason7November 22, 2023
The fact I've spent even this long writing about incest in Rick and Morty sort of squashes the achievement of not thinking about it all that much during Season 7, but it's worth it if it encourages the show's creative team to continue avoiding it going forward. Sure, this is a show loaded with irreverence, but does it always have to give us THE grossest moments? It's okay for an episode's most mindblowing detail to be some deeply philosophical truth, as opposed to DNA atrocities, or at least that's my take.
Rick and Morty Season 7 has wrapped at Adult Swim, but as mentioned, Season 8 is on the way. Fans will have a lot to ponder as we wait for the upcoming season, especially now that Rick doesn't have an explicit direction to head in after he's defeated his chief rival. Will he set his sights on another enemy in the next batch of episodes? I can't wait to find out.
