Our Rick and Morty S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest" Thoughts
· BCPosted in: Adult Swim, Review, TV | Tagged: rick and morty
Our Rick and Morty S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest" Thoughts
Adult Swim's Rick and Morty S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest" saw our dimension-hopping duo bond with nature - over and over again.
Published Sun, 05 Jul 2026 22:37:09 -0500
by Ray Flook
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Article Summary
- Rick and Morty S09E07 sends the duo into a brutal nature lesson after they try to plunder the wrong ancient tree.
- Reformed into amoeba-like life, Rick and Morty must evolve, survive, and rethink how they treat other living things.
- Morty gets a major growth moment as the episode delivers stunning animation, weird humor, and a hard-earned victory.
- Bonus Rick and Morty context: the post also revisits Warner Bros. blocking a Looney Tunes gag and mocking Space Jam.
With only four episodes remaining this season, we're back with our real-time thoughts on Adult Swim's Rick and Morty Season 9. In S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest," our dimension-hopping duo picks the wrong planet – and especially the wrong ancient tree – to attempt to plunder. Maybe getting "reformed" is exactly what Rick and Morty need – and deserve? Of course, there's no guarantee that what gets spit out at the end is any better than the originals. Imagine if they got "reformed" as Rick Prime and Evil Morty-like versions of themselves? With that in mind, we have our real-time thoughts on tonight's episode – followed by a look back at two instances when the Emmy Award-winning animated series ran into some issues with its bosses in Warner Bros. Discovery.
Rick and Morty S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest" Thoughts
In defense of the old and ancient tree, it's about time Rick and Morty were humbled a bit about the way-too-much freedom they feel to just help themselves to whatever they want, wherever they want.
Okay, so they really did get reformed – into what looks like amoebas. The good news? Rick's still excited about the sap.
"Cell-mates": Okay, I'll admit it. I laughed.
So, they have to stay alive to evolve back into their bodies, absorbing a whole lot along the way.
As much as I'm still kinda creeped out about the dying and coming back, it's nice seeing Rick and Morty forced to get a better appreciation for what life is like for non-humans.
Even as an amoeba, Morty somehow finds a way to get pulled into some kind of side group that ends up becoming a big problem.
REMEMBER: Last week's episode showed us that Rick does have the capability to solve problems without violence, death, and subjugating people. Tonight's episode is definitely not last week's episode.
The Ancient Tree mocking Rick with his eyebrow wiggle was pretty good – noting wrong with a humble Rick every now and then.
Does anyone else feel like we just saw a personal game-changing moment there for Morty? He decided to fight for life and to evolve, rather than play it safe and hope for change.
Seriously, the animation this season? It's f***ing insane! The sequence in which Morty went through the life cycles of animals, plants, and other organisms was beautiful. Unfortunately, Morty's revelation wasn't in the Ancient Tree's plans, sooo… back underground, Morty! It was nice while it lasted, though…
It's always nice to see Rick and Morty on the same page – even if it's a weird, twisted one that's probably not healthy.
I would watch an episode with Neandethal Rick and Tree Morty, just saying.
Setting aside Nature Morty having to feast on shit, the lifetime they spent creating a life while attempting to starve the Ancient Tree was actually pretty beautiful – and it's working.
CONFESSION: Yes, I did stop writing to cheer them on against the Ancient Tree. It was actually quite heroic – though "Get Bent" was a nice touch to kick things off.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Rick and Morty episode if the dimension-hopping duo didn't find some shitty way to exit an otherwise nice moment. Yup, they lied to everyone so they could grab some time to escape. Thankfully, as we see in the end credit, it doesn't look like there were any hard feelings.
Warner Bros. Blocked "Looney Tunes" Tune From Being Used?
We just assume that corporate synergy is the standard, everyday practice of most major media companies. I mean, look no further than what Disney has planned during the year-long build-up to Super Bowl LXI: "The Mouse" is inviting everyone under the Disney umbrella to help get the word out. But if the end credits to this past weekend's episode of Adult Swim's Rick and Morty are on-point, it would seem that there are some limits to that kind of corporate "kumbaya."
During the end credits to S09E06: "ErickerHead" (directed by Eugene Huang, and written by Albro Lundy & Scott Marder), Rick and Morty finalize a few things before Rick heads off through a dimensional portal – only for Rick to pop his head back in for a quick reminder. Considering what they went through the last time that happened, it's understandable why Morty would start freaking out. But just before history is about to repeat itself, Rick shows Morty that it was a joke. In fact, not only did he fix that whole annoying decapitation problem, but Rick also demonstrated that he can control the size of the portal.
Needless to say, Morty isn't happy, and Rick smiling while he plays around with the size of the portal isn't helping the situation. That's where we get to the fun part, because even before Rick directly references it, you can see the similarity between what he was doing and those classic "Looney Tunes" endings, where Porky Pig pops out of the screen and says, "That's All, Folks!" In fact, Rick even references the music playing – while explaining why it's "Looney Tunes"-like and not the actual tune. "You hear that music, Morty? Warner wouldn't let us use the real music."
Rick and Morty Made Sure Rick and Morty Won't Be Doing "Space Jam 3"
As product deals & marketing crossovers go, Adult Swim's Rick and Morty has done a pretty great job of staying on the right side of the line that divides expanding the franchise and selling out. That said, the dimension-hopping duo's appearance on 2021's Space Jam: A New Legacy was a bit of an odd one. Unable to find a way to "cure" whatever's going on with Taz, Rick and Morty drop him back off to LeBron James, Bugs Bunny & Daffy Duck. Aside from it feeling a bit "forced" (and not in an ironic way), it also vibed a little too "family friendly" and not exactly what a lot of folks expected – including the folks behind the Emmy Award-winning animated series.
It began in S06E07: "Full Meta Jackrick," when the duo crashed through the fourth wall in an effort to track Story Lord. At one point, Rick warns Morty that the meta radiation they are being exposed to is eroding their credibility – adding that "every second we spend here is the equivalent of ten 'Space Jam' cameos." But it was this past weekend's episode, S07E06: "Rickfending Your Mort" (directed by Jacob Hair and written by Cody Ziglar), where the situation was dealt with – pretty permanently, from the sounds of it. Standing trial for their adventuring and their alleged murderous behavior, Rick makes the argument that the duo doesn't kill for the fun of it (hmmm…) – only to be shown a clip of Rick dragging two body bags back with him through a dimensional portal. As he tells Morty, he just came back from the dimension where the "Space Jam 2" crossover took place – and based on what Rick brought back with him, it was clear that a third appearance wouldn't be happening even if a third film ended up happening. And just in case anyone watching might have a different take on how the show's team feels about the cinematic crossover, having the deceased duo eager to die pretty much drove the point home: "They welcomed death! They wanted out, Morty!"
Rick and Morty Season 9
Review by Ray Flook
8/10
Adult Swim's Rick and Morty S09E07: "MortGully: The Last Rickforest" found our dimension-hopping duo forced to gain a greater appreciation for nature - over and over again - to atone for their planet-plundering ways. Here's a look at our real-time thoughts on what went down, especially an amazing sequence that, once again, demonstrates the power of the Emmy Award-winning series' animation awesomeness this season.
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