So then why aren't you talking why should that matter maybe it's time you stopped asking questions and started having lunch [Rick looks at his deepest and greatest fears] What was that all about Hello Internet Welcome to film theory the show that unlike Rick and Morty doesn't take a break for Thanksgiving week Luckily though with that one week hiatus for turkey day behind us this week Finally brought us another Rick and Morty episode to gobble up it let's just say it's not one to watch with the kids Definitely not one to watch with your parents either. Maybe you yourself want to take a long shower after watching this line I just want to be clean. I I feel dirty after everything that's happened It was a weird episode full of in my opinion wasted potential No offense creators of Ricky Morty, but I gotta be honest with you cuz I love you I mean you put Rick in a situation where his science is rendered useless It's like the first time ever that we really see him helpless, but then one commercial break later He's basically being unstoppable again. That would have been so cool to explore as a concept If I'm being honest here was one of my least favorite episodes of all time or at least the a plot of the episode was luckily for me and luckily for the Monetization of this video this episode actually gave us something a bit more interesting and a lot more brand safe to talk about So we're get about that talking mythical beast. I'm far more interested in this Talking regular animals. I'm a talking cat, but who cares? Why isn't my point in? This episode's be story focuses on the escapades of Jerry and his newly found talking cat friend namely season one gave us talking dogs But step aside snowball now, we got ourselves a talking cat voiced by my boy Matthew Broderick doesn't know he's my boy, but Love him cuz he's a theatre nerd like I am and us theatre nerds got to stick together Even though one isn't aware that the other one exists Sure Matthew's a talking cat and no we're not supposed to ask any questions about that which Ironically enough is all we're gonna be doing in today's episode about this new character in this episode So anyway, Jerry after finding his verbose feline friend, but receiving zero answers as to what's really going on decides He's okay enough to take a trip to Florida on the cat's request came a wife Florida because they don't ask questions They play volleyball they party and they have fun right things get Considerably less fun for Jerry when the cat decides to use the beach as a litter box and chooses to blame it on his human companion poopy And buried it was like two little kicks and just love to hear like a landline. It was him things also get considerably less fun for our talking cat Fred when he stops taking his own advice and breaks the number-one rule of Florida asking too many questions It's like Fight Club for retirees. I'm asking too many questions, aren't I? how ironic After a long day together Jerry and the cats journey comes to an end when Jerry is joined by Rick and the two of them Decide that it's time to get some answers or specifically one answer. Why does this cat? Aw, the cat's unwilling to spill the beans. So Rick pulls out his mind scanner. Mine skin.look You're overthinking it the point of a talking cat is to have fun and what they see Apparently defies word. Let's see the truth What? Whatever it is that they see in that cat's mind scan is enough for Jerry to lose his lunch and His breakfast through probably yesterday's dinner. We can't see what they're seeing But one thing's clear that cats got to go Get out Both of them seemed deeply disturbed by what they see but luckily rick has a solution for that Remember the season 3 episode Morty's mind blowers that showed us how rick has a way of wiping out memories that are too traumatizing We're disturbing to deal with well Rick remembers Jerry isn't quite sure that he wants to take the easy way out though No, I don't think we should forget but this Someone has to remember someone will and with that Rick wipes Jerry's memory But not his own and the two of them head back home, but what a weird plot, right? I mean out of nowhere. There's just this random Talking cat and then a trip to Florida and then when we see the second hand reactions of the people who actually learn the truth Of what's really going on here? It's like the most horrific thing possible so terrifying that it even rattles the unflappable Rick Sanchez who has Literally seen it all. So of course on this channel, we're gonna ask the question. What did they see? What were they looking at? What is really going on with that? Darn cat? Look, you're overthinking it the point of a talking cat is to have fun the answer. Well, let's look at the evidence This might be tempting to assume that the cat was responsible for some kind of unspeakably horrifying act Something's so wretched and evil that Rick and Jerry just couldn't help but be repulsed by how evil it was But it seems unlikely that that's the case after all Rick and Jerry's reaction is to tell the cat to go away Rick has no ethical qualms about killing people who deserve it and sometimes even those who don't deserve it So if the cat were really responsible for some kind of horrifyingly evil act It seems pretty safe to say that he would have just killed it right on the spot or at the very least made some Attempt to contain it poor cat taint it He does after all have a prison in the secret lab under the garage as we saw in the season 2 episode where he was Keeping Blin blam. The baby-eating murderer chained up I'm a murderer that eats babies and I came to this planet to eat babies Rick and Jerry's willingness to let the cat go indicates that it merely bore witness to some kind of evil act or Maybe it just perpetrated an act that Well, not evil per se was so horrifying and disgusting that it offended their human Sensibility This cat might not be a threat to their physical safety But seeing him around would be a constant reminder of the terrors that nearly drove them to the brink of madness So the kitty has got to go so what then could have disgusted them so much the key word here is disgust because it's one of the most intense emotional responses that humans can have to have given stimulus if you drill into the psychology and Evolutionary background of disgust there is actually a really good reason for this disgust is meant to serve as a violent physical Rejection when your body senses something that could be a potential contagion It's what psychology professor David Pizarro at Cornell University describes as a quote built in poison detective You can even see it on infants you put a few drops of a bitter substance on their tongue and their tongue Immediately shoots out of their mouths as their body Reflexively tries to reject the bitter substance that you're trying to feed that when we eat expired food Our body wants to throw up so as to remove the potentially spoiled or Contaminated food from our system and simply smelling touching or seeing something that disgusts us can trigger that same physical response Just like we see happen to Jerry Some things that David Pizarro noticed things that universally elicit disgust in humans our poop vomit blood Rotting or decaying flesh and what all those things have in common? Well, they're all common ways that disease spreads So it makes sense that it would be evolutionarily advantageous for our bodies to violently reject or be disgusted by those things However, David Pizarro notes that the list of universal elicit errs have discussed include not just those substances But also a lot of sexual acts which again makes sense considering that this is just another way for many diseases to spread and would also explain part of why so many cultures Around the world have taboos around the dirty deed So that might be on the table as a possible explanation for why Rick and Jerry had a violent reaction to what they saw in The cat's mind some kind of ridiculously deviant Sexual act that could be the kind of thing that would get them to have this intense sense of revulsion. Well also, Clearly being okay enough that it isn't worth an immediate death sentence at the hands of red. I said this was an episode where a dragon Soul bonds with the grandfather and his two grandkids So it's definitely on feet with the episode and it would have to be pretty darn freaky to offend a brick But again, this cat was totally down to sole bond with that same dragon in the post-credits scene So it's very clear that there's plenty of things that are on the table for this little tabby This isn't the first time in the series that Jerry's had an intense disgust for reaction to certain bedroom activities either He had a negative reaction albeit. Not quite as strongly way back in the season 1 episode anatomy Park Jerry's parents come to visit the family for the holidays and Jerry's none, too Happy to find out that they brought along his mother's new friend Jacob I watched them sometimes from a chair sometimes from a closet Almost always dressed as Superman even though both of Jerry's parents seemed very happy and content with the arrangement Jerry doesn't like it one bit This might seem like a random thing to bring up here But Jerry's parents may actually be important to uncovering the mystery of what this cat's up to in the aftermath of the traumatic memory viewing Jerry says this it wasn't my home Not he was in my home where my wife and kids are but in my home where I keep photos of my Parents which seems to point to something involving parents or older adults Something that he would be ashamed That his parents learned about so could that relate to the time that he and the cats spent together in? Florida other online theorists have also pointed to the fact that the last time that we saw cats Interacting with elderly on Rick and Morty it was on interdimensional Cable was the dead cat lady parody of weekend at Bernie's that had a bunch of cats puppeteering a long dead woman. Mrs. Sullivan I please forgive me for being forward but your eyes are so beautiful Certainly gross. It's also worth noting that it was directed and written by Gerry from another universe written and directed by Jerry Smith So it's possible that that universe is Jerry was inspired consciously or by the remnants of a long erased memory by a certain trip to Florida with a particularly energetic and Excitable cat but you know what? Maybe we're barking up the wrong tree the whore whatever the cat equivalent of that is Let's scratching on the wrong post. Anyway, there's something a lot more interesting going on here And that is the whole meta nature as to what this cat is trying to say to us as the audience The cat's backstory isn't what matters here and that's kind of the point that the writers are trying to tell us what the cat is doing in this episode is Calling us out and by us I don't mean the general viewership of Rick and Morty I'm saying us the theorists Watching in the audience Here. I am standing in front of camera right now doing a whole episode dedicated to whoa There was a cat that could talk in this show. He has some sort of secret messed-up back story What could it be when in fact the cat's already told us that maybe we're just better off accepting the fact that there was a talking cat in one episode instead of ruining the fun with all these questions in our Constant search for answers. Maybe it's time. You stopped asking questions and started having fun. I mean, it's just a cartoon, bro you're not meant to overanalyze every little thing even though that is kind of the concept of these channels as they exist on YouTube you Tell I feel personally attacked from this episode. Luckily. I'm in good company though I don't have to be the one to yell at this cat for Condescendingly lecturing me about how should or shouldn't be enjoying something because Rick Sanchez is here to do it for me, finally insinuation that I can't ask questions and have fun condescending you see the cat sets up this dichotomy of people who ask questions about why things are the way they are and People who just like to have fun and enjoy things without asking questions, but as Rick points out, this is a false dichotomy It's possible to ask questions Have fun and enjoy things. That's why I Exist here on YouTube. It is just fun to look at these sorts of little mini mysteries So who is right here the cat who says we shouldn't ask too many questions and just relax and enjoy ourselves or rank Who insists on finding the answers to those questions? Well, let's start by picking apart The cat's perspective the plot of this episode reveals that not even the cat himself fully subscribes to his just take it easy man philosophy sure He claims that he doesn't like people asking him why he can talk and he wants to travel to the mythical land of, Florida Where they never ask questions, but once he finally gets his wish in, Florida He enjoys it just for a brief amount of time before he finally starts getting a little antsy. That's great I not being asked why I could talk I'm a talking cat, but who cares? Why isn't my point? Well nice talking to you for no reason very next scene The cat himself is the one who starts asking questions That ruin everyone else's fun and he gets himself chased out of Florida because of it. I'm asking too many questions, aren't I? how ironic The cat doesn't want people to ask questions yet in the end He acknowledges that asking questions is a natural response to being confronted with incomplete information That we as humans or as talking cats Naturally crave answer if we're going with this meta Interpretation and assuming that the cat's message here is the show's way of telling fans not to overthink the show they're watching Well, it all feels a bit reminiscent of a comment by the creators of Westworld back in 2017. After that first season it aired which Acknowledged this sort of tension between questioning fans looking for answers and the creators themselves To quote Jonathan Nolan one of the creators of that show who yes happens to be the brother of Christopher Nolan quote It's annoying sometimes when people guess the twists and then blog about it But the engagement is gratifying on one level because if someone guesses your twist It means you've done an adequate job of structuring the series you can't complain when people are that engaged. It's very gratifying But stop doing it, please and that is the reason I stopped watching Westworld such a bummer. I hate that quote It makes me so sad to see that on one hand to stop doing it Please sounds like the plea that the cat is making in this episode Stop asking so many questions and just enjoy the show but even as he says this Jonathan Acknowledges that it's a good thing when people are talking about your show online and that it's gratifying to see that sort of conversation Happening it's the cats dichotomy. So does that mean that Rick and by proxy? Uh theorists are right after all well not exactly They're either just as the cat wished for a world with no questions and wasn't happy when Florida delivered exactly what he wished for Rick wished for answers to the question of how the cat could talk and he too wasn't happy when he got what he wished for you Looking at how we consume media Sometimes we as fans ask shows give us answers to our questions And we end up ultimately being unsatisfied with the answers that we get after star wars the force awakens. We spent two years Speculating about who Ray's parents could possibly be and then found ourselves Disappointed when the last Jedi finally gave us an answer that they were nobodies In fact, we did a whole episode on this channel at the time about how constant theorizing about Star Wars led fans to create Expectations for themselves about this movie that no one could have possibly delivered on setting us up for an inevitable disappointment That being said we could have been less disappointed if you know they'd actually adhered to check all this gun and all which is also a Part of that whole episode just saying it wasn't all our fault Now the last Jedi may have been disappointing for other reasons and it set up the question of Rey's parents as the kind of thing That would be answered before the end of the series so they could just leave us in the dark forever plot Not all origin stories need to be spelled out explicitly for us Especially if they're not some big plot point like the Star Wars sequels attempted to do case in point the Star Wars Prequels was anyone really dying to find out what Anakin was like as a nine-year-old boy? Would anyone watching have been disappointed if they've just you know left that question on? Sir, and just started the prequel trilogy with Anakin as a teenager like we did with Luke in the original trilogy It's the same thing with solo a Star Wars story. No one really cared about Hannes early days He was just a cool character We didn't need him overly explained some questions are better left unanswered Exactly because no answer would be satisfying this episode provides a perfect example As much as we might like to theorize about what the mind scanner saw in the cat's mind the fact that the episode didn't tell Us exactly what the scanner saw made things far more interesting it sends our imagination spinning into directions that are far more Entertaining than a single answer could ever be it's like that classic horror movie problem the monster you can't see is always going to be scarier than the monster that you can see because the limits of your Imagination are beyond what a practical effects Department could actually show you on screen likewise the traumatizing Backstory that you can't see is always going to end up being more interesting So between the cat and Ric whose side are we supposed to take here? I mean, this is another one of those places where the show presents us with two conflicting signs implicitly asking the question of which one is right and Neither of them is a hundred percent, right the answer of course lies somewhere in the middle perhaps the best solution is to ask questions and be Content with not always getting all the answers or when you do get an answer not being dissatisfied because you asked for it So via mentally there are some things that demand a more than surface level analysis to fully enjoy in fact One of the things that we love about Rick and Morty is that it's one of those shows where we get rewarded for picking apart all the little details However, it's easy to make the mistake of assuming that because I have questions the show owes me answers Yes certain things shouldn't be left open Nobody likes a gaping plot hole, but certain things invite speculation and that's intentional Answering our questions outright would kill all the fun of it We can trust that they'll eventually pay off some of the show's bigger mysteries like what's going on with evil Morty and everything that's happening back at the Citadel well Excepting that we're not gonna find out exactly what it was that Rick and Jerry saw on that mind scanner I don't think that this cat is coming back I don't think that that's a question ever gonna get solved which means that from now Until the end of time we have to be content with it. Just being a theory a film theory and cuts You
Welcome to /r/GameTheorists!
Make sure to read the rules and we also have a discord!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
I agree that the creators didn't write an actual reason and just left it open to imagination. I agree that we probably won't know.
But for those that will search for a reason anyway, there is a detail I see that everyone seems to over look, including yourself. Whatever Rick and Jerry saw, explains why the cat can talk. The theory that the cat is related to the cat lady from interdemensional cable is good, but it wouldn't explain why it can talk. Same with the sexual theory.
This is, in my opinion, what top quality Theorist content is. Saying fuck it to whatever the original question was, and focusing on questions in and of themselves. this whole psychology here seems so personal and conflicting for mat - is it ever harmful to question things? Is there ever a time when the more compelling, albeit unsatisfying option - is actually to keep them in mystery? As a fellow consumer who doesn't like to be told how to enjoy things, this rings deep for me as well.
TIL it's important to ask questions in life - challenging rigid ideas is really the only way we can better ourselves as a species.
BUT logic isn't the only mental construct in life - we've got emotions too, and although we're usually only accustomed to respecting the feelings of others, we have our own as well, that we will need to come to understand. IMO, learning to accept that your feelings about something can actually be more satisfactory than the actual thing is one of the most essential points of the human condition. sometimes, reality won't match up to expectation, analyzing things ruins the magic they originally provided, and mystery trumps stimulation, plain and simple.
Everything he said was painfully obvious for anyone that watched the episode. Waste of a video.
The cat is a reference to Love Death and Robots. The end of the first episode you see a cat that has the same voice actor, which is also Jerry's. It is heavily implied that cats ended humanity in that episode which explains the horrors and sounds of war. The whole thing was just a nod to that show which came out the same year (2019).