'Rick and Morty' Season 4 Ending Explained: Rick is a 'terrible father' as we find out which Beth is the clone
Spoilers for 'Rick and Morty' Season 4 Episode 10 'Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri'
The minute the 'Rick and Morty' Season 4 finale began earlier tonight, we knew we were in for a solid ride. Almost immediately, the episode addressed what it was dealing with: Beth (Sarah Chalke) is a clone. The one back on Earth who we have been seeing is a clone and the one here on this spaceship — a punk Beth who seems to have traveled the multiverse to and fro — is the real Beth. She is now fighting for the new and improved Galactic Federation, Rick's sworn enemies.
Or is she? Looking for answers to finally end this and to kill her father Rick once and for all, she returns to Earth. 'Rick and Morty' has established itself as one of the best adult animated shows of all time. With the finale episode 'Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri', it delivers an impressive run that drives home the point — the dilemma of Beth being a clone was a question really intended for Rick.
It was in Season 3's 'The ABCs of Beth' that Rick gives Beth the option to clone herself so she would no longer have to waste her days in the insignificant demands of motherhood and suburban life with Jerry. If cloned, she could be free to travel around the multiverse and find new adventures while her clone deals with her responsibilities and life on Earth.
At that time, Beth had made a decision, but it was not revealed to the audience what she had chosen. Tonight, a flashback to Season 3 revealed that Beth had indeed entrusted Rick with the decision. So consequently, fans imagined this would eventually become one of the running gags with no resolution. Because 'Rick and Morty' runs on a flexible narrative, creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland could have chosen to never return to this question.
Beth has shared a tumultuous relationship with her father Rick and the two find it immensely difficult to connect. As a result of this, and other underlying issues with her husband Jerry (Chris Parnell), the family goes to therapy (in the finale episode, Susan Sarandon's Dr Wong returns for a counseling session for the family). By the end of the finale, while the question of who the real Beth is and who is the clone is irrelevant to the two women, Rick decides to know what had happened. He retrieves the memory of the event to discover that he makes the decision of cloning her, sure, but then unable to bear the truth, he shuffles their identities.
Thus coming to the conclusion, "Holy sh*t I'm a terrible father."