The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy

Plot

Rick takes Jerry to a resort inside an immortality field after Morty asks him to help boost Jerry’s confidence. There, Jerry meets an alien named Risotto Groupon, who holds a grudge against Rick for losing his kingdom. Risotto gets Jerry to join a plan to kill Rick, but Jerry changes his mind after Rick says he’s sorry for hurting Jerry’s marriage. The plot falls apart, and Rick figures out Jerry was involved. Rick then delivers a speech accusing Jerry of faking helplessness to make others feel obligated to help him, like how Beth felt she had to marry Jerry. They leave the planet, but Risotto attacks them, aiming to kill Rick. Rick outsmarts and kills Risotto instead. Back on Earth, Rick acts nicer to Jerry but still won’t let him move back in with the family.

Meanwhile, Summer is dealing with her own low self-esteem. Her boyfriend Ethan dumps her for a girlfriend with bigger breasts, so Summer tries to enlarge her own using one of Rick’s devices. She messes it up and grows to a weirdly huge size. Morty wants to call Rick for help, but Beth says no. Trying to prove she can handle it, Beth fails repeatedly and ends up turning Summer inside out. Beth then gets tricked into freeing three tiny tech support workers who were stuck inside the machine. Summer, still inside out, goes to the campsite she and Ethan had planned to visit. Beth turns herself inside out to talk to her. Morty eventually figures out how the machine works, returns Summer to normal size, and uses it to mess up Ethan’s body out of spite. In the post-credits scene, the three tiny workers are relaxing by a river. A badly deformed Ethan walks past, and an eagle snatches one of the workers.

Production

The episode's title was made public on July 25, 2017. Ryan Ridley confirmed on August 7, 2017, that he authored both the fifth and seventh episodes. When the episode aired, Juan Meza-León was credited as director. According to Screen Rant, Morty is portrayed as a more competent character who, after learning many difficult lessons, now finds himself teaching them. The same source notes that Rick acknowledges his role in the breakdown of Jerry and Beth's marriage, while Jerry appears to accept his habit of using pity to manipulate others. Justin Roiland voices both Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, with Chris Parnell as Jerry, Spencer Grammer as Summer, and Sarah Chalke as Beth. Dan Benson reprises his role as Ethan, the boy Summer tries to impress with the size alteration machine, having first played the character in the episode "Anatomy Park" and in season two. Clancy Brown voices the alien Risotto Groupon, who plots against Rick with Jerry's help. Echo Kellum plays Triple Trunks, a bartender with extra heads and trunks. Tom Kenny voices Schnoopy Bloopers and neighbor Gene, while Cassie Steele plays Tricia Lange.

Reception

Den of Geek compared the episode to the previous one, Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender, saying both contain razor-sharp, laugh-out-loud jokes throughout, but the current episode takes the characters in completely new directions. The A.V. Club criticized the generic characterization in the episode, such as Jerry's cowardice, also calling it the most upbeat episode of the season so far. IndieWire praised the episode, saying it is not as elaborate as the premiere, not as recognizable a template as the Mad Max or Guardians of the Galaxy diversions, nor is it iconic like Pickle Rick, but with this episode Rick and Morty seems to have regained its guiding principles to deliver the best episode of season three so far. IGN praised the amount of screen time received by Jerry, saying the biggest misstep in the otherwise enjoyable season three has been the surprising lack of focus on Jerry, and that the episode struck that crucial balance between high-concept sci-fi premise, goofy humor and crushingly authentic character moments.