Rick and Morty’s latest episode is a bizarre exploration of self-love that will permanently scar Summer and Morty, but also one that continues reminding the audience of the series' newfound sense of linearity going forward.
Suffice to say, Rick and Morty’s “Bethic Twinstinct” remains funny throughout, yet some might find its puns to be overreliant on the kind of comedy that gave birth to Naruto Smith back in season 5, who just happens to be referenced here to further cement the similarities between the two episodes. Regardless of that, while still entertaining, episode 3 is arguably the weakest entry so far in season 6, especially with fans loving Rick and Morty's take on Die Hard last week.
The series picks Thanksgiving as the epicenter of all the emotional trauma it dishes onto the entire Smith family and, in all fairness, it actually plays out like a very holiday-themed episode with everyone having dinner together, the kids playing video games with their grandpa, as well as slightly awkward toast from Jerry. Rick and Morty already established this Jerry to be a season 2 variant that’s far from being the very best he can be, hence why he’s overly dependent on Beth, who happens to have a few too many on this evening with her original Space Beth version.
Apparently, Rick’s stock of Venusian wine hits hard and Venusian is basically space French, which sparks a few moments between the two Beths who find the idea of being with each other a far better alternative than anything Jerry could offer. The affair between the two Beth gets off to a promising start, as Rick and Morty takes advantage of the relationship’s odd nature to toss a few references to the likes of Basic Instinct, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Total Recall.
Naturally, despite their best efforts to sneak around the family, the two Beths are spotted by both Summer and Morty who turn to video games to find the comfort they need to process this incredibly complex situation. However, Rick and Morty’s gaming nods deserve a ton of praise, as not only do they capture the younger generation’s disdain for games and the wonky physics of Cloud’s Buster Sword, the series did a good job at predicting how Blanka would look in the new Street Fighter 6.
Overall, this entry’s jokes and humorous tone are quite on point, nevertheless, its overall sense of pacing and focus on its strange plot makes it feel more like a closer cousin to some of season five’s less-favored episodes, as opposed to one of Rick and Morty’s best. To be clear, it’s a far cry from the show’s “Giant Incest Baby” moment as it handles Beth’s romance with herself pretty nicely, it’s simply made in a different mold than the other two.
Sadly, Summer, Rick and Morty have a supporting role here to Jerry and both Beth and their lines mostly consist of expressing shock over the whole situation. Of course, Jerry is absolutely terrible at handling the news that he’s been cheated on with another Beth, which causes him to roll up like an actual pill bug, all thanks to a clever bioengineering hack Rick had installed at his request.
As frictions arise between the two Beths, it becomes clear the nature of her issues with Jerry has more to do with herself than the poor man, with both variants learning a bit about each other, and even their husband rising to the occasion sooner than they do. Unfortunately, for Summer and Morty this means an even more strange event unfolds as the two Beths and Jerry engage in some more traumatizing action for a Thanksgiving they’ll never forget.
Although “Bethic Twinstinct” appears to be quite self-contained at first glance, Beth journey here leaves Rick and Morty with a potential temporary sendoff for Space Beth, who early on appeared to be a permanent cast member for this season, and it even suggests Rick might be reconsidering his relationship with alcohol. Again, these are not hugely impactful revelations for Rick and Morty in the long run, this is not an episode for that, it's more of a temporary detour before things fall back on track.
One clue hinting at that is the fact that Rick's broken portal gun is again singled out in the episode. Rick and Morty spent years thriving on the infinite possibilities Rick's reality-twisting shenanigans gave the show in terms of plot, and it seems like it's taking a break from that, though one unlikely to last for too long before it tackles the multiverse once more. This entry is the one to symbolize that the most in this season, and even if it's not everyone's favorite, it's still an improvement over some past attempts to do the same, though now packed with yet another Jerryboree callback in its post-credits.