RICK AND MORTY Recap: (S06E04) Night Family

DISCLAIMER: This recap of the Rick and Morty episode “Night Family” has spoilers. Proceed at your peril.

Wubba lubba dub-dub! Rick and Morty‘s fourth episode of the season is fun, boasting a creative premise that stems from not rinsing the dishes. Only this show could pull off something this elaborate from a simple household task. It simmers with the show’s trademark self-aware wit, plenty of action and delightful gags.

Ready to delve into “Night Family”? Let’s get to it.

When You’re Alone in the Middle of the Night

We open with a quote from T.S. Eliot’s Sweeney Agonistes, plucked from the scene “Fragment of an Agon.” You probably know the one — “When you’re alone in the middle of the night…”

Then, we see Jerry (Chris Parnell) snoring in bed while Beth (Sarah Chalke) endeavors to make herself fall asleep by counting sheep on an app. When the attempt fails, Beth ventures downstairs to the living room, settling on the couch for the remainder of the night. Suddenly, she’s startled by Rick (Justin Roiland), who appears to be sleepwalking.

The following morning, Rick greets his family at the breakfast table. He tells Beth, Jerry, Summer (Spencer Grammer) and Morty (also Roiland) about his new device, the Somnambulator, which he nabbed from the Goobie-Joob system. The planetary systems on this show never cease to make me giggle.

Rick explains that Beth interacted with his “night person,” a version of Rick who completes tasks for him while he slumbers. Thanks to his night person, Rick now has washboard abs! Utilizing the Somnambulator helps Rick squeeze every last drop out of the 24-hour day. Productivity, baby!

Beth wakes, startled, to find a seemingly sleepwalking Rick in their dark living room in Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 4, "Night Family." — RICK AND MORTY — Season 6 Episode 4, “Night Family.”

FAB-solutely AB-ulous

Naturally, his family wants in on it. Initially, Rick refuses to let them use his new toy, but he inevitably relents. After the fam puts their night people to work, they start seeing significant results. Morty also boasts abs and now dons crop tops with Grandpa Rick. Oh, and they also have a podcast called “FAB-solutely AB-ulous.” I wish this were a pod dedicated to Absolutely Fabulous, but alas. Meanwhile, Beth finally masters the trumpet, and Summer speaks Spanish fluently. Thanks, night people!

Jerry writes letters to his night person, which is lame but very Jerry.

Next, we see the family’s night people in action as they practice the trumpet, do crunches and write letters. Night Summer washes the dishes and is appalled to discover how crusty the Smith-Sanchez clan’s plates are. The following day, while Rick and Morty record an episode of their podcast, Jerry wanders into the garage with a message — the night people want them to wash their dishes. You know, rinse the schmutz off after eating.

Rick refuses to cater to the night people’s demands, so he makes their plates even dirtier than before. This brash move culminates in the night people destroying all the family’s dishware in a rage. Furious, Rick hops in his spaceship and flies to the Forbidden Zone, which is approximately eight Marmadukes beyond the Outer Rim. That’s an accurate unit of measurement, folks. It’s better than eight Dilberts.

An alien crafts new dishware for the family, indestructible ones. Take that, night people!

Summer Threats in the Night

Later, Rick wakes in the middle of the night to find his implants locked. Night Beth, Night Jerry and Night Morty retrain him while Night Summer threatens him. Night Summer rules the roost. She orders Rick and his family to rinse their dishes; otherwise, there’ll be dire consequences. The night people also plan to overtake the day because, duh. Then, Night Summer force-feeds Rick some diarrhea on a plate. Yummy.

Next, Rick confronts Summer during the day, explaining what her night person did to him. We see their night counterparts rid the house of furniture, which isn’t ideal. So, Rick concocts a plan. He designs a suit to keep Summer awake all night so she can infiltrate the night people circle. They won’t care that she’s donning such a strange getup because she’s in charge of them. Then, Summer can destroy the Somnambulator and end this madness.

Summer observes while her family’s night versions descend into the space underneath the garage, where the Somnambulator resides. We see the night fam plans to increase the machine’s range outside the house, giving them more power to wield. Summer adheres to Rick’s instructions, ostensibly disabling the device.

However, during the day, Summer morphs into Night Summer, revealing that Rick’s plan didn’t pan out as … planned. We see a slew of robots rise, urging the “daymanoids” to bow down before Night Summer. They must work for the night people now.

Night Beth, Night Summer and Night Jerry loom over a sleeping Rick in Rick and Morty Season 6 Episode 4, "Night Family." — RICK AND MORTY — Season 6 Episode 4, “Night Family.”

Daymanoids

Meanwhile, we see Rick, Beth, Jerry and Morty working tirelessly for Night Summer. Morty perpetually engages his core in ab exercises to appease the night. Beth pitches various films into a furnace, including Independence Day, Groundhog Day and Ferris Beuller’s Day Off. Talladega Nights is spared because it’s all about the night now, baby. This is an A-plus joke.

Before they sleep, Jerry pens a note to his night person, pleading for Night Jerry to assist them.

Sure enough, Night Jerry is an ally, helping the Smith-Sanchez clan escape. Unfortunately, Rick’s spaceship catches fire, so they can’t escape into space. Thus, our fam hops into a car and makes a break for the nearest airport. Night Summer and her bots give chase.

Throughout this high-speed chase, each person transitions between their day and night selves. There’s lots of fighting and derring-do. I love that a crashed Adderall semi-truck’s fumes cause Summer and Rick to morph back to their day versions. That and a gasoline factory, a dynamite museum and a dry leaf storage facility explode in tandem. This is also an A-plus comedic gag.

Nighttime Brawl

Finally, the quintet breaks out of their cars and engages in a physical brawl. They instantly phase in and out of their day and night selves via punches and kicks. Then, Night Jerry helps facilitate an agreement between the night and day parties.

Night Summer reveals she’d consider a truce if the daymanoids rinsed their dishes. We don’t hear Rick agree to the night people’s proposal, and judging by the following scene, it seems he refused to accept their terms. We see the night people roaming during the day, going on various adventures as a family. In the end-credit scene, though, those adventures bite them in the collective bum when their finances dwindle substantially. We see them chatting with the bank and the piles upon piles of clutter and general messiness in the house.

Rick sits in a serene field and meditates on Rick and Morty. — RICK AND MORTY — This photo isn’t from the episode, but isn’t it pretty? Could you imagine if the episode was 22 minutes of Rick sitting in a serene field?

RIP, Choco Taco

Thus, Night Rick fires a few rounds into the Somnambulator, ending this day/night business. Rick, Beth, Morty, Summer and Jerry wake after an extended sleeping period. How long were they out? Rick exclaims, “They killed the Choco Taco!” to which his family responds with tearful outbursts. I don’t blame them one bit. RIP, Choco Taco.

“Night Family” is the second in a series of self-contained outings this season. I feel those are sometimes more enjoyable than the usual broad, packed-to-the-gills Rick and Morty fare. Episodes like “Night Family” tend to succeed because they have more focus, and any spotlight on the Smith-Sanchez clan is sure to unearth strange and hilarious truths.

Note to self: understand that I can’t accomplish everything I want to in a day, and that’s okay. We’re not made to be machines of productivity. I’ll stick to plain ole sleeping, thank you very much.

Rick and Morty drops new episodes every Sunday at 11 pm on your Adult Swim affiliate.

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