‘Rick and Morty’ Season 4 Episode 2 Ending: Fans Are Debating Why Rick Was Sad

If you watched Season 4 Episode 2 of Rick and Morty on Adult Swim, you might have a question about the ending. Fans are debating why Rick was so sad. What do you think? Here are the top theories. This article will have spoilers for Season 4 Episode 2 of Rick and Morty, called Old Man and the Seat.

At the end of the episode, Rick seemed really down when he found out that his nemesis-wanna-be-friend Tony had died. Tony was sneaking off to use Rick’s secret bathroom and Rick did everything to stop him — but never would actually kill him. Tony, meanwhile, seemed like he really wanted to be Rick’s friend.

In the end, Rick sent some “gifts” for Tony which were actually items that would give him diarrhea. It was the worst nightmare for a shy pooper, so of course Tony would go off to Rick’s private bathroom. There, Rick had the ultimate prank waiting for him.

But when Tony died, Rick could no longer play the ultimate prank on anyone. So instead, he sat on the toilet alone while the prank played on him. And he looked really sad. So now fans are debating on why Rick was sad. The main theories seem to revolve around Rick being sad because he couldn’t play his prank on Tony, or Rick being depressed because he’s alone again.

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Some Fans Think This Is Another Unity Moment

If you remember, Rick was really sad about Unity at the end of Season 2’s Auto Erotic Assimilation. This was probably the most depressed we ever saw Rick. To this day, fans think it was the darkest ending ever.  Here it is below.

Some fans think that the ending of Episode 2 reminds them a bit of the Unity ending.

It’s not even close to as dark. But Rick really does look like he’s feeling depressed again.

For as long as it’s up, here’s that scene again.

Some fans think that Rick really just wanted a friend, but he couldn’t accept a new friend so he chased Tony away. And then Tony died, and now Rick is really depressed about it. Fans think that Rick hates himself in the end for chasing away that chance at friendship.

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Others Think Rick Is Just Sad Because He Couldn’t Play the Prank on Tony

Other fans think that Rick’s really just sad because he couldn’t play the ultimate prank on Tony. (This is the theory I’m leaning toward, though I can see the other side of the debate.) These fans think that Rick spent a ton of time putting together the best prank possible and now there’s no one to prank. So he just sits and watches his masterpiece alone, with no one to see it.

In this theory, Rick’s more depressed about the prank (and his brilliance) going unnoticed, rather than being sad over the death of a potential friend.

Now, we did learn in Inside the Episode that Rick has isolated himself and this episode does explore that. But it’s still unclear what the true focus of his sadness is at the end.

There’s one explanation that really got to me, and it makes you think. Redditor u/larknok1 wrote: “He actually plans on drugging Tony with the sh**-inducing chocolate in order to get him to shit on his toilet and shame him with the ‘King of Sh**’ crown. Maybe this is just a friendly gag, but given all the accusations of ‘lonely idiot’ baked in, it seems much more mean-spirited to me. It wasn’t until he found out Tony was dead that he came to realize he staged the whole mean-spirited prank because he cared, because Tony meant something to him. …And so Rick crowns himself King of Sh**, because he is.”

Whatever the source of his sadness, most agree that the ending was definitely a sad one after so much humor. But that’s how Rick and Morty works sometimes, hitting us with a note of sadness we weren’t expecting.

READ NEXT: Who Died on ‘Rick and Morty’ Season 4 Episode 1? Full List

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