Rick and Morty Season 7’s Best Character Comeback Didn’t Really Add Up

Summary Rick and Morty's recent episodes rely heavily on recurring supporting characters from earlier seasons for plot, sometimes without much reason.

Unity's surprising comeback in season 7 doesn't align with the established canon of her previous relationship with Rick.

The return of Unity highlights Rick Prime's serious threat level, setting up the mid-season finale tensions.

Although it was fun to see a pivotal supporting star from Rick and Morty’s early seasons resurface in season 7, their comeback didn’t add up in terms of character or plot. While Rick and Morty season 8 may change this, the show’s recent outings have begun to rely on recurring supporting characters more heavily. Season 7’s premiere brought back Squanchy, Gene, Gearhead, and Birdperson in a story that centered on Mr. Poopybutthole, while Morty’s first solo episode in season 7 focused on Mr. Goldenfold and Ice-T. However, not all of these comebacks worked quite so well.

Although it was funny to see Rick’s relative Slow Mobius return in season 7, episode 5, “Unmortricken,” his appearance was pretty transparently an attempt to up the outing’s stakes by killing off a character who was recognizable but not important. Similarly, another earlier season 7 cameo didn’t really work since it flew in the face of the show’s established canon. While Rick and Morty’s season 7 finale saw Morty face his worst fear alone, season 7, episode 3, “Are Force Wong,” followed Rick as he faced down another lethal threat on his own. This enemy turned out to be surprisingly familiar.

Unity’s Comeback In Rick and Morty Season 7 Episode 3 Doesn’t Make Sense

Rick’s Former Love Interest Never Justified Her Comeback

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The surprise return of Unity was fun enough to cover up its lack of narrative cohesion, but this Rick and Morty comeback still didn’t make much sense in the context of the series. Christina Hendricks’ sentient hive mind was last seen in season 2, episode 3, “Auto Erotic Assimilation,” an outing that ended when she broke up with Rick upon realizing how toxic his influence on her life was. In her season 7 return, Unity said he worried when Rick didn’t return her calls, resulting in her possessing the entire population of Virginia just to talk with him.

The problem is, Unity refused to return Rick’s calls a few seasons earlier, and this was seen as a reasonable boundary after their breakup. Rick and Morty's original premise was a lot zanier and the ending of “Auto Erotic Assimilation” was one of the earliest instances of the series taking Rick’s anguish seriously. His drinking was mostly played for laughs in season 1, but this outing made it clear that he was unable to maintain a healthy relationship. As such, it was strange and inconsistent when Unity was surprised that Rick had been avoiding her calls in season 7.

Season 7’s Unity Comeback Strengthened Rick Prime’s Story

Rick’s Ex Getting In Touch Proved Rick Prime Was A Serious Threat

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Even Unity, who parted ways with Rick in terrible circumstances, wanted him to stop pursuing his vendetta against Rick Prime. This made it clear that Rick fighting Rick Prime was a bad idea, setting up the events of the mid-season finale. The bleak ending of Rick and Morty’s Rick Prime plot saw a despondent Rick realize that killing his nemesis didn’t bring him catharsis, so it made sense that his friends would try to warn him of this fate. However, it was still strange for Rick and Morty to treat Unity as one of Rick’s friends and not a bitter ex.