Rick And Morty Season 8 Episode 2 Recap, Ending Explained & Mid Credits Scene

The eighth season of Rick and Morty began with a banger of an episode centered around the impact of Rick’s virtual simulation device on Morty and Summer, and with the second episode, viewers are treated to a cosmic adventure, as Space Beth comes into the mix. Longtime fans of the series know that Space Beth, a clone of Beth Sanchez, has been around since the fourth season and is a complex character who shares a unique relationship with Rick and his family. The estranged father-daughter connection between Space Beth and Rick is the highlight of the second episode of the season, which revolves around a new Gromflomite crisis of epic proportion.

Spoilers Ahead

Why Did Space Beth Call Rick?

Galactic Defiance is planning to assassinate the Gromflomite Queen in order to weaken the New Galactic Federation, and without getting caught up in the procedural nonsense, the resistance group’s most formidable assassin, Space Beth, is already on her way to execute the queen. However, after expertly taking down the queen’s security and reaching her target in her private chambers, Beth finds out the queen has been murdered already, and the Gromflomites give chase to her. As the Galactic Defiance practically abandons Space Beth by refusing to extract her, she has no other option except to call on Rick for help. 

Rick, busy munching down delicacies in a Japanese eatery on Earth, portals in to assist Space Beth in evading her pursuers and takes her to Defiance HQ. A confusing situation arises, as it is revealed that the Gromflomite Queen is still alive. In disbelief, Beth mentions seeing the queen dead, and as she suspects something fishy, Rick supports her. The Resistance higher-ups accuse Rick of nepotism for siding with his daughter (clone) even after she has apparently botched the mission, and while trying to defend Beth in his own way, he inadvertently gets her fired. The estrangement between father and daughter becomes apparent, but still, as Beth chooses to investigate the matter, Rick decides to help her in that regard. Tracking down a Gromflomite insect supremacist, Rick and Beth force him to spill the beans by subjecting him to eternal falling by trapping him in between portals, just like how Dr. Strange bullied Loki in Thor: Ragnarok. The Gromflomite reveals that disgraced medical officer/former royal doctor Fantabulous put out a hit on the queen for reasons this insect supremacist is unaware of. 

What Was Fantabulous’ Plan?

Rick and Beth sneak into Fantabulous’ lab, and Rick briefly tries to convince one of the security guards stationed to join their side using a stretched-out “Ghostbusters” reference. The security guard inhales a unique drug, becomes instantly ginormous, practically a super soldier/insect, and launches an attack on the father-clone daughter duo. As they take down the super soldier, its corpse appears inhabited by unique microorganisms from the drugs, which instantly infect other Gromflomite soldiers and turn them into hulking brutes. Rick and Beth kill them, and Fantabulous appears, mentioning the microorganisms to be super advanced symbiotes that affect insects and bug humanoids. Following some back-and-forth with human/insect insults between both parties, Fantabulous reveals he killed the queen as she became an obstacle in his plan of evolving their species using this super-insect concoction. The fake queen making an appearance in the media is a living spore of the said microorganism, using whom Fantabulous wants to infect the majority of the Gromflomites present at the queen’s birthday celebration. Fantabulous sics more super insects on Rick and Beth, Ultromflomites as he calls them, and flees the scene. Killing a stronger version of the super insect and its lackeys, Rick hatches upon a plan to visit the Gromflomite capital, go undercover by disguising himself and Beth as transportation crew, foil Fantabulous’ plan with the help of one of his inside insects, Cisco, and safely get off the planet. 

Beth initially appears skeptical about this Cisco guy, on whom the success of their plan hinges, and later gets a bit miffed realizing that her father trusts this random nobody insect more than he does her. However, proving Beth’s suspicions to be true, Cisco never shows up, and the plan nearly derails, but at the end, Rick and Beth manage to contain the spore queen’s infestation and save the attendees from a major crisis. However, Beth gets infected by a concentrated dose of the spore and, along with her father, gets captured by the Gromflomites. Both of them manage to get free. Rick holds the Gromflomite army chiefs at gunpoint to bring up any related research to Fantabulous’ work as he becomes desperate to save his clone daughter. The Gromflomite general, who appears not supportive of the rogue scientist’s actions, offers to join hands with him, as by finding a cure for Beth, he hopes to stop Fantabulous—who is revealed to be already building a giant spore network underground to escalate the situation. 

Were Space Beth and Rick Able to Stop the Gromflomite Crisis?

After numerous trial and error tests on Gromflomites, Rick finally manages to formulate a cure. To test its effectiveness on mammals, Rick infects himself with the symbiote and uses the cure on himself—showing a moving gesture to save his clone daughter. The cure proves effective, and using it, Rick saves Space Beth. 

The Gromflomite general and his troops are assisted by Space Beth and Rick, who even invites his best pal Birdperson and his daughter, Birddaughter. A conversation between Birdperson and Rick brings up parental struggle, as both of them are trying their best to be there for their daughters. As the team enters Fantabulous’ underground lair, an action-packed spectacle follows, with super insects swarming them. The Gromflomite general and Birddaughter prove themselves expert fighters as they take down multiple juiced-up insect adversaries. The team makes their way to a spore hive, Space Beth and Rick reconcile while fighting hordes of super insects, and Fantabulous, riding an even more massive super insect, makes his final boss-level entry. Hilariously enough, the gigantic Gromflomite impales Fantabulous to death. Beth and Rick manage to jam a bomb inside the spore hive. As the lair is destroyed, all the super insects perish, and Rick, Beth, and the Gromflomite general manage to escape with the help of Birdperson and Birddaughter. In the aftermath, as Gromflomite General honors their new, unlikely associates, it appears Defiance has reconciled with their adversaries.

In the mid-credits scene, a hilarious sequence follows as Cisco is revealed to have missed his meeting with Rick due to developing a drug problem thanks to his new girlfriend, Sandy. 

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