Rick And Morty S6 Might Have Confirmed The Neurodivergent Fan Theory
"Rick and Morty" fans have been put through the wringer following the laundry list of accusations against the show's co-creator and voice actor, Justin Roiland. All the same, though, with Roiland having been removed from the series and the many other positions he once held, it looks like the Adult Swim hit will continue to air out the remaining episodes from the deal that was made at the end of Season 3.
This is no doubt good news for fans of the wacky science fiction comedy series as, despite the absurdly dysfunctional nature of the Smith-Sanchez family, the everything-goes-and-anything-could-happen nature of "Rick and Morty" means that the possibilities truly are endless when it comes to future storytelling potential.
While Rick himself has almost always been crass and manipulative since the show began, he is also a brilliant inventor and scientist, which allows him some cache for his often bad behavior. On the other hand, however, a strong fan theory might help to explain why Rick behaves in the way that he does, and Season 6, Episode 4 of "Rick and Morty" just might have confirmed it.
Rick suggests that he may be neurodivergent twice in the series
Rick suggests that he may be neurodivergent twice over the course of "Rick and Morty." The first mention is in Season 3, Episode 10 ("The Rickturian Mortydate") when he mentions that people with autism must love the video game "Minecraft," before quickly interjecting his reasoning: that he himself is starting to love it.
The series came around to this point once again in Season 6, Episode 4 ("Ricktional Mortpoon's Rickmas Mortcation"), when Rick asserted that engineers have "neurotypical cooties." This means that twice throughout "Rick and Morty," Rick has seemingly referred to himself as neurodivergent.
While the word is something of an umbrella term that comprises many learning disorders and mental illnesses, the basic meaning of neurodivergence is that the brain functions in a way that is different from the more common or neurotypical brain. Why this is especially interesting for fans, including several on Reddit, is that it might help to explain why Rick struggles with some of life's more basic aspects despite his obvious brilliance.
Dan Harmon is known for paying off callbacks later in a series
Though these two quick allusions to neurodivergence might seem like a simple coincidence to some fans of "Rick and Morty," longtime viewers of other Dan Harmon projects will recall how frequently the series' co-creator will reference or pay off much older jokes or moments from a show.
Famously, in the NBC sitcom, "Community," which Harmon also created, he had three different members of the cast say the word "Beetlejuice" in different episodes before the creature was summoned in a mere background gag. Fans of the Tim Burton horror-comedy film of the same name will recall that Beetlejuice is summoned when his name is said three times.
With examples like this in mind, it's easy to extrapolate that this is unlikely to be mere happenstance in "Rick and Morty," as Harmon shows how much thought he puts into even a throwaway joke like this. Either way, with the series set to continue, fans can no doubt look for more references that might help to unravel the layers of its characters in the future.