Rick and Morty season 5 has officially begun, and it’s already doing work to fix one of the show’s most problematic characters – Jessica. Season 5 stars the same core cast of characters in Rick, Morty, Summer, Jerry, and Beth, but the premiere episode suggests that Jessica will also be getting some more storylines of her own. For a character who for years has existed purely in relation to Morty, that shift has a lot of potential.
It’s no secret to anyone who’s watched Rick and Morty before that Jessica has been less than a fully-formed character. In reality, she’s barely been much of a character at all, mostly existing on screen simply as an object of desire for Morty. While Jessica herself hasn’t necessarily been portrayed in any overtly sexist way, and while Morty is often the one put under heavy critique for his behavior towards her, the fact that she’s never gotten any real development of her own has remained a big problem with the character. Now, it looks like that may be changing.
In the premiere episode of Rick and Morty season 5, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre,” Morty and Jessica finally end up planning an actual date. However, things go awry after Jessica is abducted through a Chronicles of Narnia-esque portal to another dimension, where she is frozen in time for hundreds of years. After returning from this strange ordeal, her entire persona changes. Jessica claims enlightenment, tells Morty they should just be friends, and declares herself a Time God, before wandering off into the night.
The plotline is ridiculous, but no more ridiculous than any other Rick and Morty episode. The difference is that Jessica has never been at the center of one of those zany sci-fi stories before. Turning her from a girl-next-door love interest into a full-on weird Time God character is not only a fun move for the story, but also a necessary embellishment to Jessica as a character. It’s also, in the best way, very silly.
What happens to Jessica next remains to be seen, but there are suddenly a ton of new and interesting possibilities for her to factor into the show’s bigger stories. Rick and Morty has continued to deliver sharp comedy, but some of the character dynamics have grown a bit stale over time. If Jessica is elevated to a similar status as the main cast, it would open up brand-new arcs. Hopefully, the new Time God Jessica will get to interact with some characters other than Morty over the course of Rick and Morty season 5.
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