Rick And Morty Season 8's Tone Was Influenced By An Emmy-Winning HBO Series

What does the animated sci-fi comedy series "Rick and Morty" have in common with the riveting HBO drama "Succession"? If you guessed "absolutely nothing," you'd be correct; or rather, you would've been correct before "Rick and Morty" season 8. 

In a recent interview, showrunner Scott Marder explained how the season 8 premiere, "Summer of All Fears," came about. The episode showed viewers what Summer and Morty are like as bitter adults, unpacking how their newfound maturity (and jadedness) would impact their relationships with their parental figures. "It was heavily influenced by 'Succession,'" Marder said. "I think that series really made us excited about getting to do something grounded with adult versions of Summer and Morty."

It's especially easy to see the parallels between Shiv Roy of "Succession" and adult Summer in the premiere. Adult Summer cuts her hair short like Shiv did in season 2, and she maintains a similarly cold demeanor. Meanwhile, Morty seems to be a lot like Kendall Roy, in that he seems to teeter wildly back and forth between quiet depression and manic self-destructive behavior. Like Shiv and Kendall, adult Summer and adult Morty seem to have a good understanding of each other, but there's a clear darkness between them that may stop the duo from ever being true allies. 

"We could be doing so much with these kids as adults," Marder explained further. "I know the writer, Jess Lacher,  connected to that fantasy of what if you could go back to high school or back to college, knowing everything you know now. That's like such an age-old dream. But it wouldn't go the way you hoped it would go."

Sure enough, "Fear of all Summers" quickly shuts down Summer's hope of breezing through high school again, because it turns out her classmates aren't impressed at all about her newfound attitude or maturity. Rather, the episode focuses on Summer's relationship with her mother, Beth, exploring how their being the same age impacts their dynamic. Beth initially likes having a daughter she can relate to better as a fellow adult, but Summer's new age doesn't just make her wiser; it makes it easier for her to insult Beth with harsh, passive-aggressive accuracy.

Beth ends up trying to erase Summer's memory of the past 17 years. Even though Summer has made clear she's happier now and she considers these memories a valuable part of her identity, Beth would prefer to have things back to normal so that she could have the upper hand in this relationship. It's the sort of thing Logan Roy would do on "Succession." He says he wants his kids to grow up and stop relying on his inheritance, but he actually wants them to rely on him so he can better control them. If Logan ever had the option of erasing his kids' memories to stifle their growth, he would take it in a second. 

Thankfully, Beth changes her mind on wiping Summer's memory (she and Morty do it willingly at the end), so at least we know she's not quite as ruthless as the Roy family's patriarch. Still, it's disconcerting to realize the clearest Logan parallel in this show's "Succession"-inspired episode is not the obvious grandpa Rick, but Beth Harmon. Fans have been talking about a potential Evil Summer for a while now, but maybe it's Evil Beth we should be most concerned with.