I’m So Glad This Character Returned to ‘Rick and Morty’

Rick and Morty season 7 is off to a great start with connections to previous seasons. The best callback so far has to be the return of Unity.

Rick Sanchez is a complicated man. Or maybe he’s not complicated. He’s just toxic and full of himself, so he appears to be complicated. His only constant relationships are the tenuous ones he shares with his family. Even then, those bonds aren’t always guaranteed. Rick’s selfish actions often push away his daughter and his grandchildren. (Also Jerry, but no one counts Jerry.)

As far as friends go, he has a few, but even his BFF, Bird Person, gets tired of Rick’s antics. Rick had a relationship with Mr. Nimbus (friends with heavily implied romantic connections in the Rick and Morty comic books), but they are now enemies. The only one who seems to actively pursue Rick’s company is Unity. In an unexpected treat, Unity returned in episode 3 of season 7, “Air Force Wong.”

We all need more Unity

We first met Unity back in season 2, in the episode called “Auto Erotic Assimilation.” Rick ran into Unity on an alien planet and, at that point, they already had a romantic history. Unity (voiced by Christina Hendricks) is a hive mind, which means Rick has a relationship with anyone that Unity inhabits. She spreads to people when one of her controlled beings vomits into another person’s mouth—nature is beautiful that way. During the season 2 episode, Rick and Unity started their fling all over again. Things got a little too wild, and Unity broke it off with Rick, leaving him to return home feeling lost while the amazing song “Do You Feel It?” by Chaos Chaos plays.

Since Unity last saw Rick, he’s been on a pretty deep downward spiral. More recently, Rick has tried going to therapy and dealing with his feelings, but he’s still Rick. When Unity’s messages to Rick go unanswered, she comes to Earth and takes over Virginia—you know, because it’s for lovers! Unity is so romantic. Rick rebuffs her, so she leaves. When the President of the United States takes over Unity’s partially hived people, only Unity can save the planet. She takes over almost every person in Virginia, then releases them because she promised Rick she wouldn’t keep them.

The head of Unity is an alien woman in a business suit, but all her inhabited beings are technically also Unity. What I love about Unity, besides the actress who does her voice (Christina Hendricks), is the way she subverts sci-fi tropes. When we think hive mind and we think of something terrible that wants to extinguish our individuality. Yes, Unity does that a little, but she also cares about who she inhabits. She doesn’t want the beings to get hurt and changes quite a few people’s lives for the better.

Rick is the toxic one in the relationship who ruins lives, and when Unity tries to help, he pushes her away. I didn’t think Unity would have a reason to come back to the series, but I’m so glad she did. Hopefully, it won’t be the last time we see her.

(featured image: Adult Swim)