Rick and Morty Episode 30: The ABC's of Beth

Beth watches a news report that an imprisoned man is about to be executed for murdering and eating his son, and the story makes her think about Tommy, a childhood friend she believes was lost in her imaginary world, Froopyland. When she mentions Froopyland to Rick and mocks it as childish, Rick reveals that Froopyland was real and that he built it himself, which makes Beth realize Tommy may actually still be trapped there.

Rick and Beth go into Froopyland to look for him. Inside, the world initially seems bizarre but safe, and Rick even tests it by staging harmless-looking deaths to show Beth that the place is built to protect children. Their search turns dangerous when a giant bird-like creature attacks Rick, tearing off his arm, and Rick replaces it with a mechanical one. As they continue, they discover signs that the world has been altered by human DNA, suggesting someone has survived there and changed the environment.

They are captured by a group of strange hybrid creatures and taken to Tommy, who has become the ruler of a rough society inside Froopyland. Beth learns that she was the one who left Tommy there as a child, and that she did so out of jealousy and anger. Rick is unsurprised by this, and Beth lashes out at him for the way he raised her, but she also begins to realize she is much like him.

Beth tries to rescue Tommy, but when she refuses to apologize for trapping him there, Tommy turns hostile and unleashes his people and children against her. Beth snaps into a violent defensive rage and kills everyone around her, apparently including Tommy. She returns to Rick with Tommy’s severed finger, and together they use it to create an adult clone of Tommy so his father can be spared execution.

Back at home, Beth is left shaken by what happened and starts asking Rick what her life is supposed to be now. Rick tells her she has two choices: leave the family and travel the cosmos while a clone of her stays behind, or remain with the family and accept the life she has chosen. The episode ends without showing which choice she makes.

Meanwhile, Jerry has custody weekend with Morty and Summer and introduces them to his new alien girlfriend, Kiara. The relationship quickly becomes tense and unpleasant, and when Jerry tries to break up with her, Kiara turns violent and nearly puts the kids in danger.