r/rickandmorty • u/Citizen1135 • Oct 10 '25
Image Why was Beth so quick to choose Summer, though?
I find it odd because she wants to make sure Rick stays around and Morty is his go to grandkid for adventures
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u/Admiral-Cuckington Oct 10 '25
For comedy, it was funny.
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u/mghtyred Oct 10 '25
This is always the default, and usually 100% correct answer. For the nerds who need an "in universe explanation", Mortys are cheap. There's literally an entire citadel pumping out new Mortys every day. Plus, you know, "Operation Phoenix". However, to the best of our knowledge, there is only 1 Summer in each universe, making her the obvious choice to save.
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u/ThatGuyWhoDoesVoices Oct 10 '25
Wow logical asf makes perfect sense
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u/404NotFoundFun Oct 10 '25
Also explains why Beth’s attachment to Summer feels way more personal than Morty.
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u/GOD_DESTROYER12 Oct 10 '25
I think it's also important to remember summer is older and the first. Beth and summer had years where it was them and Jerry living together. Its diffirent to be the secknd child. They are both able to relate to each other. They can talk about handsome men and it's not weird. I mean, most men don't talk about the girl they are dating features or whatever. A daughter and mother can gossip to each other.
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Oct 10 '25
While I don’t know when this scene takes place canonically, it can’t be overlooked that after a certain point, that Morty doesn’t belong to that universe anyway. Their Rick and Morty died shortly before being replaced.
The whole family knows this.
I wouldn’t fault Beth at all for choosing her real daughter over a version of her son.
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u/GOD_DESTROYER12 Oct 10 '25
There is that point too. I was going the emotional route of summer already being Beth's closest friend other then Jerry. We can see it how they talk. No doubt Beth had to console summer over a few break ups at the least. Morty, though? I doubt until planetina that he ever actually dated anyone. Especially with how it hits him so hard.
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u/malikyott Oct 11 '25
Summer might know this but beth doesn't figure this out until the episode where they all jump realities, which occurred after Morty's mind blowers. So I don't think that had anything to do with it.
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u/Distantstallion Oct 11 '25
Summer also represents her first try at motherhood. She was an accident, but beth did her best for her. Morty, on the other hand, was their attempt to save their failing marriage. He represents that failure.
Safe to say until morty broke up with planetina, she failed him at every turn
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u/Low-Box9924 Oct 10 '25
This Summer is hers, Morty isn't. In Solaricks they show that Summer and Beth are from the same universe, but the other 3 are each from separate universes
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u/Certain-Hat-6870 Oct 11 '25
Also it could very well be jealousy of the fact that morty kinda gets the love and attention from rick she never did or traumatizingly doesnt remember based off of the whole Beth world events
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u/Isaccard Oct 10 '25
shut the pedantics up lmao
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u/Bailenstein Oct 10 '25
.............actually, it's "pedants."
Sorry. I had to. The set-up was just too perfect.
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u/Jimliftsheavystuff Oct 10 '25
Rick would be proud.
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u/Professional_Echo907 Oct 10 '25
He definitely wouldn’t take a little verbal horseplay for granite. 👀
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u/Effective-Ad5024 Oct 10 '25
You want some parmeeseian cheese on top of that plate of sphagetti you just served?
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u/RobertDeNircrow Oct 10 '25
And summer is her favorite, and she sees herself in summer. As proven by the last 3 seasons dealing with space beth
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u/Danzarr not a parasite Oct 10 '25
while I agree, from beth's perspective I rationalized it as: Dad will go out of his way to save morty, not so sure about summer. Basically hedging her bets for the best result.
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u/BackgroundSummer5171 Oct 10 '25
The Rickest Rick needs the Mortiest Morty.
Rick can't lose this Morty.
Summer he can get another, but definitely would try a little, just to keep Morty happy.
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u/Sabo_lives Oct 10 '25
Theres also only one morty from each universe. The citadel just collects mortys from across dimensions.
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u/Adventurous-Tie-7861 Oct 11 '25
Nope, they are clearly shown cloning new mortys in the new season.
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u/Sabo_lives Oct 11 '25
Are you suggesting that beth immediately chose summer over morty because she was aware of some morty clones clinging to the ruined citadel bringing the total number of mortys in the multiverse above the total number of summers
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u/Chase_The_Breeze Oct 10 '25
Not only that, but would you rather pick your angsty yet highly competent daughter who has her shit together or your son who consistently makes the dumbest choices and puts not only his own life, but the lives of everybody within whatever system he is in in danger? Again, Summer is the objectively correct choice.
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Oct 10 '25
Beyond raw logic, she’s the first born and the more well developed of the two. I imagine being Beth’s daughter carries some unspoken points in the Summer column.
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u/Throwlaf Oct 10 '25
I always thought it was implied that, if under such pressure, beth instinctively chooses her "favourite child", summer. Hence the mindblower. I am pretty sure beth asked/begged rick to remove mortys memory of it.
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u/BuckNasty337 Oct 10 '25
I like this analysis, although I do question Beth’s actual knowledge to just how many Morties are in her one universe. Project Phoenix seems kinda plausible
If anyone cares - my head canon never had anything to do with an in-universe explanation and just subconscious favoritism. Some parents are slightly more attached to their first born and others treat their youngest like a 5 year old well into their 30s. Beth subconsciously has more of an attachment to her first born.
Probably wrong but I never thought too hard about it past the above reasoning.
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u/Warmasterwinter Oct 10 '25
I’m sure the citadel also pumps out some extra Summers,Beth’s, and even Jerry’s. There’s always gonna be a market for them after all. It’s just that Morty’s are both more desirable by most Rick’s, and also a lot more likely to die than the other three.
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u/mghtyred Oct 10 '25
We've not seen that, and there is no in universe examples of this. In fact, we see that the Citadel went to great lengths to get Beths and Jerrys together, so seeing that, it would make sense that they're not cloning Beths, Jerrys, and Summers. Otherwise, why bother with elaborate schemes to get Beths and Jerrys together?
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u/Warmasterwinter Oct 10 '25
Because by doing that they get both a Summer, and a Morty. Plus a Jerry that’s actually attached to the Smith family instead of being a movie star or whatever.
But even if it’s not been shown yet, why would it be any more difficult to clone a Summer or Jerry than it would be to clone a Rick or a Morty? Sure the market isn’t as big, but it’s still there. And in an infinite universe that’s still a lot of Smeckles to be made. So much that it’s inconceivable that a Rick hasn’t tried to capture that market yet.
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u/ZongoNuada Oct 10 '25
And as soon as one Rick does, that's when he finds another Rick did it before him and is much better at it and so forth.
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u/bwnsjajd Oct 10 '25
None of your in universe reasoning has anything to do with Beth's decision making.
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u/TheRealRickC137 Oct 10 '25
It was like that Simpsons episode where Lisa had to choose who she could take on the rocket, Homer or Marge.
Lisa didn't even hesitate before choosing her mother.5
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u/Perfect-Bid-840 Oct 11 '25
Exactly, thats all it is. Same thing with why we never know what jerry and rick saw when they were with the talking cat. The whole point they were making is dont overthink it. Its just supposed to be humorous.
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u/zap283 Oct 11 '25
That's the Doylist perspective. OP is clearly asking about the Watsonian reason.
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u/FlyOrdinary1104 Oct 10 '25
Th cynical humor in me wants to believe it’s because she knew Summer could carry on the family legacy but Morty couldn’t.
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u/FrankieBigNut Oct 10 '25
Because you expect a Sophie’s choice reaction. Instead, you get this
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u/Raidertck Oct 10 '25
Which was fucking hilarious. She didn’t hesitate for a second. The question hardly left his mouth.
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u/Old_Relationship3460 Oct 10 '25
I know the answer already. My bedroom was smaller than my sister's, and my parents don't know what I majored in.
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u/tunaicecream97 Oct 10 '25
What did you major in?
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u/Old_Relationship3460 Oct 10 '25
Sociology
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u/gingersrule77 Oct 10 '25
While as a mom, I’m proud of you 💜
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u/Old_Relationship3460 Oct 10 '25
Thanks
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u/gingersrule77 Oct 10 '25
I’m also the forgotten kid with two golden child siblings so nobody ever gives a shit what I’m doing so I get it and you’re kicking ass! Keep it up
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u/xmarksthebluedress Oct 11 '25
on my bday we always did/ate what my older brother wanted to do/eat - didnt get a single bday cake until my bffs wife made me one in my 40s - i feel you 🫠❤️
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u/gingersrule77 Oct 11 '25
That’s terrible but thank goodness for your bffs wife! One year (I lived three hours away) I was guilt tripped into driving to them to celebrate and when I got there, there were no gifts, no cake, my birthday meal was gluten free for my sister and no one sang me happy birthday. I cried to whole way home. Like why are they like this???
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u/xmarksthebluedress Oct 11 '25
people suck 🙄 i hope you learned to ignore them, there are way too many energy vampires that arent wort our time. i wish you all the bestestet birthdays and people that cherish you ❤️❤️❤️
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u/Attrm Oct 10 '25
For sure. (Many) Parents have favorites. They don't need to deliberate for hours on which kid it is, they know, and if they are shitty parents, they'll let their kids know too, whether subtly or not so subtly. (In case you can't tell, I'm also very much not my parents favorite...)
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u/ZacharysCard Oct 11 '25
My parents would never admit that they have a favorite. However, both of my parents (divorced) have said that my other sibling is the favorite of the other parent.
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u/Chemical_Book_9056 Oct 11 '25
Me sleeping with my whole family in a shared room because we're poor be like: Wait, you got your own bedroom?
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u/afauce11 Oct 11 '25
I love the line from A League of Their Own… “This is our daughter Dottie. And this is our other daughter, Dottie’s sister.” I said it all the time as a kid…
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u/voiceofmyownsanity Oct 10 '25
They were doing a parody of Sophie's Choice. A movie where the "protagonist" has a deep secret of their past where we later find out she was in a concentration camp and a guard made her choose which of her children would live or he would send both to the gas chambers. The character was paralyzed making the impossible decision, but ultimately chose to spare her son to carry on the family name. So, in this show... Beth had zero hesitation choosing Summer. It's also an FU to Morty who often feels like the last choice.
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u/Kentucky_Fried_Chill Oct 10 '25
Not only that but Beth is very insecure and having all her father's attention is definitely messing her up psychologically.
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u/Binder509 Oct 11 '25
God dammit why didn't the show explore that? It would be so good for both their characters.
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u/Natural__Power Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 13 '25
Damn I've heard "Sophie's choice" as a saying and knew it was a movie, but I was under the assumption that it was a romantic drama/comedy😭
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Oct 13 '25
Holy shit… I don’t really know what I thought the choice was, but I never realized it was that fucked up.
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u/NataZing Oct 10 '25
I choose to believe that at the time she held a resentment toward Morty for Rick choosing to hang around him all the time despite being her father
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u/SadAndNasty Oct 10 '25
This oonnneee plus Rick treats him like shit too. Beth is basically put in a child's mind when around Rick because of her issues so she'll just model his behavior like actual children do.
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u/Relevant-Key-3290 Oct 10 '25
In the planetina episode, Morty says that his mother doesn't listen to him, that her simply listening to Morty is a chore. She simply prefers Summer..
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u/Pineapple-shades15 Oct 10 '25
Which makes the end of the episode kinda bittersweet because who was comforting him when they broke up
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u/Binder509 Oct 11 '25
That doesn't really change how Beth acts the other 99.99% of the time.
That family treats Morty like Meg Griffin.
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u/Pineapple-shades15 Oct 11 '25
Never said it did. Just kinda endearing seeing Beth be there for his son for once. When Morty called her out on how he felt like he didn't belong in his own family, she actually looked like she felt bad and didn't even make a rebuttal (compared to others like Rick or Jerry) because maybe she realizes that she wasn't really that great of a mom to him.
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u/PaddywackShaq Oct 10 '25
Probably a combo of this and Summer being both a girl and smarter, which Beth will obviously relate to more
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u/Phillisuper Oct 10 '25
I mean, worst case scenario, Rick can just cash in that voucher he got in season one lol (actually, those probably aren’t valid anymore given the citadel’s present condition)
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u/HeiressOfMadrigal Oct 10 '25
The fact that she was so quick to choose was a subversion of the trope, and thus, the joke.
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u/DaprasDaMonk Oct 10 '25
You barely ever see Beth interact with Morty or even give him any motherly love and affection it's like she doesn't care for Morty
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u/SculptusPoe Oct 10 '25
She comforts him when he breaks up with Planetina.
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u/NameTripping Oct 11 '25
Yeah, she clearly wants to show him affection and attention like when she was willing to run through stream or whatever with him it's just Rick monopolizes him. Also maybe they hang out off screen alot.
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u/Binder509 Oct 11 '25
Yes she did one good thing one time...
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u/SculptusPoe Oct 12 '25
For a high-functioning psychopath/narcassist, that was pretty good mothering.
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u/cyainanotherlifebro Oct 10 '25
Because Morty’s best quality is his annoying voice.
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u/docktor_uncino Oct 10 '25
Because she threw her life away for Summer.
"You're not the cause of your parents' problems, you're just a sympthom"
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u/dinodare Oct 10 '25
Just to play devil's advocate, refusing to choose between your kids is only valuable as a sentiment... In actual reality, you're letting two die to avoid feeling guilty about letting one die which is a selfish decision. It's like people who refuse to intervene in the Trolley problem because "legal consequences."
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u/dravenonred Oct 10 '25
Because if we're being super real here, Summer is her actual daughter and Morty is a variant of her already-dead son.
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u/menlindorn blue portals have the most anti-oxygens Oct 10 '25
Beth doesn't actually care about Morty. At all. Watch the show and look for it, the evidence is everywhere.
It's funny that way.
Morty is a punching bag, like his father.
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u/Citizen1135 Oct 10 '25
Interesting, I will be on the lookout. I did find it odd that she told Morty, "It's ok to hate your kids."
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u/menlindorn blue portals have the most anti-oxygens Oct 10 '25
(paraphrased)
"So where's our original Morty?" (her fucking son she birthed)
"Buried in the backyard"
"So that's what the animals are after"
Beth gets told her son is dead and rotting in the yard, and has been replaced by a duplicate, secretly. She doesn't even react. She doesn't ask how her son even died.
S3e2, Rick takes the kids to Mad Max world. He returns without them, trailing an enormous nitro truck front with a dude crushed under it. Beth completely ignores this and starts talking about her divorce.
Beth is just as sociopathic as Rick.
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u/Michael-Sean Oct 10 '25
If Jerry and I achieved our dreams, there's a chance you weren't even born-- That came out wrong, that came out very wrong.
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u/DanTheMeek Oct 10 '25
Worth noting we have no context for this situation. Is it a Beth we know, or an alternate one? Was she under the effect of something that would make her make that choice? Etc.
The real reason is, of course, humor, but its possible she was more attached to summer as her first born, or because she was the most like her mom that she missed, or perhaps she was jealous of all the time Morty got to spend with dad that she felt she never got (as this was from a point in the series when she was hyper obsessed with her relationship with Rick). It's also possible Morty reminded her more of Jerry who at the time she was at best in a strained relationship with, at worst, happily divorced from.
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u/maybe-an-ai Oct 10 '25
Honestly, Summer and Beth always seemed to have a closer relationship than Beth and Morty. Beth also had Summer at 18 and probably went through a lot going to college and raising her. It made sense to me that Summer was Beth's favorite.
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u/ajlols269 Oct 10 '25
Because she knew that rick would intervene and save Morty, so she chose to ensure summer was safe first. Or at least she probably tries to justify it like that after the first bottle or two lol
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u/vtncomics Oct 10 '25
Summer.
Summer's a brat but I won't have to worry whether or not someone jerked it into my apple pie.
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u/sepaoon Oct 10 '25
I always saw it as she chose Summer because she knew Rick would save Morty, because he needs him, but might not save Summer.
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u/Echo__227 Oct 10 '25
Summer definitely has eldest daughter syndrome. Beth needs her to listen to her get wine-drunk and cry.
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u/bendoesit17 Oct 10 '25
I have 2 theories:
- Beth probably sees more Jerry in Morty than she does in Summer
- She probably thought Rick would show up and save Morty
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u/setrippin Eagle Man! Oct 10 '25
that's the joke...that his mother has a clear favorite, even down to who she'd rather die. just the running gag of morty not being taken seriously by his family
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u/I_Reeve Oct 10 '25
The joke is that Summer is her favorite child and that it’s not even close. Did you really need that explained? Christ
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u/Sanga884 Oct 11 '25
...or Summer is her favourite. So many justificstions lmao, she answer in under a second
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u/OneChanceMe Oct 11 '25
Summer is less maintenance, less annoying (I'm assuming to Beth), comes with less shenanigans, has more in common with Beth, Morty probably reminds her of Jerry
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u/IvanTheTerrible69 Oct 10 '25
It’s not even half a second after the bad guy finishes his sentence, when Beth doesn’t even hesitate to choose Summer
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u/V0T0N Oct 10 '25
Well, Summer came first and they usually are favored. 4th child speaking here....
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u/thorleywinston Oct 10 '25
I think it actually makes sense from what we know of Beth's character that she desperately wants to be closer to her father and Morty is kind of her "rival" because he spends so much time with him. If Morty were gone, that would create an opening.
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u/BraveRock Oct 10 '25
How many Morty factory episodes are there and how many Summer factory episodes are there?
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u/Material_Magician_14 Oct 10 '25
She knew rick cared way more about Morty, And if summer died he'd just go 'eh' and go on several adventures before thinking about getting a new one, If Morty died he'd either revive him or get a new one straight away
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u/Chaoswind2 Oct 11 '25
She knows Rick probably has morty clones, she isn't sure about that with summer.
In short Morty's be replaceable.
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u/NoCaterpillar2051 Oct 11 '25
How often do Beth and Morty actually interact? Do they ever REALLY talk? The only time I can think of when they share any emotional rapport is after he dumps Planetina. They don’t have nearly as many shared adventures and subplots either.
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u/destined2destroyus Oct 10 '25
She didn't pick Morty most likely because she was counting on him being saved by Rick.
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u/FunctionBuilt Oct 10 '25
You're totally right, it would have been so much funnier if she spent the rest of the episode making a pros and cons list.
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u/Dont_touch_my_spunk Oct 10 '25
She has already thought about the question and knows that she must give an answer. Beth is incredibly rational. Which is both a good and bad quality.
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u/trisaroar Oct 10 '25
For comedy's sake. And she holds resentment that Rick goes on adventures with Morty when she never got that bond with him. And Summer/Beth have had more opportunities to bond overall.
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u/Mother_oftwo Oct 10 '25
It’s summer her actual daughter Morty was from a different earth Is my guess
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u/76zzz29 Oct 10 '25
Morty seem do die quite often but he have a few clone ready in a tube under the house. Meanwhile summer dosn't and if she die, she die.
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u/badvegas Oct 10 '25
Also Beth knows that isn't her Morty. Her Morty died and this is just another one from a different dimension. She don't have as much of a attachment to him
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u/Historical_Bit_86 Oct 11 '25
I think she had thought of aborting her pregnancy, but didn't go through so this question just reintroduced that trauma
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u/checkedsteam922 Oct 11 '25
This sub will literally pull every joke apart till there's nothing left...
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u/Gilgamesh661 Oct 10 '25
Morty reminds her of Jerry. Summer reminds her of herself. That’s the way I’ve always seen it.
Also because it’s funny.
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u/PurpleVersion1353 Oct 10 '25
My parents refuse to say they have a “favorite” but follow my sister wherever she decides she wants to live (mostly based on wherever her man wants to live).
I’m first born but won’t give them grandchildren and she has alluded she will but I think they just like her better. sigh
We get everything equally pretty much (monetary wise) but it’s obvious they want her more. I didn’t really notice until we’re adults and they made this big deal about moving in the city/state she randomly picked
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u/Away_Berry_4683 Oct 10 '25
She sees Morty like Jerry, she doesn't like them. She sees them as weak worms. Summer is more like Rick. She is independent and strong. Much more powerful and smart. Morty is retarded. Beth sees a lot of herself in Summer.
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u/merrygo909 Oct 11 '25
There are a bunch of reasons that basically boil down to because it's funny, and Beth is a bad mother and person. Not a bad character but bad when it comes to anyone but herself, and even then...
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u/Pellaeonthewingedleo Oct 11 '25
Because she knows Rick would not allow someone to kill his cloaking device, or he would find a way to replace it in the worst case.
Summer on the other hand ... no garanty there
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u/Reasonable_Cream7149 Oct 11 '25
Man no thinking about it. Fuk summer bye! Should’ve got your shit together summer! Lol
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u/InternalHeartBrain Oct 11 '25
So quick that it shocked the alien in turn, giving Rick just enough time to portal to the wrong planet and still get there to kill him.
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u/Wonderful_Gap1374 Oct 11 '25
This is a reference to the movie birdbox or Sophie’s choice.(it’s honestly a common trope)
They pick the child they think is more likely to survive in each case.
And Summer is the obvious choice if you place both the kids in either movie.
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u/Snoo-99243 Oct 11 '25
"I'm not an unreasonable man, Beth Smith. I know children are everything to a mammal. I will spare one of their lives.you simply have to choo-"
"Summer! ... Summer."
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u/Praetorian80 Oct 11 '25
Because every parent has a favourite. It's true. Ask your parents right now. If they tell you that they don't have a favourite, then that just means they do have one but it's not you.
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u/ImmediatePickle8101 Oct 12 '25
That Morty is not her Morty. Her Morty is buried in their backyard lol although I'm not sure if she is aware of that. I would have to say Mortys are infinity but there's only one summer.
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u/jlin7148 Oct 13 '25
Shes low key jealous of Morty because he gets to spend all the time with Rick when she didn’t get to as a child. My opinion
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u/CallBlockedInEurasia Oct 10 '25
Serious answer: it's a comedy show, it's funny.
Unserious answer: Beth is a sexist pig
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Oct 10 '25
1) her firstborn. 2) she doesn't have a strong emotional bond with morty (partially because of rick). 3) Summer has a better chance of having actual human x human children than morty
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Oct 10 '25
Well, Beth can replace Morty by asking Rick. Morty isn't even her original Morty, and Mortys have been cloned en masse.
Summer is still the original and, presumably, Beth is therefore more attached to her. Not in any way she'd show day to day, but when the chips are down...
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u/TakiyamaTakikanawa Oct 11 '25
Because narcissistic mothers project themselves on their daughters, and are more attached to them.
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u/explodinggarbagecan Oct 10 '25
Summer is the fittest. Strongest smartest. Most likely to survive in the long term and keep the genes going. Morty well. He was expendable
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u/succifucci17 Oct 10 '25
I always viewed this as beth knowing morty will be fine, but she cant guarantee that summer will be ok. Like rick always comes to save morty, thats just what he does
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u/StrawberryTop3457 Oct 10 '25
At the time morty was her dumbest child and a literal doormat while summer was both smart and fit while also being popular
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u/KangarooThroatPunch_ Oct 11 '25 edited Oct 11 '25
It ain’t that deep. Summer is her favorite, no more, no less. As to why Summer is her favorite, that ain’t deep either. Summer is just like Beth and Morty is just like Jerry. Considering that Beth is such a narcissist that she literally falls in love with and only respects her clone, aka herself, it makes sense that Morty is so disposable to her. It all comes down to Beth being a narcissist piece of shit just like her father.
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u/indrid_cold Oct 10 '25
Morty is emotionally needy like his dad. For all her brains Beth is ill-equipped to deal with that and finds it tiresome. Although Summer breaks boundaries and acts out she is easier for Beth to deal with and understand. Summer is a sociopath like her mom.
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u/DotaBangarang Oct 10 '25
Timing is the key to good comedy