At long last Rick and Morty has given fans the backstory they’ve been craving. And even the creators of “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” felt like this one was overdue. In an interview with Adult Swim, Season 5, Episode 8’s writer, producer, and co-creator explained why they needed to give Birdperson his own episode.
When Birdperson (Dan Harmon) first appeared in Season 1’s “Ricksy Business”, the monotone flying man became an instant fan favorite. He was an extremely literal person in the body of what appeared to be a silly ’60s-era superhero costume. It was hard not to fall in love while constantly wondering how the outgoing Rick (Justin Roiland) was friends with this guy. But as the series has progressed, Birdperson has become one of this comedy’s its most emotionally important characters. We’ve seen him fall in love with Summer’s former friend Tammy (Cassie Steele), lose his agency to the organization he hates most, and fight Rick. “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” sees Rick doing everything he can to save his best friend. In the process the episode also reveals one of the worst moments in Rick’s life.
“This is an episode we felt like we owed,” producer Steve Levy said. “Coming off of Season 4, you’re left with a broken Birdperson in Rick’s garage.”
“Birdperson’s state of mind was unresolved. You know, he’s a person who’s been put through a lot of stuff: turned into a robot, potentially brainwashed, the woman he fell in love with turned out to be a spy,” the episode’s writer Albro Lundy said. “We felt he would be someone who would probably run away from life.”
According to Rick and Morty‘s co-creator Dan Harmon, having an episode entirely exist in someone’s mind created an immediate story challenge. It required the writers to raise the stakes. “Make it about the very fact that ‘I gotta go in there and I’ve gotta deal with my friendship with this guy or he’s gonna die,’” Harmon explained.
Though Birdperson has always been a fan favorite, he’s often been treated as a bit of a joke. He’s been primarily the source of a good one-liner or a funny squawk. Episode 8 changes that, actually diving into the pain this half-man half-bird must feel. “If you imagine someone fighting against an evil government their entire life, and then you finally find love, and then that love turns out to be a direct manifestation of that thing you’ve been fighting your whole life, you’d be really brokenhearted,” Lundy said. “We can’t ever know that for sure, but to Birdperson, [Tammy] did love him. But he’s also finally saying goodbye to her.”