In trademark fashion, Rick and Morty held back no punches for its season 4 finale, featuring the return of major characters and tying up plotlines that have been teased ever since the end of season 3. One major character that made a return is (SPOILERS!) Clone Beth, who is back from her adventures across the universe to hold Rick accountable for his actions. Fans took to social media to express their extreme emotions over the return of the other Beth, and what her presence means for the series as a whole.
At the end of season three, we saw Beth acknowledges her feelings of being tied down by her family. Rick offered her an escape by cloning herself and leaving the clone to take her place on Earth while the real Beth took off to do whatever she wanted in any reality.
The question of whether or not Beth had been cloned had been left very much up in the air until the season 4 finale. Now we know that Beth did indeed have a clone made in her exact image. However, the episode did not make clear whether the Beth we have known over the fourth season is the real Beth or her clone, since Rick deliberately erased his memory of creating the other Beth.
Fans took to Twitter to express their mixed feelings about clone Beth with a generous helping of memes, like pasting Beth's face on the old Spider-Man and his doppelganger cartoon.
Beth and Beth right now #RickandMortypic.twitter.com/JUzTboku2B
— Joku🍜 (@Josephers15) June 1, 2020
Wondering whether Beth had really chosen to leave her family behind to live amongst the stars.
So Beth did actually leave the family after all #RickandMorty
— Juelz (@justdoinit23) June 1, 2020
Comparing the newly-resurrected Bird Person to Robocop:
The Cloned Beth episode was dark and funny, but I thought they'd wait til the end of the series and leave us with a cliffhanger. The new Bird Person arch looks like a Robo Cop clone. #God#hoodquotes#rickandmorty#Daniel#Henry#Price#sexysunday#espanol#money#regankay
— Hennessy and Weed (@HenryPr60960452) June 1, 2020
Some fans had suspected the Beth/Clone switch for a long time.
So there are going to be two Beth's now? And which is which is pretty much anyone's guess. Space Beth feels like the real one though. Ever since that episode Beth has felt off. But that was probably the process. #RickAndMorty
— Stephen Williams (@siavm) June 1, 2020
Being thankful for a season finale that didn't suck. Hey, we've all been burned by Game of Thrones.
the way #RickandMorty burned all of those storylines in that train episode, i didn't think they'd come back to the "Beth Clone" story so soon...this finale was DOPE tho. #CloneWars
— Cobra Kai Ryssdal: Sweep The FED (@Kamm_Inc) June 1, 2020
Ultimately, it might not even matter who the real Beth is.
It doesn't matter who the "real Beth" is. That's not the point. #RickandMorty
— Pikachu Dressed as A Witch (@Anthony_W82) June 1, 2020
Now that Rick and Morty has finished off its fourth season, fans are settling down for another long wait until season 5, which is still in its very early stages. Back in 2018, the show was renewed for 70 more episodes. With ten episodes per season, that means the show can go on for potentially seven additional years, if not more. Meaning the showrunners are in no hurry to wrap up any larger story arcs.
The biggest question on everyone's mind with regards to season 4 had been whether it would shed any new light on the character of Evil Morty. As it turns out, the character did not make an appearance other than a fleeting glimpse of him leading an army against Rick in Never Ricking Morty, although given the ultra-meta narrative of the episode, that scene was not canon(probably). Evil Morty continued to be absent from the season right until the finale, leading some to speculate the character might have been dropped as the main big bad of the series.
Now that Clone Beth is a new factor in the show, she might end up stealing some of Evil Morty's thunder, or possibly team up with him against Rick at some point in the future. It's going to be a long wait until season 5 when we might finally get some much-needed answers.