While Rick and Morty will always be about the titular pair, it's high time for Beth and Summer to take center stage for season 5. When the show first started back in 2013, it came over as an animated and more-adult version of Doctor Who meets Back to the Future with a side of dysfunctional family to anchor the two title characters to a specific time and place. Though the main attraction of the show still centers around Rick and Morty’s dimensional adventures, the rest of the family – Morty’s older sister Summer, their mom (and Rick’s daughter) Beth, and her husband Jerry – have gotten increasingly involved in those trips, leading to significant character growth for both Summer and Beth. Based on where the show has gone so far, it seems the time is ripe to make Beth and Summer the focus of the show going forward.
Summer has proven herself as a worthy companion to Rick, beginning with the episode “Raising Gazorpazorp” where she deals with some bizarre space circumstances quickly and skillfully. Thereafter, Summer was occasionally included on adventures, and continued to mature as a dependable and clever helper, compared to Morty’s more random and emotionally-driven methods of coping. Beth’s first solo adventure with Rick actually came in season 3’s “The ABC’s of Beth,” which explored many of her emotional issues and refocused Beth as a fuller character than audiences had previously seen. We learn that she had a rather disturbing childhood, and that she shares more characteristics with her father than either of them might have wanted to it.
And this has become progressively one of the most interesting storylines of the series, making it currently the smartest plot to focus on. At the end of Rick and Morty's fourth season - 2020’s “Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri”, where the two meet - it only raises more questions about the pair, making it all the more pertinent that their story is focused on. And with it clear that Summer is the most competent of the Smith household aside from Rick and Beth - and also apparent that Beth still resents Rick for several reasons - she is the current clearest choice for Beth's sidekick.
And this alternative tag team could provide some long-overdue character growth for Rick and Morty themselves, too. Though both of the show's titular pair have had their moments of progression, they've largely remained stuck in some of the same habits and characteristics they've had since the show's inception, likely because they're aware that should anything go too awry, there's some alternate universe or secret invention that can fix their lives once more. However, seeing their family try to improve and grow may encourage them to do the same - even if it's out of a sense of competition more than a loving familial connection.
The fifth season seems sure to expand in some new directions as a way to keep the show fresh. While Jerry remains Jerry, the two Beths and Summer have earned their share of adventures, and there have even been hints that Morty and Summer may actually age and mature further in order to give their characters additional new storylines and depth. Will Space Beth return to her galactic heroine role? Will Beth her father on more adventures going forward? And what about Evil Morty? As the fans of Rick and Morty know all too well, anything could happen.