The ABC's of Beth

On September 11, 2017, it was revealed that the episode title would be "The ABC's of Beth", as well as the release date of September 24, 2017.^[1] The episode's writing credit of series producer and writer Mike McMahan was revealed upon the episode's airing, as was the directorial credit of Juan Meza-León. "The ABC's of Beth" stars series regulars Justin Roiland as Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith, Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith, and Spencer Grammer as Summer Smith, respectively.

In addition, Thomas Middleditch voices the character Tommy Lipnip, an old friend of Beth's who became stuck in Froopyland as a child and resorted to terrible means to stay alive. In the end, Tommy is presumed dead and Beth and Rick create a clone of him to return to his parents.^[2] Also, Jennifer Hale voices Keara, an alien huntress whom Jerry briefly dates in the episode, and Brandon Johnson and Kari Wahlgren reprise their roles from previous Rick and Morty seasons as recurring characters Mr. Goldenfold, Morty's school teacher, and Jessica, Morty's long-time crush.

Inverse noted that the "biggest Rick and Morty season 4 mystery" of whether Beth or Space Beth (later introduced in "Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri", the finale of the fourth season) is the real clone made by Rick. The article also delved into the concept of evil in the episode, saying, "'Evil is a construct that Rick doesn't really believe in,' series creator Dan Harmon says. 'The universe is populated with stupidity, and you're the smartest person in it. Then you're always going to be the most cruel. You're always going to be burdened by their dumbness. You're all alone in your intellect.'"^[3] In an Inside "The ABC's of Beth" video, writer Ryan Elder said, "[Rick] designed Froopyland to both entertain Beth so he didn't have to, but also to protect her from herself."^[4] In a review for the episode, in which The A.V. Club called it "stellar" and "consistently hilarious, while also touching on the show's biggest theme," Michael Walsh noted that "once again the show hit hard on its recurring idea that nothing matters."^[5]

The episode was viewed by 2.49 million Americans upon its airdate.^[6]

The season has an approval rating of 96% from Rotten Tomatoes based on 10 reviews, and an average rating of 8.95 out of 10, with the site's consensus:

Rick and Morty dives into new and even kookier cosmic dilemmas in a third season that interrogates familial bonds, love, and nihilism—treating all existential topics to the series' trademark serrated wit.^[7]

IGN commented on the fact that Beth and Jerry usually don't play a starring role in given season 3 episodes, saying ""The ABCs of Beth" felt like a concerted effort to make up for lost time, and it didn't disappoint." Jesse Schedeen, the writer of the review, also said, the episode contained "Some pretty dark stuff, in other words ... It's enough to wonder if the writers went a little too far exploring the dark creature that lurks beneath Beth's pleasant exterior."^[8] Den of Geek called the entire season, especially "The ABC's of Beth", overstuffed, saying that it "loses the plot a little ... It's unfortunate because this series has been so good about gradually fleshing out all its characters beyond Rick and Morty and this was Beth's time to shine."

Writer Joe Matar of Den of Geek gave the episode three out of five stars.^[9] Jenny Jaffe of Vulture said that "If the fact that "The ABCs of Beth" comes right after "Morty's Mind-Blowers" is at all significant, we might conclude that they've done all of this before and they'll continue to do this again, in every conceivable universe, until the end of time. But as Rick—or Beth—might remind us, it doesn't really matter. Nothing does."^[10]