The season 8 premiere of "Rick and Morty" is a dark, twisted affair, and at first, it seems like it's all Rick's fault. In past seasons, Rick has wreaked havoc by forgetting to label all the dangerous stuff in his garage, but this time he's ruined things by falling asleep at the wrong moment. It's a shame, because his plan for disciplining his grandkids -- throwing them into a Matrix-esque simulation designed to teach them not steal Rick's phone charger -- was pretty decent parenting by "Rick and Morty" standards. Sadly, he fell asleep and accidentally let them live 17 years in there within a couple of hours. 

However, similar situations have happened on the show already. In season 2, Morty spends an entire lifetime in the VR game Roy, and it's horrifying when he wakes up and realizes the past 50 years of his life never happened. In season 6, Morty plays Roy again,...