10 Best Episodes of ‘Rick and Morty’

Few animated series pack as much sci fi world building and continuity payoffs as ‘Rick and Morty’. Since its 2013 debut on Adult Swim, the show has blended multiverse hijinks with running story threads about family, identity, and the cost of limitless freedom.

This list gathers ten standout episodes that shaped the series in big ways. You will find pivotal lore reveals, first appearances that later mattered, and inventive one offs that became templates for future installments across the show.

Pickle Rick

Season 3 Episode 3 centers on Rick transforming himself into a pickle to skip a scheduled family therapy session. The episode tracks his improvised survival in a sewer and a showdown inside a fortified compound as the rest of the family meets Dr. Wong for counseling. Guest voices include Susan Sarandon as Dr. Wong and Danny Trejo as Jaguar.

The episode became a franchise touchstone because it ties an outrageous sci fi stunt to a concrete family milestone in therapy. It also earned ‘Rick and Morty’ the Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program, and it seeded later references to Rick’s avoidance habits and Beth’s evolving view of professional help.

The Ricklantis Mixup

Season 3 Episode 7 was promoted as an underwater adventure but spends its runtime at the Citadel of Ricks. It follows multiple storylines including a rookie cop pair, factory workers, a group of Mortys at school, and a political campaign that returns Evil Morty to center stage.

The closing reveal reframes earlier events tied to the Citadel and sets up long term consequences that surface again in later seasons. The episode also popularized the musical cue that fans associate with Evil Morty and established the Citadel as a recurring power structure with its own factions and history.

Total Rickall

Season 2 Episode 4 introduces alien parasites that multiply by planting false happy memories in their hosts. As the Smiths’ house fills with wacky newcomers from fabricated recollections, the family figures out the rule that exposes the impostors and fights to restore the original household.

This bottle episode became essential because it debuts Mr. Poopybutthole, who reappears across the series as a timeline anchor. The story’s memory logic returns in later episodes that play with unreliable history, and its rapid fire character list serves as a template for future ensemble chaos.

The Vat of Acid Episode

Season 4 Episode 8 begins with a daring escape plan that hinges on a fake vat of acid. Morty pushes Rick to build a device that lets him save and reload life like a video game and the experiment spirals into consequences that cannot be undone by a simple reset.

The installment later brought ‘Rick and Morty’ another Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program. It is also a key entry for tracking the dynamic between Rick’s performative brilliance and Morty’s appetite for control, and it provides continuity beats that future stories reference when consequences come due.

Rickmurai Jack

Season 5 Episode 10 takes place at the Citadel and delivers the most expansive lore reveal in the series. It explains the Central Finite Curve and shows how it was engineered to guarantee versions of Rick who remain the smartest person in their realities, while Evil Morty works to break out.

The episode connects earlier teases about Rick’s past and establishes Rick Prime as a driving absence in the backstory. It changes what the show’s multiverse means going forward and closes one long running arc while opening the door to stories outside the curve.

Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind

Season 1 Episode 10 introduces the Council of Ricks and the Citadel, bringing countless alternate Ricks and Mortys into the narrative for the first time. Rick is framed for murdering other Ricks, and the investigation unveils a conspiracy that puts Morty in unexpected danger.

The final twist marks the debut of Evil Morty, whose plan is seeded in a way that pays off seasons later. The episode establishes core institutions and technology that return repeatedly, making it a foundational chapter for understanding the politics and scale of the show’s multiverse.

Rick Potion No. 9

Season 1 Episode 6 starts with a love serum that goes disastrously wrong and mutates the planet into Cronenberg style creatures. Rick and Morty abandon their original reality and replace versions of themselves in a nearby dimension, then quietly bury their former bodies in the backyard.

This decision never resets and becomes one of the series’ most important continuity threads. Later episodes revisit the gravesite, reference the destroyed world, and explore how the move affects Morty’s view of reality and Rick’s approach to problem solving.

The Wedding Squanchers

Season 2 Episode 10 brings the family to Birdperson’s wedding, where Tammy reveals herself as a Galactic Federation operative. The fallout forces the Smiths into exile on an alien world and leads Rick to surrender, which places him in a high security prison to shield the family.

The consequences roll directly into the following season and reshape the status quo at home. The episode also consolidates lore around Birdperson and the Federation and sets up later returns for both characters that continue to echo through the show.

Rixty Minutes

Season 1 Episode 8 unveils Interdimensional Cable, a device that lets the family watch television from infinite realities. While Rick and Morty surf bizarre channels, Beth and Jerry use reality goggles to see alternate life paths, and Summer learns a hard truth about her origins.

The format became a recurring framework for anthology style sketches and quick world building. It also deepens the family’s backstory and gives later seasons a way to revisit alternate timelines without breaking the main narrative thread.

Mortynight Run

Season 2 Episode 2 follows Morty as he rescues a gaseous being nicknamed Fart from an assassin and tries to escort it to safety. The A story weaves through a crowded hub with Blips and Chitz and the Roy arcade game while Jerry spends the day in a daycare built specifically for Jerrys.

Jemaine Clement voices Fart and performs an original song, and the episode ends with a choice that shapes Morty’s outlook in later seasons. It adds recurring locations and side characters that the series revisits and helps define how far Morty will go to act on his own moral compass.

Share your own picks for the best episodes of ‘Rick and Morty’ in the comments.