Rick and Mortyhas no shortage of strange adventures that take audiences by surprise and leave an impact, but some episodes are best left out of a rewatch. The Adult Swim animated series began in 2013. The series follows the misadventures ofRick Sanchez (voiced by Ian Cardoni since 2023)and his grandson, Morty (voiced by Harry Belden since 2023).
Rick and Morty’s seasonshave alternated between one-off adventures and the ongoing exploration of Rick grappling with his troubled past. As such, the series has explored a wide range of genres and parodies of pop culture, although some episodes are not worth rewatching.
10Pickle Rick
Season 3, Episode 3
In season 3’s “Pickle Rick”,Rick turns himself into a pickleto avoid attending family therapy. As Beth (Sarah Chalke) prevents him from turning back as soon as they leave, he is pushed into a conflict with a mysterious organization while being trapped in vegetable form. However, despite his bloody battles, Rick cannot avoid facing the truth.
While “Pickle Rick” is a solid action-oriented episode that offers an interesting approach to Rick’s character, its pop-culture infamy has also soiled its enjoyment. Between memes and fans overusing Rick’s declaration of being Pickle Rick, the episode has been overshadowed by one gag. As such, it can feel difficult to sit through given how inescapable the played-out joke can be.
9Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate
Season 2, Episode 8
After consuming deadly bacteria, Jerry (Chris Parnell) is rushed to an intergalactic hospital. While waiting in the waiting room, the Smiths once more modify the television to see what other realities have to offer. Meanwhile, Jerry must choose between keeping his anatomy intact, or donating it to save the life of a beloved political figure.
The original “Interdimensional Cable” sketches are ultimately more memorable than its sequels. Furthermore, the original episode had a touching moment between Morty and Summer about the nature of life’s meaning with an incredible payoff. As such, Jerry’s dilemma ultimately feels more juvenile and uninteresting, despite a surprising Werner Herzog cameo.
8One Crew Over The Crewcoo’s Morty
Season 3, Episode 4
When a renowned heist artist steals their haul, Rick and Morty assemble a team to join them at a heist-centered convention to pull off the greatest heist. However, when one ally decides to strike out on his own,Rick and Morty must assemble a new team. As such, the crew begins to battle over who can enact the perfect heist.
While the episode is a loving send-up of heist movie tropes, it’s also perhaps one of the episodes that has aged the poorest, thanks to its guest star. The episode features Elon Musk providing the voice of an alternate version of himself. Given Musk’s many controversies, his presence makes the episode difficult to sit through.
7Claw And Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty
Season 4, Episode 4
After much pestering, Rick finally gifts Morty his very own dragon, only to realize that he and their new reptilian friend have a lot more in common. WhileRick forms a soul bond with the beast, the creature is taken back by his former master. With Rick’s life on the line, the pair must rescue their dragon.
Unfortunately, what could have been an interesting concept is tarnished by an overwhelming, somewhat juvenile execution. In many myths and tales, dragons are personified as greedy, something which could have created interesting parallels with Rick, but the episode’s reliance on crudeness wastes its potential. Fortunately, later fantasy-inspired episodes provided far more interesting takes on Rick.
6A Rickconvenient Mort
Season 5, Episode 3
Morty falls forCaptain Planetpastiche Planetina (Alison Brie)after she saves his and Rick’s lives, leading to them forming a relationship. However, while the pair become star-crossed lovers, it soon becomes clear that Planetina has a dark side. Meanwhile, Rick and Summer (Spencer Grammer) visit a string of orgies on doomed planets, where Rick finds new love.
On the surface, Planetina is a fun addition as a guest star, who helps challenge Morty. However, her premise is a concept that has been explored better elsewhere, most notably in Don Cheadle’s infamous live-actionCaptain Planetsketches forFunny or Die. As such, the episode can feel like a lesser tribute to the videos.
5Bethic Twinstinct
Season 6, Episode 3
When Beth’s intergalactic rogue doppelganger Space Beth visits the Smiths for Thanksgiving, she and her Earth-based counterpart end up having a drunken affair. The pair then has to contend with whether their strange romance could risk Beth’s relationship with Jerry. All the while, Morty and Summer do their best to avoid the horror unfolding before their eyes.
Rick and Mortyhas never shied away from the stranger side of Beth and Jerry’s relationship. However, making them the center of an episode feels off-putting, and the jokes feel repetitive, just relying on sheer gross-out humor. By the end, I related more to Summer and Morty in wanting to erase my mind of what I saw.
4Full Meta Jackrick
Season 6, Episode 7
After stretching the boundaries of reality once more, Rick and Morty are brought into contact with the Story Lord (Paul Giamatti) once more. As their foe escapes into the real world, the pair must find new ways to warp the narrative in their favor, withthe aid of powerful beings and influential writers. Despite this, Story Lord desires more motivation.
Arguably, however, the Story Lord and the many meta jokes he brings to the series were utilised best in his original episode. Furthermore, his motivations, or rather lack of, simply draw to the fact that this episode feels like a simple retread of a far more interesting episode. Despite some creative trope-inspired names, this episode is best removed from the series' narrative.
3Ricktional Mortpoon’s Rickmas Mortcation
Season 6, Episode 10
When Morty drops his Christmas gift lightsaber on the ground, it begins to cut into the Earth and threatens to destroy the planet if it reaches the core. Whenthe President (Keith David)betrays him, Morty must join with a robotic Rick duplicate to get the weapon back. Meanwhile, Rick continues his search for Prime Rick.
While David’s presence is always a delight, his usage in the episode is underwhelming. The episode plays on several tiredStar Warsfandom jokes, which ultimately felt incredibly dated and out of touch by the time of the episode’s release. Because of this, the finale feels underwhelming despite it providing a setup for season 7.
2Rise Of The Numbericons: The Movie
Season 7, Episode 8
After transforming into his true form in season 2’s “Get Schwifty”, the being formerly known as Ice-T returns as Water-T, defending his world from the Numbericons. Water-T is forced to join forces with a former foe to find an artifact. With some help from Morty and his maths teacher, Water-T ushers in a new era of peace.
Unlike the Vindicators-focused episode of season 3, however, “Rise of the Numbercons: The Movie” lacked the strong base to build upon. The Numbercons and Water-T’s work best as a strange one-off gag derived from the rapper’s name, and the concept becomes rather stale and uninteresting. Despite teasing a sequel, perhaps the episode doesn’t deserve a follow-up.
1How Poopy Got His Poop Back
Season 7, Episode 1
When Mr. Poopybutthole (Jon Allen) stays with the Smiths following his divorce, it becomes clear that he has descended into alcoholism to cope. Despite Rick assembling their friends to bring him out of his dark spot, the group descends into partying, leaving P.B. to focus on his lost family. Ultimately, P.B. decides to take matters into his own hands.
At this point, I feel Poopy had long outstayed his welcome alongside the rest of Rick’s friends. Their appearances in the episode feel like they were used simply to draw viewers back in through nostalgia. As such, “How Poopy Got His Poop Back” is a poor opener forRick and Mortyseason 7 that left me wanting to skip ahead to the main story.
