Rick & Morty: The 10 Episodes That Are Even Weirder Than Usual

The animated sci-fi comedy hit known as Rick and Morty is equal parts hilarious, insane, and mind-boggling. The show takes viewers on a wild ride from beginning to end, with all sorts of humorous and thought-provoking absurdities crammed into a runtime just north of 20 minutes.

Yet, there are a number of episodes that tend to stand out as being particularly trippy or just plain bizarre – even for the already warped standards of Rick and Morty. These often make for the most entertaining watches and they’re certainly some of the most amusing, if admittedly confusing. So with that said, let’s grab some portal guns and explore the 10 weirdest of the weird Rick and Morty episodes.

10 M. Night Shaym-Aliens!

This one definitely rises to the challenge of emulating both the fun concepts and the trippy premise of The Matrix. Rick and Morty realize they’re living in a simulation made by alien scammers when strange happenings start cropping up, like an anthropomorphized Pop-Tart driving off in a toaster.

Rick then hashes out a plan to crash the system by riling up a crowd for their impromptu musical performance. Things only get crazier, as Jerry is shown living obliviously in this increasingly glitchy simulated reality. He eventually earns a supposedly coveted “Appley Award” for best apple-related campaign, before finally getting his wake-up call.

9 Rick Potion #9

This one is an oddity for all sorts of reasons – not the least of which is its world-ending plot and mutated “Cronenbergs” (named after The Fly director David Cronenberg, of course) resulting from a Rick creation-gone-wrong. All of this was caused by a “love potion” requested by Morty to attract Jessica to him, which Rick hastily concocts and flubs in the process.

As weird as that was already, the monstrous metamorphosis forces Rick and Morty to migrate to another dimension and replace their recently-killed selves in that reality. It’s truly strange to see the initial universe established in the first half of Season 1 be completely abandoned and left to toil in Armageddon and Cronenberg mutations.

8 A Rickle In Time

Show creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have expressed their distaste for the idea of time travel, or at least as an effective plot device in Rick and Morty. They make their reasoning quite apparent with this convoluted and mind-bending romp from Season 2.

In this thriller, Rick’s gadgetry manages to cause rifts in time that continue to pile up. This is conveyed by the rapidly-splitting screens showing slightly different alternative realities. Things continue to get more haywire and unstable – much like the plot of this episode itself. To top it all off, a Langolier-esque creature seeks to stabilize these fractures by lacing the leads with an alien collar. This one tends to take multiple viewings to absorb all the chaos unfolding.

7 Claw & Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty

On the surface, a plot involving Morty getting a pet dragon would seem pretty tame and typical – at least by the standards of Rick and Morty. Yet, there are a number of absurdities and generally weird moments during this romp. One need only watch the “Soul Bond” ritual between Rick and the Dragon – laced with awkward sexual undertones – to know we’re in for an interesting ride here.

Then there’s the subplot involving Jerry taking a talking cat to Florida, who’s adamant to get there despite revealing nothing about its motives or background. To top this off, Jerry and Rick are eventually shown its history through vision goggles only to be utterly horrified and disturbed. Nothing is shown to the viewers, who are – quite naturally – left to their imaginations to fill in the details.

6 Rixty Minutes

Considering this revolves around a slew of TV shows and commercials from different planets and realities, it shouldn’t be a surprise that “Rixty Minutes” makes this list of weirdness. Adding to the wackiness is the episode’s completely random, semi-improvised style, which is made apparent by the voice casts’ awkward deliveries and chuckling.

Skits include a variant of Saturday Night Live that stars a piece of toast, a gruesome cereal commercial for kids, and a show about a baby-legged detective.

5 Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate

This amusing sequel to the previous entry manages to be even sillier and more insane than its predecessor. This is thanks in part to the subplot involving a conflict with Jerry as to whether or not he should donate his penis to an alien civil rights leader.

Though, the rapid-fire sketches are just as hilariously strange as ever here, too. It kicks things off with a wrestling match featuring a man versus a “regular old car,” before truly venturing into mind-bending weirdness. Examples include the “Opposite News,” a killer Octopus Man, and a commercial for tiny food featuring large-headed people. Because why not?

4 Pickle Rick

One need only look at the basic premise of this one – Rick turns himself into a pickle – to know this is going to be quite the strange watch. It’s an action-laced episode featuring a bored Rick trying to overcome a self-inflicted pickling transformation. While it’s a goofy premise, viewers can’t help but get invested as Rick gains power, overcomes obstacles, and fights off foes.

However, the episode somehow manages to get even more bizarre when Rick arrives at a therapist’s office, still in pickle form. He ends up having a rather deep and introspective talk, bringing some of his odd behavior to a harsh light.

3 Total Rickall

Those who have watched the film Total Recall will recognize some similarities in this homage, right down to its memory-altering premise. But once again, Harmon and Roiland run full-throttle with this idea, adding their typically zany brand of Rick and Morty flair.

In the episode, alien parasites have infiltrated the Smith house. They have the ability to inject their own (often twisted) memories into the minds of its inhabitants and then spread from the memories. This leads to a house brimming with colorful characters, hilarious “flashbacks,” and a chaotic shootout. The episode also introduces the supposedly real… thing… named Mr. Poopybutthole.

2 Tales From The Citadel

With this Season 3 romp, Rick and Morty pulls a fast one on its viewers by teasing and introducing the setup to what seems to be a trip to Atlantis. But what follows is one of the most epic and surprisingly emotional episodes yet.

It really plays out like a cinematic action-drama more than a silly animated comedy, bouncing between a number of different stories involving varieties of Ricks and Mortys. It takes place in the Citadel of Ricks, which has apparently blossomed into a full-blown society ridden with crime, corruption, and other dramatic happenings. The episode is wrought with zany humor, movie references, and even sociopolitical commentary all in one measure.

1 Never Ricking Morty

The showrunners have topped themselves yet again when it comes to crazy anthology romps. This one features Rick and Morty on a train known as the Story Train riding through space – which is brimming with strange characters and surreal anomalies. The Story Train, as it turns out, is a literal story device powered by Rick and Morty’s adventure-laden plots and, apparently, lots of funny callbacks.

Just when viewers think they’ve managed to somewhat wrap their heads around what’s happening, the plot takes another left turn and dives into a completely unrelated sketch only loosely tied to the main thread, represented by this chaotic train. Long story short, the Story Train is real… as a toy train Morty bought for Rick.

About The Author

Stephen Lagioia
(250 Articles Published)

Stephen is an avid Nintendo, Indie, and retro gamer who dabbles in Xbox on occasion, mainly in the form of binge sessions of Overwatch. He’s a history buff, an aspiring writer of short fiction, and a devout metalhead who enjoys poorly drumming along to Black Sabbath on his cheap drum set. When his beloved Chicago Cubs or Bulls are not playing, he typically likes to watch random documentaries or campy horror films.

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