The 25 Best Rick And Morty Episodes Ever

What are the best Rick and Morty episodes ever?

One of the most popular animated series in recent years, Rick and Morty has developed a huge fanbase with its inventive multiverse storylines and absurd comedy.

This guide covers 25 of the best Rick and Morty episodes, featuring your favorite characters from the show spanning their many bizarre adventures.

The Best Rick And Morty Episodes Ever

We’ve laughed our way through every season of Rick and Morty to bring you this definitive list of the funniest episodes of them all.

Here’s our list of the 25 best Rick and Morty episodes ever:

25. Ricksy Business

We’re kick-starting this list of hilarious Rick and Morty episodes with Ricksy Business, which sees Jerry and Beth taking part in a reenactment of the sinking of the Titanic.

Naturally, with Jerry involved everything soon devolves into a complete mess, and the same can be said for the house party Morty and Summer throw in their absence.

There’s a slew of weird and not-so-wonderful party guests, including Abradolf Lincler – a combination of Adolph Hitler and Abraham Lincoln – who arrive after the house is sent into another dimension.

The first series finale is an anarchic blast, solidifying Adult Swim as a great studio for madcap animation.

24. Rattlestar Ricklactica

With its title riffing on the popular science fiction series Battlestar Galactica, Rattlestar Ricklactica sees the main characters firmly in space opera territory.

Rick and Morty find themselves face-to-face with an army of robot snakes with their very own Snake Pentagon and Snake MIT.

Throw in some time travel for good measure, and some hilarious callbacks to past adventures and the return of the Time Cops from A Rickle in Time.

It’s a relentlessly funny episode, pitting Rick and Morty up against enemies which would put the toughest video game bosses to shame.

23. Rick Potion #9

Morty’s adolescent urges and quests for love is a recurring theme in Rick and Morty, first spotlighted in the season one episode, Rick Potion #9.

When Rick invents a love potion to help Morty win the affection of his high school crush, the potion infects far more people than originally intended.

Things eventually get so out of hand that everything descends into something resembling a body horror film, turning everyone into Cronenbergs.

It’s about what you’d expect from a love potion invented by Rick, who has to spend the entire episode concocting serums to reverse the carnage.

22. Rest and Ricklaxation

Sometimes Rick and Morty need to take a break, both from their wild adventures and from each other.

In Rest and Ricklaxation, a detox machine creates versions of Rick and Morty which exemplify their respective arrogance and self-loathing.

Toxic Rick and Toxic Morty cause havoc for their clean versions, as the opposing incarnations try to outwit one another.

It’s fun to see evil Morty unleash his dark side, exploring the depths of the characters’ psyche while milking it for as many jokes as possible.

21. The Old Man and the Seat

In The Old Man and the Seat, Jerry teams up with alien intern Glootie to develop a dating app that causes people to focus all their attention on true love.

The app causes predictable chaos, and as you’d expect from Rick and Morty, it isn’t long before aliens are involved.

While the title is a play on the classic novel, The Old Man and the Sea, this is far from high-brow literature.

Instead, the episode delivers another satirical swipe at modern dating, with plenty of ridiculous humor for good measure.

20. The Wedding Squanchers

The Wedding Squanchers sees the Smith family reunited with recurring character Bird Person, this time as he prepares for his marriage with Tammy.

It turns out Tammy is an agent for the Galactic Federation, who then proceeds to attack the wedding party with a team of agents.

It’s an action-packed episode that resembles some of the best post-apocalyptic games, full of bloodshed and amusing deaths.

The episode ends with Rick’s capture by the Galactic Federation, leaving it on a nice cliffhanger to end the second season.

19. M. Night Shaym-Aliens!

Back to the first season of Rick and Morty with episode 4, another showcase for the great writing by Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland.

Rick and Morty are held captive in a virtual reality machine by aliens, as they try to steal Rick’s recipe for Concentrated Dark Matter.

The episode takes the concept of multiple layers of reality and bends it all out of shape, in a prescient episode that brings to mind the Metaverse.

Jerry’s side story, which sees him getting it on with a simulated version of Beth, his wife, is the icing on the cake of this excellent episode.

18. Morty’s Mind Blowers

Morty’s Mind Blowers is another Rick and Morty episode that gets inside the heads, literally, of its main characters.

While some of us are busy looking for the best gaming chairs, Rick is busy fitting his chair with a memory extraction device.

Before long, Morty discovers Rick’s dark secret, that he’s been extracting all the bad memories Morty has of Rick’s mistreatment.

Summer eventually has to step in and stop the madness, leaving Rick and Morty to think they’ve slept through an episode of Interdimensional Cable.

17. Rixty Minutes

Speaking of Interdimensional Cable, Rixty Minutes is another hilarious Rick and Morty episode in which television plays a role.

Rick invents a pair of interdimensional goggles which allows the wearer to see through the eyes of alternative versions of themselves.

When they realize how much better life could be, the family becomes increasingly fractured, with Jerry and Beth deciding they need time apart.

One of the best rick and Morty episodes from season 1, Rixty Minutes captures the dysfunctional family dynamics perfectly.

16. Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat

As you’d expect from the title, this episode plays out like a cross between a mind-bending science fiction movie and some of the most popular video games right now.

The episode takes place on Forbodulon Prime, where Rick and Morty head to harvest death crystals to foresee their own demise.

Multiple realities, holographic versions of Rick, and weird cyborgs are all thrown into the mix, as the episode riffs on everything from Live Die Repeat to Akira.

It’s a vibrant and energetic opener for the second season full to the brim with pop culture references.

15. Mortynight Run

A flying ship lesson goes horribly wrong in Mortynight Run when Rick and Morty discover Jerry stowing away on the back seat.

After leaving Jerry at a daycare center, they head to the arcade for the instant classic scene where Morty lives out the life of Roy in a video game.

Things take a turn for the worst when Krombopulos Michael, an intergalactic hitman, turns up and buys an antimatter gun from Rick.

Jemaine Clement makes a guest appearance as the voice of Fart, a gaseous entity hell-bent on destroying all carbon-based lifeforms in the universe.

14. Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri

Season 4 closed with a bang with the episode Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri, which proved that two Beths are better than one.

A parody of Star Wars and many other classic action sci-fi films, the episode introduces Space Beth, a clone of Beth who wants to take over her place in the family.

With a super laser threatening to destroy the entire planet, Rick and Morty race against the clock to erase the clone before it’s too late.

One of the best episodes from the season, it’s packed with as much action as it is with gags.

13. Mortyplicity

A harmless family dinner is rudely interrupted when an alien squid kills the Smith family in episode 2 of season 5.

When it turns out they were using a decoy family things start to get complicated, with multiple decoy families scattered across the country.

Rick’s inability to prevent the “Asimov cascade” in which all the decoy families become aware of each other leads to inevitable bloodshed.

It’s a great episode for lovers of dystopian science fiction such as Blade Runner, Ex Machina, and Cyberpunk 2077.

12. Meeseeks and Destroy

The Meeseeks and Destroy episode brings one of the most iconic Rick and Morty characters to the series: Mr. Meeseeks.

The weird blue creatures are capable of helping people with their mundane life problems, although helping Jerry take two strokes off his golf game proves too much for them to handle.

Soon, there are dozens of Meeseeks trying to help him out, eventually taking hostages and deciding that Jerry must die.

Meanwhile, Rick and Morty find themselves in a medieval fantasy world, where Morty gets unwanted attention from an amorous creature called Mr. Jellybean.

11. Forgetting Sarick Mortshall

In Forgetting Sarick Mortshall, Rick decides to start using birds as sidekicks, while Morty discovers a new friend inside a portal.

As you’d expect, Morty’s friend Nick isn’t as nice as he first appears, leading Morty to cut his own hand off with a train.

Rick and Morty’s relationship becomes strained (what’s new?) and Rick calls on two crows to prove how much he doesn’t need his grandson.

There are some funny references to the classic Hitchcock film, The Birds, in this first of a two-part fifth season finale.

10. The Ricks Must Be Crazy

The second episode of season 2 sees Rick and Morty heading into Rick’s car battery, where an entire universe has been created.

Inside this microverse they discover another microverse, created by scientist Zeep Xanflorp, voiced by Stephen Colbert.

Rick and Morty have to escape from this microverse-within-a-microverse, leading to much violence and psychological torture.

As with some of the best comedy anime, the episode is packed with cultural references, including films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and 80s sci-fi B-movie, Robot Jox.

9. Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind

With an episode title playing on Steven Spielberg’s classic sci-fi movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, this serves up another exploration of alternate realities.

With 27 Ricks from different dimensions dead, and their Morty’s kidnapped, the Transdimensional Council of Ricks is called into action.

The original Rick is arrested, and while he argues his case for being framed, Morty comes to the realization that the meaning of his existence is entirely to protect Rick.

The confusion of dozens of Ricks is played up for laughs, and there are plenty of plot twists to keep you from guessing what’s coming next.

8. The Ricklantis Mixup

Season 3, episode 7, The Ricklantis Mixup, sees our heroes heading for Atlantis, before being interrupted by another Rick and Morty seeking donations for the Citadel Redevelopment Fund.

It’s an unusually structured episode, unfolding in a series of vignettes, rather than building around two parallel storylines as most episodes do.

The episode also brings a degree of tragedy in to balance the humor, with a bitter undercurrent as we watch the endless stream of Rick and Mortys living their lives in the Citadel.

It’s a popular episode of the show, which won writers Dan Guterman and Ryan Ridley the 2018 Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement, Writing – TV/Broadcast Production.

7. Pickle Rick

When Pickle Rick first made his entrance on the Rick and Morty show, the character went viral and was the subject of countless hilarious memes.

Pickle Rick landed in season 3 episode 3 and was Rick’s attempt to get out of going to a family therapy session with Beth, Morty, and Summer.

Naturally, his plan backfires, and Pickle Rick spends much of the episode trying to survive as a pickle, even going so far as to build himself an exoskeleton from the corpses of rats.

Inspired by the hugely popular series Breaking Bad, Pickle Rick has proven to be as iconic as Rick’s “wubba lubba dub dub” catchphrase.

6. Total Rickall

Total Rickall is an episode almost entirely constructed from flashbacks, albeit fake flashbacks installed in the minds of the characters by a malevolent parasite species.

Some of the show’s strangest characters are in this episode, including Mr. Poopybutthole, Sleepy Gary, and a flying ballerina lamb named Tinkles, with Keith David stepping in as a guest voice actor.

The Smith home becomes something of a madhouse until Rick and Morty eventually figure out which characters are actually parasites and take them out in a gory shoot-out.

There’s even a shameless plug by Rick of one of the best Zelda games ever released, as he bigs up the Limited Edition Zelda Nintendo 3DS.

5. The Rickshank Rickdemption

Season 3 episode 1 picks up where The Wedding Squanchers left off, with Rick Sanchez held in prison by the Galactic Federation.

It’s up to Morty and Summer to try and rescue him, which is made all the more difficult when they discover a bunch of Ricks on the loose.

It’s an episode that reflects the creators’ commitment to unraveling bizarre parallel universes, with plenty of callbacks to previous episodes and characters.

As you’d expect, there are plenty of references, including the memory puzzle device familiar to anyone who’s used the best Fallout 4 mods.

4. The Vat of Acid Episode

There are no prizes for guessing what features prominently in The Vat of Acid Episode, which arrives towards the end of the Adult Swim series’ fourth season.

Featuring alien gangsters and lots of double-crossing plot twists, the episode won an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program in 2020, and for good reason.

The episode unravels at breakneck speed, with Rick throwing Morty into an existential crisis yet again, mostly because he finds it amusing.

The Vat of Acid Episode shows Rick at his most demented, and the jokes are deliciously dark and twisted throughout.

3. Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort

Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort sees Rick taking some time out from the Smith family when they head out of town on a cruise.

After activating the Best Friend Rejuvenation Sequence, Birdperson returns from the grave but then has to enter his mind in order to save him from his unconscious mind.

There’s a neat reference to Halo’s Warthog vehicles in this episode, one of the best Xbox One games, while the Birding Man reference alludes to the popular Burning Man festival.

Tammy makes a return to the series, too, this time teaming up with Phoenixperson to cause more trouble for Rick and his friend.

2. Mort Dinner Rick Andre

Season five of Rick and Morty kicked off with Mort Dinner Rick Andre, in which Rick’s nemesis pays the family a visit and Morty tries to get Shwifty with another girl.

It’s a smart episode with lots of great dialogue, as you’d expect from something which takes its inspiration from the talkative movie, My Dinner With Andre.

One of the few episodes in which Rick and Morty don’t use their famous portal guns, it’s also the first time Rick is called “Richard”.

The episode also introduces Mr. Nimbus, Rick’s nemesis, who as you’d expect is voiced by show creator Dan Harmon.

1. Rickmurai Jack

The title to the final episode of the fifth season sounds like an homage to popular samurai movies and cartoons, with a touch of Ghosts of Tsushima thrown in for good measure.

The crows return for this episode, while a middle-aged Morty does his best to reconnect with Rick despite him being fully immersed in the Rick and Two Crows show.

The emotional development of the characters gets more air time than usual, although that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of carnage and death liberally interspersed throughout the episode.

It concludes the storyline which began in Forgetting Sarick Mortshall nicely, leaving fans of the show eagerly anticipating new episodes to come.

Summary

The best Rick and Morty episodes deliver an endless stream of inventive gags while deftly developing the relationships between the central cast of characters.

Honorary mentions go to Big Trouble in Little Sanchez, which introduced the world to Tiny Rick, and Scary Terry from the episode Lawnmower Dog.

With more seasons of Rick and Morty in the pipeline from Adult Swim, we can expect more crazy adventures involving auto-erotic assimilation, evil Morty, and more in the future.

Here’s a quick recap of the 25 best Rick and Morty episodes ever:

1. Rickmurai Jack
2. Mort Dinner Rick Andre
3. Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort
4. The Vat of Acid Episode
5. The Rickshank Rickdemption
6. Total Rickall
7. Pickle Rick
8. The Ricklantis Mixup
9. Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind
10. The Rick Must Be Crazy
11. Forgetting Sarick Mortshall
12. Meeseeks and Destroy
13. Mortyplicity
14. Star Mort Rickturn of the Jerri
15. Mortynight Run
16. Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat
17. Rixty Minutes
18. Morty’s Mind Blowers
19. M. Night Shaym-Aliens!
20. The Wedding Squanchers
21. The Old Man and the Seat
22. Rest and Ricklaxation
23. Rick Potion #9
24. Rattlestar Ricklactica
25. Ricksy Business

What’s your favorite Rick and Morty episode ever? Leave a comment below.