From the horror-tinged “Night Family” to the mind-bending “Mortyplicity,” there are a handful of underrated episodes ofRick and Mortythat deserve a lot more love from fans. There are plenty ofgreatRick and Mortyepisodesthat have gotten their due and earned iconic status. Season 1, episode 8, “Rixty Minutes,” was so beloved that it got a sequel in the following season. Season 3, episode 3, “Pickle Rick,” became so popular that even people who don’t watch the show have seen the memes. But there are just as many that remain underappreciated gems.
Pretty much every episode from the first twoseasons ofRick and Mortyhas achieved classic status, because those were the seasons that madeRick and Mortya hit show and there isn’t a single weak episode in them. But since those seasons set the bar so high, the series’ subsequent installments have been held to a much higher standard. There are some episodes from those later seasons that are just as great as the early ones, but don’t get as much appreciation from fans.
5Mort Dinner Rick Andre
Season 5, Episode 1
After Morty crash-lands Rick’s ship into the ocean in the season 5 premiere, “Mort Dinner Rick Andre,” Rick is reunited withhis supposed arch-nemesis, Mr. Nimbus. Mr. Nimbus is a parody of Namor the Sub-Mariner who, like Namor, lives under the sea, speaks to fish, and has an overactive libido — and he can also control the police. Rick begrudgingly invites Mr. Nimbus over for dinner the same night Morty has a big date with Jessica.
Mr. Nimbus is one ofRick and Morty’s most underrated villains. He’s annoyingly powerful, insufferably arrogant, and it’s hilarious that he torments Rick more by irritating him than actually fighting him. This episode’s B-plot is one of the show’s best, as Morty is tasked with using a time-dilated Narnia universe to age some bottles of wine and unwittingly wages a centuries-long war with an alien race.
4The Old Man And The Seat
Season 4, Episode 2
Rick reveals that he has a special toilet on an alien planet where he can do his business surrounded by the tranquility of otherworldly nature in season 4’s “The Old Man and the Seat.” When he finds out this toilet has been used by someone else, Rick ruthlessly pursues revenge. This episode doesn’t get much love, but, while it’s not one of the show’s strongest installments, it’s a great standalone story.
It’s always fun to see Rick pursue a petty grievance to an extreme degree, and hunting down a man who used his private toilet is the ultimate version of that. In trueRick and Mortyfashion, this silly storyline builds to a subversively depressing ending. Rick’s obsession with his special toilet becomes an absurd symbol of his inability to let go of the past.
3Rattlestar Ricklactica
Season 4, Episode 5
Rick and Mortybroke its no-time-travel rulein the season 4 episode “Rattlestar Ricklactica.” The writers had famously avoided using time travel as a plot point, because it always complicates sci-fi storytelling and gives the narrative a get-out-of-jail-free card to hit the reset button when things get too messy. When they finally broke that rule, it wasn’t so Rick could go back and save Diane or so Morty could see his future — it was for something much more trivial than that.
After Morty encounters a race of space snakes, he unwittingly sparks aTerminator-style war with time-traveling cyborgs. The episode gets a lot of flack for its reliance on snake puns, but it’s a really interesting exploration of the paradoxes of time travel. The time-loop montage alone is a masterclass in sci-fi writing.
2Mortyplicity
Season 5, Episode 2
Rick reveals that he’s created dozens of “decoy families” in season 5, episode 2, “Mortyplicity.” When the decoys start to realize they’re decoys, they set out to kill the originals and all the other decoys to save their skin. This sparks an intense (and hilarious) battle between seemingly infiniteSmith family decoys.
The constant barrage of rug-pulls and the sense that all your preconceptions are wrong make this episode similar to one ofRick and Morty’s most acclaimed installments — season 2, episode 4, “Total Rickall” — but it doesn’t get as much love as that episode. Every time we think we’re following the mainline Smith family, they turn out to be expendable decoys. This culminates in one final twist that makes this episode a real gem.
1Night Family
Season 6, Episode 4
Rick and Mortytook a surprising turn into horrorin the season 6 episode “Night Family.” After the family learns that Rick can program his sleeping nighttime self to do all the boring stuff he doesn’t want to do when he’s awake, they want in. They use their sundown selves to perform menial chores like cleaning the dishes and doing crunches. But when the night family rebels against the “dayminoids,” the Smiths end up in a vicious battle of wits against themselves.
“Night Family” is essentially a comedic version of Jordan Peele’sUs. It’s a sly satirical metaphor for the exploited working class rising up against the powerful elite. It’s a prime example ofRick and Morty’s ability to convey poignant social commentary without losing sight of its genre elements (or forgoing any belly laughs).
