For a show so proud of its fart jokes and obsession with B-movie science-fiction, Rick & Morty also happens to be one of the most intelligently written cartoons of all time. Often proceeding too quickly to even be digested, there are deep references, socio-philosophical commentaries, and logic problems all often tossed into the script as throwaway one-liners.
With each new season, Rick & Morty seems to be more self-aware of its following. One thing this means is writers getting increasingly bold with their complex humor, almost as if they are testing the most analytical of their viewers. Airing from late 2019 through the end of May, season four was no exception.
10 The Snowpiercer Episode
At the 2020 Oscars, Bong Joon-ho and his film Parasite unexpectedly cleaned up. This led to many American film fans pursuing more from the auteur and coming upon 2o13's Snowpiercer starring Chris Evans. Apparently a few of those film fans lived in Hollywood, as both the TNT Snowpiercer series and this Rick & Morty homage have been released in only the past few months.
The gag is of the meta variety. An infinitely-running train is divided into (not social class, per original story) cars full of different memories of Rick Sanchez's triumphs. In case this anthology format sounded tiresome to fans, it was portrayed as even more so to Rick himself.
9 Rick's Vat Of Acid Plan
Rick's vat of acid plan in "The Vat of Acid Episode" makes light of a combination of action movie dramatics (much in the same way Austin Powers does) and articles like this one. Instead of serving up what Rick & Morty audiences expect - a well-developed science-fiction concept both entertaining and difficult to understand - Rick Sanchez in this episode is bent on a relatively trite scheme involving a dummy vat of acid.
Thus, this low-concept gag is turned high-concept in the fact that it is something of a fourth wall breaker and also as an entire episode is built around it.
8 And This Police Officer's
There are only one thousand or so minutes that make up the entirety of the world of Rick & Morty at this point, and yet it's one that feels so vast. This is in part due to the show's occasional commitment to seemingly purposeless and disconnected storylines.
After, as mentioned in the previous item, an entire episode's worth of a gimmick is made of Rick's plan involving a vat of acid, the side results of the gag are explored. It is the equivalent of if circuses included a portion where clowns go into another room to clean pie off of their faces, and it involves a late-night variety show and a vat of acid.
7 Invisible Garbage Truck Jerry
Some of Rick & Morty's most high-concept gags are extremely and needlessly detail-oriented. Others get their power from wholehearted dedication to knowingly stupid ideas. In one of the more entertaining post-credits scenes of season four, an entire spinoff universe is imagined by Rick & Morty writers - one which features Jerry and an invisible garbage truck.
Crimes are solved and the general nature of the antics of an invisible garbage truck superhero are quickly established in about a minute and a half. The sub-series even runs its full course to the conclusion.
6 Heist-O-Tron's Re-Re-Wiring
Season four's third episode takes its entirety to lovingly mock the "one last job" genre. In the vein of Fast & Furious and The Italian Job, eccentric teams of unique criminals are hired to outwit one another for big scores, all, of course, to Rick's sarcastic chagrin.
This gag is the first of two on this list which are essentially inspired by The Terminator, but it borrows its humor more from The Princess Bride. Rick's robot heist partner Heist-o-Tron has been rewired by rival factions; but did Rick anticipate such an outcome within his original wiring? Thus begins the back-and-forth stakes.
5 Lovefinderrz
Lovefinderrz is an app co-developed by Glootie (voiced by the white-hot Taika Waititi) and Jerry (at the express opposite of Rick's direction). It is the non-Rick plot in the episode "The Old Man and the Seat" which is centered around Rick's desire to poop privately.
Lovefinderrz is essentially a constantly-optimizing match app - not such a stretch from reality. However, its flawless proclivity to identify passion allows for a critical thinking exercise on a universe without committed relationships, which of course, under the Rick & Morty monitor, becomes ridiculous.
4 Rick's Fight With Beth (Clone?)
Rick & Morty's action scenes do not let up on being cerebral. If anything, they include clever bits and references at an even faster pace. Fight scenes, in particular, are rewatchable for any fan of science-fiction. While Rick's battle with "Phoenix Person" in this season is also thrilling, his tangle with daughter Beth is what makes the list.
In mere seconds, Rick and Beth argue about a self-destruction device planted within Beth, go toe-to-toe on laser technologies, and even introduce a sudden Pokémon-Esque proxy battling approach. Before you know it the scene's over and something else brilliant is up.
3 Morty's Day In Court
A "death crystal" as introduced in this episode, reveals the way you are most likely going to die. Thus, if you observe the crystal while simultaneously acting, you could technically steer your future into one direction or another.
As if this gag wasn't high-concept and satisfying enough, a rapid, brilliant sub-plot bolsters and emphasizes it, in a sure showoff moment from Rick & Morty writers. Facing trial for acts committed under the spell of the crystal, Morty continues to follow its lead, ultimately succeeding by obliterating the psyche of a judge with his effective omniscience.
2 The Snake Episode
In yet another misguided show of empathy in the unfamiliar and unforgiving depths of the galaxy, Morty Smith attempts to save a snake-like creature and ends up essentially a John Connor figure à la The Terminator series.
If you're familiar, The Terminator is a well-conceived story involving mass class warfare between humans and machines with comprehensive time-travel espionage and assassination campaigns being undertaken by both sides throughout. Amazingly, Rick & Morty seems to explore this logically-problematic more in-depth in some twenty-five minutes than The Terminator's six films do.
1 Morty's Wonderful Life...Place Not Saved
In any episode where Morty gets involved in the leadership of scientifically-enhanced shenanigans, rather than merely going along begrudgingly, things tend to go poorly. His idea in "The Vat of Acid Episode" is a device that allows you to save your place and respawn in real life as you would in video games.
Of course, Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland muse upon the idea that, under these circumstances, Morty might find himself in a situation he likes and then be accidentally respawned. The gag is simple. The dramatic and full-storyboarded lengths to which the show is willing to go in execution are what make it one of the most exciting programs on TV today.
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