Rick And Morty: All Season 1 Episodes Ranked

Close Rick-Counters Of The Rick Kind introduced the Citadel of Ricks, which would become a huge part of Rick and Morty for a long time to come. Although the concept of infinite realities was already one of the core ideas of the show, this is where the true extent of different realities was first shown here, through the innumerable Ricks making up the Citadel. Audiences were undoubtedly astonished at the tremendous, never-before-seen scale of the Rick and Morty multiverse.

The episode starts with Rick being captured by a group of the Citadel's Ricks for "crimes against Ricks". Morty is taken with him, they are trialled, but both manage to escape. Later, Rick and Morty become fugitives and try to track down the Rick who is truly responsible for the crimes which our Rick was accused of. The Rick in question turns out to be a Morty-torturing psychopath, and it is only after his villainous scheme has been defeated that it is revealed that he was, in fact, a cyborg being controlled by the real villain. This is when Evil Morty, who would go on to serve as one of the main antagonists of the show, is introduced.

Jerry's subplot in this episode is also heartwarming and character-defining. It sees him form a bond with an alternate Rick from dimension J19 Zeta 7, also known as Doofus Rick. Throughout the episode, the unlikely duo's emotional connection strengthens, to the extent of Jerry being reduced to tears when his new friend has to leave him. Jerry's development balances Rick's and Morty's action-packed narrative thread gives the episode a superb balance between emotion, action, and set-up.

Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind serves as a thrilling, awe-inspiring, and hilarious watch. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best Rick and Morty episode of Season 1.