Rick And Morty: All Season 1 Episodes Ranked

There aren't many Rick and Morty episodes that can be said to have had a substantial and long-term impact on both the canon of the show and on the characters. However, Rick Potion #9 is one of them.

After one of Rick's potions has the aftereffect of causing almost the entire human race to become infatuated with Morty, a solution needs to be found. Unfortunatelt, the serum turns almost the entire human race into grotesquely deformed creatures called Cronenbergs. The only exceptions to the effects of the potion in both instances are Morty's direct family - in other words, the main cast of the show. After realising that dimension C-137 is beyond repair, Rick simply whips out his portal gun and takes both himself and Morty to a dimension where the Cronenberg problem was solved. The Rick and Morty of this dimension are promptly and bloodily killed by Rick, buried in the back garden, and replaced by our Rick and Morty.

The long-term psychological impact of this on Morty is immense. Indeed, the episode ends with a traumatised Morty staring wide-eyed into the camera, pondering the brutal ramifications of his and Rick's actions, while Rick nonchalantly goes about his daily life, leading to fan speculation that he has done this before, and will likely do it again.

Dark, disturbing and about as thought-provoking as it gets, Rick Potion #9 is not only one of the most influential Rick and Morty episodes, but one of the best.