Rick and Morty’s unwavering commitment to its most shocking plot twist from season 1 has kept the show’s audience on their toes for more than a decade since. Seven seasons and 71 episodes after its premiere in 2013,Rick and Mortycontinues to surprise viewers.Season 7 split up Rick and Mortyfor solo adventures, revealed that the Norse afterlife is all too real, and did a deep dive into the title characters’ deepest, darkest fears in its mesmerizing, unsettling finale episode. This narrative audacity was established early on with the series’ first of many jaw-dropping, game-changing twists.
Rick and Mortytook a bunch of big swings in its first season, which instantly established it as one of the boldest and most daring shows on the air. Episode 5, “Meeseeks and Destroy,” offset its goofy A-plot by having the most horrific thing imaginable happen to Morty. Episode 10, “Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind,” blew the worldbuilding wide open with its revelation ofthe Trans-Dimensional Council of Ricks. From the very beginning, this show wasn’t messing around. It solidified itself as a TV masterpiece by delivering a bombshell twist and sticking to it for years to come.
Rick And Morty Moving To Another Universe In Season 1 Set The Tone For The Show
“Rick Potion #9” Established The Stakes Of The Multiverse
In season 1, episode 6, “Rick Potion #9,” Morty asks Rick to create a “love potion” that will make his crush Jessica fall for him at an upcoming school dance. Rick neglects to mention that the potion should not, under any circumstances, be administered to someone who has the flu. Since flu season is in full swing, just about everyone at the dance has the flu. The love potion latches onto the flu and creates an airborne virus that makes everyone in breathing distance insatiably attracted to Morty. The virus quickly spreads across town.
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Before long, everyone who’s not related to Morty is aggressively in love with him. Rick’s attempt to reverse the effects of the potion and turn everyone back to normal just ends up making things worse as it turns them all into mutant monstrosities (dubbed “Cronenbergs” in honor of body horror director David Cronenberg). Having messed up the world beyond repair,Rick relocates himself and Morty to a similar parallel universein which they were destined to die. Much to Morty’s horror, they bury their own corpses and settle into a new life in a universe that isn’t theirs.
Rick and Morty’s multiverse isn’t just there to provide universe-of-the-week settings; it’s there to facilitate a hauntingly nihilistic portrayal of the meaninglessness of life.
Just six episodes intoRick and Morty’s run,the ending of “Rick Potion #9” showed that anything was possible in this bonkers sci-fi series. It proved that the multiverse was going to be truly important in a dramatic sense and not just a conceptual gimmick.Rick and Morty’s multiverse isn’t just there to provide universe-of-the-week settings; it’s there to facilitate a hauntingly nihilistic portrayal of the meaninglessness of life. “Rick Potion #9” set the stage for riveting multiversal episodes likeseason 3, episode 7, “The Ricklantis Mixup,”and season 4, episode 8, “The Vat of Acid Episode.”
“Rick Potion #9” Completely Changed The Status Quo Of Rick And Morty
It Highlighted The Unpredictability Of The Series' Writing
Rick and Mortyexplored the multiverse from its very first episode. In the pilot, Rick takes Morty to Dimension 35-C to collect Mega Seeds from the Mega Fruit of the Mega Trees. But “Rick Potion #9” was the first episode that really established the concept of multiple realities within the show — not just for a gimmick on a one-off adventure, but as a major plot point. This led to the similarly game-changing revelation that the original world from season 1 was not actually Rick’s original world, and that C-137 was a different reality entirely.
“Rick Potion #9” originally aired on Adult Swim on June 17, 2025.
When Rick relocates himself and Morty to a new universe, he makes it clear that this can’t become a regular thing. They can only do it a couple of times before it has massive multiversal ramifications. Not only was this a meta commentary on lazy writing and deus ex machinas; it was a great way to demonstrate the sky-high stakes of the relocation.Six episodes in, Rick and Morty already had to jump to the absolute last resort of interdimensional travel— after that, anything could happen.
Rick And Morty Has Never Tried To Undo Its Cronenberg World Twist
Rick And Morty Has Remained Committed To The New Universe
Over the years,Rick and Mortyhas undone a couple of its biggest changes to resume a more familiar status quo. In the season 2 finale — season 2, episode 10, “The Wedding Squanchers” — Earth is taken over by the Galactic Federation. It absorbs Earth’s governments, assigns jobs to Earth’s citizens, and the planet is filled with alien tourists. It was a fascinating change that promised all kinds of exciting future storylines. But by the end of the very next episode — season 3, episode 1, “The Rickshank Rickdemption” — the Federation had left and Earth had gone back to normal.
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Rick and Mortyhas reversed every major twist from Rick’s intergalactic prison sentence to his separation from Morty and adoption of two new crow sidekicks. But it’s never tried to undo the Cronenberg World twist.Rick and Morty have stayed in their new reality ever sinceand the Cronenberg World remains just as devastated today as when they left it. This has meant that their grave mistake has been hanging over them for years. Inseason 1, episode 8, “Rixty Minutes,”Morty showed Summer his grave in the backyard to open her eyes to the meaninglessness of existence.
Rick And Morty Visiting The Cronenberg World In Season 6 Brought The Show Full Circle
“Solaricks” Sent Everyone Back To Their Original Dimensions
Rick and Morty’s biggest follow-up to “Rick Potion #9” arrived in the season 6 premiere: season 6, episode 1, “Solaricks.” After Evil Morty sabotaged his portal gun, Rick tried to fix it by resetting the portal fluid.This unwittingly sent everyone back to their original universes: Rick went back to the universe where he lost Diane, Jerry went back to his original universe after gettingmixed up with another Jerry at Jerryboree, andMorty went back to the infamous Cronenberg World.
Forcing Morty to go back to his original universe and face the harrowing consequences of his worst mistake brought the series full circle.
Forcing Morty to go back to his original universe and face the harrowing consequences of his worst mistake brought the series full circle. Morty reconvenes with his original father, who has become a ruthless lone warrior since the deaths of the original Beth and Summer.Rick and Morty’s season 6 premiere went back to the Cronenberg World so that Morty could confront the skeletons in his closet, andit brought the show’s first devastating twist full circle in truly tragic fashion.
Rick and Morty
Cast
Rick and Morty is an animated science fiction series that follows the eccentric scientist Rick Sanchez and his impressionable grandson Morty Smith as they embark on perilous adventures across space and alternate dimensions. The show explores the impact of these exploits on Morty’s tumultuous family life and personal challenges.
