TAGGED AS: Adult Swim, Animation, Sci-Fi, science fiction
Rick wasn’t kidding at all when he said this would be the darkest season of Rick and Morty’s adventures yet. Every dark corner season 3 has visited turned out to be not just edgy, but profound, too. You can’t just laugh at it; you also have to appreciate the gravity of the joke. Fans tuned in for Pickle Rick and ended up questioning their life choices.
Just imagine what creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon have in store for the season finale.
Rotten Tomatoes takes a look back at the most provocative moments of Rick and Morty season 3 and some of the reactions they provoked. And after Sunday’s finale, we’ll revisit this list to see if any moments topped the season so far.
Anything involving Jerry (Chris Parnell) is obviously lowest on this list, but he should be happy he made the list at all. When Rick took Jerry to a resort where everyone could be immortal and guests killed each other for fun, it really made people think.
https://twitter.com/jialehh/status/900032986942283776
https://twitter.com/chrispykreme26/status/899766864875724802
Jerry still sucks though.
https://twitter.com/neoyi/status/910615731926192129
Or was he even our Jerry?
https://twitter.com/b_fitz/status/907792026804113408
When the Vidicators returned, they ended up in death traps Rick assembled while blackout drunk the night before. It was like Rick’s version of Saw just in time for Jigsaw in theaters this Halloween. Only because Morty knew Rick’s darkest beliefs could he solve the puzzles and save everyone, but even Morty had enough.
https://twitter.com/wildaeparade/status/911478790261313537
https://twitter.com/dasbirney/status/911205920251801601
Morty fighting in a Thunderdome knockoff with a steroid-inflated arm was funny enough, but the scene went really deep when Morty used it to vent all his rage about his parents’ divorce.
https://twitter.com/lucid_dragon/status/891870437474480128
https://twitter.com/elroborick/status/894290868714196992
https://twitter.com/faekincutie/status/894108434395615232
Rick and Beth (Sarah Chalke) finally have an adventure together, back to the childhood world he made to distract her, Froopyland. But Froopyland evolved in the 30 years since Beth was a kid. The Froopys now eat their own human-froopy offspring. If that’s hard to follow, the Froopys put on a graphic play outlining the food chain, and it’s way more than you’d really want to know.
https://twitter.com/TayleighP/status/912173751315439616
https://twitter.com/drawntoinsanity/status/912160039259054080
When Rick and Morty went for some “Rest and Ricklaxation,” the interdimensional resort took detox a little too seriously. All of Rick and Morty’s toxins formed their own autonomous beings. Rick’s toxins were no surprise, but Morty’s insecurities and self-doubt got too real, man.
https://twitter.com/hyliantooni/status/903012840960921600
https://twitter.com/ejarnold540/status/903694913061109760
https://twitter.com/meegletv/status/903774651024900098
For all the brilliance of “Pickle Rick,” one of the most profound elements was the character Jaguar, voiced by Danny Trejo. Jaguar was working for the agency Pickle Rick infiltrated, only doing their bidding in the hopes of finding his daughter. But the agency knew Jaguar’s daughter was already dead.
https://twitter.com/jacob_jen828/status/903034706681266176
https://twitter.com/biomechginger/status/906612603937472512
https://twitter.com/zoyathedestroya/status/901512397369868289
At least Jaguar returned to save Rick and Morty from the killer piano from the season 3 opening titles.
https://twitter.com/hulksmash2790/status/908026253575442432
So hard to pick from all of “Morty’s Mindblowers,” but one proved an afterlife not only existed, but Morty ruined it. Floop Floopians want to be killed by a great warrior so they can bask in the orgasmic afterlife. But Morty asks Zik-Zak about evidence and makes the poor Floop Floopian question whether he wants to live after all. Then he gets hit by a truck and goes to a nightmarish hell for dying the wrong way.
https://twitter.com/yuvalne/status/910557276192243712
https://twitter.com/w33p1n9_an9l3/status/909727947530977280
Two “Morty’s Mindblowers” made the list, and Mr. Poopy Butthole proposing to Morty wasn’t even one of them. When Beth had to choose between one of her children, she chose Summer (Spencer Grammer). Without even thinking about it. So that happened.
https://twitter.com/bjamanimation/status/910159854031032323
With all the magnificence of “Pickle Rick,” the most poignant moment came when Rick returned to human form. After dodging a therapy session, Rick and Beth had a genuine moment. They learned nothing from their adventure or therapy, but at least they’re talking again.
https://twitter.com/linkara19/status/909125127497043969
https://twitter.com/sanspoint/status/908715681453154305
https://twitter.com/mr_kristos/status/908112822839607296
https://twitter.com/seifersythe/status/905029721435631616
https://twitter.com/vermyfox/status/902341483151417346
While Rick and Morty are in Atlantis, this episode returned to the Citadel of all the alternate Ricks and Mortys of the multiverse. A rather docile Rick got paired with a corrupt Morty cop. King Kong ain’t got nothin’ on him. This is the Rickest Morty in any universe.
https://twitter.com/rick_morty_bot/status/910359931899072512
https://twitter.com/BDorsey/status/907132815971688449
https://twitter.com/freshjimint/status/907150314129702912
What’s your favorite Rick and Morty season 3 moment? Tell us in the comments!
Rick and Morty’s season finale airs Sunday, October 1 at 11:30 p.m. on Adult Swim.
