On the surface, Rick and Morty is a basic adult cartoon consisting of crude humor and clever bits. And it is. However, it also covers important topics, sometimes without using any words at all.
There is a popular phrase, “actions speak louder than words.” This applies in real life, and it happens often in television, too; we just don’t notice. Oftentimes, it will be displayed through a character doing something nice for someone else’s sake, and most of the time, it will show a new side of the character. It is a tactic that is also paired with dramatic irony in a case where a character does something only they (and the audience) know about, and it’s often something negative.
7 Rick Erases Jerri’s Memory Of The Talking Cat (S4Ep4)
In the episode “Claw and Hoarder: Special Ricktim’s Morty,” Jerry and the talking cat get picked up at the airport by Rick. Rick makes a stop in the middle of nowhere and traps the cat in an energy box to scan its brain.
The brain scan Rick views shows how the cat was able to talk, and his reaction is utter disgust. Jerry looks, too, even though Rick tries to spare him. Jerry is horrified but insists on keeping his memory because someone has to remember. Rick then mind blasts him, saying “Someone will.” Rick erasing the memory is out of character for him since he has never really cared about Jerry before. It is an example of kindness and self-sacrifice.
6 Morty’s Killing Spree During The Purge (S2Ep9)
In the episode “Look who’s Purging Now,” Rick and Morty go to a planet in the middle of a purge. Morty sits and listens to an old man’s story while eating a candy bar Rick gave him. By the end, Morty is annoyed and angry, kills the man, and then slaughters an entire mob. This reveals how much pent-up rage Morty has. He goes so far as to try and kill a girl they just met, and even Rick.
When Morty has calmed down, Rick reassures him that he is a good person, and he only got so mad because of the candy bar he ate earlier. The audience knows this is a lie, and Rick only said that to alleviate Morty’s mind.
5 Rick Gives Morty His Collar (S2Ep1)
The episode “A Rickle in Time” is about Morty and Summer screwing up infinite timelines, and Rick making things worse by using a Time Crystal. Rick kills the Fourth-Dimensional Being arresting them with special collars, and all 64 dimensions they created put the collars on to return things to normal.
Summer’s works fine, but one of Morty’s is faulty, and before Rick can fix it, Morty falls into the black void, and Rick goes after him. Rick gives his collar to Morty, and once he teleported away, Rick tells Morty to be “better than him.” Rick did that so Morty could live, even though it meant he would die.
4 Rick Spares Jaguar And Goes To Therapy (S3Ep3)
The episode “Pickle Rick” begins with Rick turning himself into a pickle, presumably to get out of going to therapy with Beth and the kids. Rick ends up in some sort of Russian Agency in which is put up against a prisoner they were holding named Jaguar. A battle ensues but in the end Rick and Jaguar bond over their families and team up. Jaguar had a daughter which the Agency revealed to have been killed.
They go their separate ways, and Rick flies to his family therapy session. He stays there for Beth, even though he doesn’t respect it, and they go out for drinks after.
In “The Wedding Squanchers,” Rick and the family narrowly escape an ambush by the Galactic Federation. Beth suggests that they just return home, but Rick demands they all leave Earth, even though the Federation only wants him.
Jerry suggests they just turn him in, but they all say that they are ready to give up their lives to move to a new Earth and protect Rick. Beth breaks down and admits she is afraid of being abandoned by him again, which causes Rick to realize what a bad person he is. Feeling guilty, he turns himself into the Galactic Feds in order to give his family the life they deserve without him.
3 Beth Saves Tommy’s Dad From The Death Penalty (S3Ep9)
At the beginning of “The ABC’s of Beth,” a news report shows that the father of Beth’s childhood friend, Tommy, is about to be put to death for eating his son. Rick reveals that he made a safe space for Beth called “Froopyland” that she unintentionally trapped Tommy in when they were kids.
Once they find him, they realize that he has been reproducing with the native creatures and then eating the offspring. When Tommy refuses to go back with Beth, she goes into a killing frenzy. Even though she was unable to rescue Tommy, she still decided to create a clone of him and save an innocent man’s life.
2 Rick Shuffles Beth And Her Clone (S4Ep10)
In the 9th episode of Season 3, Beth realizes she might want to go be a badass in space, but she wouldn’t want to leave her family. Rick offers to make a clone of her, but her decision isn’t revealed.
In “Star Mort: Rickturn of The Jerri” in season 4, the audience sees Rick making a clone of Beth, but he makes the decision to randomize the two. He removes the labels and turns his back while they shuffle places. Nobody knows what he did, and his choice changed everything and made Beth’s life a lot harder by giving her an identity crisis.
1 Rick Kills Mr. Jellybean (S1Ep5)
“Meeseeks and Destroy” is all about Morty finally getting to choose an adventure to go on with Rick. They end up being tried for murder, but after being released, they go out to celebrate. In the bathroom, Morty meets Mr. Jellybean, who seems very friendly, but then grabs Morty forcefully. It’s clear that Jellybean’s plan is to sexually assault him, which forces Morty to fight back with violence. He gets out and runs to Rick begging him to leave immediately.
Morty never tells Rick what happened, but Rick figures it out. Once they leave through a portal, even though Morty is safe, Rick shoots and kills Mr. Jellybean before the portal closes.