Top Five Most Deadly Episodes in Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty has become synonymous with sci-fi hijinks that span the universe and various realities beyond. Although Rick and Morty has consistently been advertised through the slogan which became widely shared; “Rick and Morty, ten more seasons!” In the seven seasons we have seen the Smith-Sanchez family change realities, escape world consuming creatures and challenge the very nature of the cosmos and fabric of time. In these daring escapades we have seen a plethora of striking deaths that challenge conventional expectations and have even broken with long-standing series rules. While death is an assurance we all can count on, Dan Harmon and his team have provided an enthralling visual and narrative experience that captivates the reader and ensures this binge-worthy series is played on repeat.

Let’s begin with this riveting semi-holiday themed episode, packed with vibrant internal imagery that animates the body in new and unexpected ways from organ-based exhibitions to activities and even a food court. Perhaps most gruesome is the eventual state of the recently deceased body of a friend of Rick’s. This cadaver becomes host to all manner of diseases from Hepatitis A and B to Tuberculosis and E-Coli. This leads to the ultimate death of multiple members of the crew in charge of maintaining anatomy park. Once outside of this cadaver, it is enlarged and floats above the Earth before exploding dousing the continental United States in a slurry of snow and crimson downpour.

A sentient gaseous cloud is held as a weapon of mass destruction in space and is freed by the ever curious and naïve Morty, despite the protestations of Rick. This cloud becomes named Fart due to its enjoyment of the sound of this word. Fart goes on to cause mass destruction in the name of assisting both Rick and Morty against Gearhead and the Gear people police. Finally, once escaped from the carnage of this mechanical world, Fart goes on to speak of the plans of its people to unify the galaxy through the destruction of carbon life forms due to their lack of what they perceive to be “maturity.” Despite countless deaths, wanton destruction, and ultimate sacrifice, Morty decides to kill Fart to ensure the protection of carbon-based life forms across the galaxy and beyond. Sometimes, the needs and indeed, lives of the many, are more important than the one gaseous cloud.

In this startling episode, the team behind Rick and Morty take you through the potential for coitus between worlds. Rick ends up engaging in planetary intercourse, leading to what they believe is the release of rounds of many thousands of Rick-Gaia (the planet) children, released with fervor from the bowels of the planet. Eventually, after many die upon ejection, Rick and Beth begin to construct a metropolis in the hope of creating a hybrid civilization. This eventually leads to the real father of the children arriving in the sky. A god, a Zeus, a celestial being is how this entity is referred to who then begins a biblically-styled war with Jerry leading his army. This leads to great casualties and the eventual eruption of Gaia through mass volcanic activity, slaughtering her children and forcing the Smith-Sanchez family to retreat. This episode toys with nature and death while offering the reader a gory yet thought provoking experience that asks the viewer to contend with why some parents kill in all species and throughout history.

This episode begins with Morty and Summer, ever the high-schoolers obsessed with status, popularity and being “in.” In order to impress their latest obsession, Bruch Chutback, they decide to take a careless joyride on Rick’s ship. After some difficulty overcoming the ship’s AI, they go on a petrifying spree of violence slaughtering “female and male Mailboxians,” a group of mail-box creatures, as well as a mass killing in “lake space Tahoe” after the ship had retaken control. This episode touches on the perils of seeking popularity and reminds the reader of the old adage, curiosity killed the cat.

A daring Thanksgiving where the Smith-Sanchez family are isolated in a US Army mandated “Shimmer” bubble in an effort to prevent Rick and Morty from exiting the house after Morty destroys the US constitution and activates an assassin in the Statue of Liberty. Naturally, Rick’s technology leads to the absolute earthly annihilation of a soldier early on but Rick doesn’t stop there. After concocting a plan to gain a Presidential Pardon as a turkey, his plan goes awry as the now “turkey-fied” president accidentally loses his tracking device and another turkey is instead re-humanized. This leads to the first ever American turkey president who ends up waging war against Rick, Morty and the now “re-humanized” President. This leads to the destruction of the Washington Monument and the deaths of hundreds of hybrid turkey-human soldiers, human soldiers, and civilians. This episode by far, reflects a great depth of thought surrounding US history, the fragility between gratefulness and sacrifice and indeed, the presentation of death and difference between humans and turkeys. More broadly, animals.