What An Idiot / Rick and Morty

Rick and Morty

"Smartest guy in the universe."

— Cop Morty, "The Ricklantis Mixup"

Beware of unmarked SPOILERS!

Rick Sanchez may be a genius, and his family has the potential, but questionable decisions happen all the time.

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General

• Rick is an apathetic alcoholic scientist who we learn has hopped into multiple parallel universes to escape the consequences of his actions and reunite with many versions of his family every time he screws with their lives. He takes advantage of his daughter's abandonment issues to do what he wants, disrespects his son-in-law regardless of the situation, and uses his grandson to hide his brainwaves. Summer is the only one left alone because Rick doesn't consider her either important like Morty or pathetic like Jerry, but in that case, it can get worse like the time she learns her parents almost aborted her thanks to Rick's device. Evil Morty through Evil Rick at one point says it's obvious that "Ricks don't care about Mortys."
  You'd Expect: Rick with all his smarts would have gained the self-awareness that he's destroying the people he loves by emotionally abusing his family in various ways and constantly abandoning them.
  Instead: Rick tries to maintain the intellectual high ground by saying he's the smartest guy in the room. Including the time when a therapist calmly assessed that his adrenaline junkie tendencies are going to kill him someday and that if he wants to help his family he has to put in the boring work of maintenance.
  The Result: The deterioration continues; we see one Sanchez family left to survive an apocalypse that Rick caused. Rick's Morty has become more and more traumatized as the seasons go on and he's had to hop dimensions at least twice. Summer demands payment from her Grandpa to keep him from killing himself in the case of a Morty's Mindblowers Scenario 4. Beth eventually divorces Jerry when her husband calls her out for enabling someone like Rick after their lives are disrupted once too many times, only to take Jerry back when he stands up for her during the time she fears she's just a clone.
• Related to the above, Rick abandoned Beth when she was young and after he returns Beth becomes desperate to gain his approval. Rick makes Morty miss school by taking him on crazy and dangerous adventures. Beth and Jerry do decide to send Rick to a retirement home, but in the end decide not to, because Rick has tricked him that he made Morty smarter and promising he will let Morty go to school. However, Rick still takes their son on dangerous adventures and creates chaos for everyone. It's also important to note that Beth knows, or at least suspects that the current Rick and Morty aren't her original ones, but has accepted that.
  You'd Expect: Beth to realize that pleasing her father isn't worth it, if it is even possible, or at least question if it's worth it. Rick isn't smart because he's a jerk, he's smart because he has a lot of knowledge about the world, and his attitude drives people away from him, which are both things Beth should've noticed. If Rick abandoned her and has no issue changing alternate universes, then he doesn't care (enough), so why should she care about him? If she can live with the fact that they are not her real Rick and Morty, why keep this Rick close?
  Instead: Not only does she not reconsider her wish, but also starts to behave like Rick.
  The Result: The deterioration gets worse, she gets called out by people and even finds out she trapped her childhood friend Tommy for years in Froopyland. She does realize in the "AB Cs of Beth" it wasn't worth it, but she should've realized it or at least questioned it a long time ago.
• Summer knows that grandpa Rick doesn't generally show much care and that he takes Morty on crazy, dangerous adventures. She herself took part in some of them and has lived big damage caused by her grandpa. She also knows that her original Rick and Morty died and that the current ones took their places after accidentally destroying their former dimension.
  You'd Expect: Her to realize that her grandpa's ways are too chaotic and to try to live a more balanced life. Maybe try to avoid partaking in his crazy plans, or to take part in order to help her brother or other victims out.
  Instead: She adopted an extreme lifestyle and is or at least was jealous at least her little brother because Rick had spent more time with him.
• Sometimes Rick makes an invention to get the family off his back. This includes giving Snuffles a brain-enhancing helmet, the Meeseeks box, and an animal translator to Morty. Beth or Jerry have a sense of if these items will go wrong.
  You'd Expect: Rick at some point would install an idiot-proof failsafe or account for some contingencies.
  Instead: Rick doesn't.
  Predictably: Chaos ensues. Each time. Snuffles renames himself Snowball, ups the brainpower, and enslaves humanity for treating him as a cute ornamental plaything. The Meeseeks take a restaurant hostage and attempt to kill Jerry. The animal translator ended up angering the squirrels so much that Rick and Morty have to move to another dimension.
• Beth aspired to become a heart surgeon in her youth. At 17 years old she went with her classmate Jerry to the prom. They feel the need to have sex.
  You'd Expect: Them to not have sex at all to not risk anything. They can satisfy their sexual urges in other ways such as fetish play if they want to.
  Or: Them to have protected sex and/or Beth to take a contraceptive pill.
  Or: Them to take some time to think about it. They don't have to do it on prom night.
  Instead: They do it that night.
  The Result: Beth gets pregnant with Summer.
  You'd Then Expect: Beth to get an abortion.
  Or: Them to give the baby to adoption.
  Or: If they decide to keep the baby they won't get married.
  Or: If they get married they would try not to fight each other. Both of them are responsible for what happened and they can get a divorce peacefully if at least one of them is not satisfied with the marriage.
  Instead: They get married, have Summer then later they also have Morty. Beth becomes a horse surgeon. After Rick moves in they see versions of themselves from other dimensions who didn't have Summer and said versions managed to become successful. In one universe Beth became a famous surgeon and Jerry a famous actor. But it turns out that those versions were actually unhappy without each other and get together. After seeing this our Beth and Jerry stop being angry and make out.
  You'd Expect: That from now on they are going to have a happy marriage and brush off arguments as normal ones that each couple has. They could also try to achieve their career dreams.
  Or: Even if the marriage doesn't work they would at least try not to fight and be considerate to each other.
  Instead: The bickering continues. Only in season 3 do they get a divorce.

Season One

• "Pilot"
  • Rick keeps dragging Morty out for random adventures no matter the time of day. While Morty sometimes has the sense to take the wheel or takes down Rick when he's drunk and murderous, he's losing vital sleep and missing out on school. Beth and Jerry comment on how Rick can't keep interrupting Morty's bedtime when Morty falls asleep as breakfast.
    You'd Expect: Rick to have some common sense and find a way to keep Beth and Jerry happy, a Morty in school, and a brainwave protector for his adventures. Season 3 reveals that he perfected cloning and creating sentient robot doubles of people. If he wants to be a jerk about it, he could create a device that keeps Morty awake all the time and make him super exhausted later.
    Instead: The most he does is take down messages from the school about how many times Morty has played truant, intercepting them before they can reach Beth or Jerry.
    The Result: Principal Vagina has the sense to call Beth directly at her workplace and explain that Rick has been taking his messages about how Morty has only attended seven hours in three months. Jerry and Beth bust Rick right as he returns Morty from a traumatic seed smuggling adventure, and nearly put him into a nursing home. He has to use a seed-poisoned Morty to get them off his back and prove he's reaching Morty more what he will learn in school.
  • Jerry gets off lunch early and goes to visit his wife. She's in the middle of (cough) horse surgery.
    You'd Expect: He would wait for her to finish and then talk. Maybe bring her some takeout to soften the blow since it is lunch and she might feel better with a meal after a stressful surgery.
    Instead: He stands in the operating room as a horse lies between life and death and starts talking about putting Rick in a nursing home.
    The Result: Beth yells at him for his bad timing, about putting Rick in a home, and for making her nearly flatline a horse.
• "Lawnmower Dog"
  • Rick wants Morty to get an A at math.
    You'd Expect: Him to tutor Morty, since Rick is a genius in fields that require math knowledge and high school stuff should be a piece of cake for him. In fact, in the pilot Morty was doing multiplications, so it should be really easy for Rick. That's what even Morty suggested at one point.
    Alternatively: Rick would whip up a version of the intelligence machine that he made for Snuffles so that Morty can pass his classes. He only needs Morty's lowered brainwaves for traveling.
    Alternatively Alternatively: Rick to just tamper with the school's records so Morty gets an A. After all, Rick doesn't care about Morty's education, which is why he has no problem making him skip school by taking him on adventures.
    Instead: He builds a machine that sends your mind into others dreams and uses it to get him and Morty into the teacher's dream so that they can convince him to give Morty an A.
    The result: They almost die in the teacher's dream. In order to save themselves they enter the dream of a character in the dream and it goes like this for a while.
  • The brain-enhanced Snuffles has become Snowball and has imprisoned Morty's family for their supposed mistreatment of him. They're all in a tight cage, as Jerry pleads that this is all a big misunderstanding. Summer tells him they should call Snuffles "Snowball" and not antagonize him.
    You'd Expect: Jerry would agree, and call the dog Snowball.
    Instead: Jerry says that's a stupid name.
    The Result: Snowball says he's going to neuter Jerry the next day, or leave it to the new dog doctor.
• "Anatomy Park"
  • Rick has built an Affectionate Parody version of Jurassic Park and makes Morty spend Christmas Eve helping to extract the main doctor there, called Dr. Bloom, by shrinking Morty and injecting him into a homeless man's body.
    You'd Expect: Rick to have kept tabs on said man to ensure that his organs didn't fail completely. Or put him in suspended animation, since we know Ricks can make happy Virtual Reality situations. Even if Reuben was poor and desperate enough to become a guinea pig and tourist attraction, Rick wouldn't want to lose the money on this venture.
    Instead: Rick just checks on Reuben from time to time, and only intervenes on this one time when Reuben is badly infected with tuberculousis, Hepatitis A and Hepatitis C.
    The Result: Morty's attempts at a rescue go horribly wrong when it turns out one of the employees was a Mole and even with that, deadly diseases attack all of the shrunken humans. Dr. Bloom dies holding off e.coli, making the whole endeavor useless, and Reuben eventually dies.
  • Speaking of said Mole, he was hired to extract deadly diseases from Reuben.
    You'd Expect: He'd have set the sabotage in motion a long time ago and then made his escape.
    Instead: He sticks around to keep up the image of being a loyal park employee. And smuggles tuberculosis in his backpack.
    Predictably: Poncho dies mid-villain monologue while holding Annie hostage, because the germs turn on him.
• "M Night Shaym Aliens"
  • An alien race of con people have been trying to get Rick's secret formula of Dark Matter. They kidnap him, interrogate him, and often leave empty-handed. It's happened so often that Rick is unfazed and knows they hate nudity, which he uses to his advantage.
    You'd Expect: They would go for a simple solution: threaten Morty, the real Morty, unless Rick gives the formula. Even if Rick goes wild on them, they at least have a Human Shield so that Rick can't kill them without hurting his Morty in the crossfire.
    Instead: They kidnap him and Jerry — the latter by accident— putting them both in a simulation trapped within two simulations. Rick gives out a formula to who he thinks is Morty, but this was needlessly complicated.
    You'd Then Expect: The aliens would test the formula with Rick still in the area, just to rub in his victory more or to make sure he didn't fudge it.
    Instead: They send Rick back to Earth with Jerry, gloating about Rick's humiliation.
    The Result: Rick gave them the formula for a bomb large enough to blow up their ship. And Rick enjoys watching the fireworks.
  • Jerry in the meantime goes through a low-running version of the simulation, where people are either agreeing with what he says or responding clearly. After his pitch seems to go well, he heads home to Beth, who isn't moving from the phone. Jerry is also getting a niggling sense that this is all too good to be true.
    You'd Expect: Despite Jerry being an idiot, he would know his wife. Beth wouldn't just shut up and stand not even acknowledging him.
    Instead: He ignores that instinct, moves around this prone Beth and sleeps with her, not noticing anything wrong. In fact, it was the best sex that he had.
    The Result: Jerry goes through the rest of the simulation not knowing anything until it literally disintegrates in front of him, and Rick breaks it to him that the rest of his day wasn't real. For the escape, he is mainly The Load.
• "Meeseeks and Destroy"
  • Rick gives a Meeseeks box to the family to fulfill their tasks while he and Morty compete over a dance. Jerry has just gotten one to open a tight jar. He cautions Beth and Summer about complicating their requests.
    You'd Expect: Jerry to not make any more requests. He already got the Meeseeks to do it right once. No need to tempt fate.
    Instead: He asks Mr. Meeseeks to improve his golf game. But Mr. Meeseeks cannot do so, and creates multiple Meeseeks. Then Jerry goes to dinner, leaving them with the agony of existing.
    The Result: The Meeseeks undergo Sanity Slippage and decide to kill Jerry. They take an entire restaurant hostage, and Jerry only improves his golf stroke because Beth quickly coaches him.
  • King Jellybean is the leader of an impoverished populace. It's revealed that he is a sexual predator that preys on human children.
    You'd Expect: He would be discreet about this, since he is a king with a public image.
    Instead: When we first see him, he's in a bar in the Giants' Stairs. After he seems to give Morty a pep talk as they're both washing their hands in the bathroom, he then starts groping him and trying to rape him.
    The Result: Morty's adrenaline kicks in and he beats King Jellybean to a pulp. Rick notices how traumatized Morty is when he leaves the bathroom, and gets angry. He helps Morty win their bet, and murders King Jellybean right as they're leaving.
• Rick Potion #9
  • Morty asks Rick for a love potion so that Jessica will be his date at the school dance.
    You'd Expect: Rick to point out that this is no different than a roofie drug because Morty would be messing with Jessica's ability to give consent. This might get Morty off his back.
    Instead: Rick makes the potion, after grousing that it's a waste of his time.
    Also: Morty asks if there are any potential side effects to the potion. Rick assures Morty it's okay to use. As soon as Morty walks out the door, Rick remembers it 'could' go wrong if the person being drugged has the flu.
    You'd Expect: Rick to run out the door to inform Morty about this, since he couldn't have gone far at this point.
    Instead: He says this as a shrug-worthy comment.
    The Result: Rick messes up. Badly. Sure enough, Jessica has the flu, and it mixes with the potion to make everyone want to love Morty. When Rick later points out that Morty asked for a date-rape drug, Morty in turn points out that Rick is the one who made it in the first place.
  • Due to Morty's request going wrong, Rick isn't able to develop an antidote. But he knows about infinite universes, and has used them before.
    You'd Expect: Rick would just search for a Rick who solved it and lived to ask how he did it.
    Instead: Rick solves the Cronenberg problem by finding an universe where another Rick solved it and died along with his Morty immediately afterwards. On one hand, it is Rick we are talking about, and Ricks hate themselves the most, so avoiding help from an another Rick makes sense. However, the fact that Rick then complains how they only have a limited number of universes they can replace themselves on implies that he never even considered other options, or did it solely to traumatize Morty by showing him the consequences of screwing up.
• Raising Gazorpazorp
  • Rick and Morty are at an alien shop where the latter finds a sex robot and convinces the former to buy it for him.
    You'd Expect: Them to inspect the robot before buying it and/or Morty uses it.
    Instead: Rick buys it right away
    The result: The robot gives birth to Morty's baby.
  • After this incident, Rick wants to go to the place where said robot was build and Summer wants to join him, but he doesn't want to go on adventures with females.
    You'd Expect: Him to give another reason for not taking Summer with him, something that clearly isn't discrimination. He could say that this mission is too dangerous for her, a teenager with average intelligence and no fighting experience.
    Or: If he's going to tell Summer he doesn't want to go with females on adventures he is going to give a reason for it that doesn't sound sexist, whether said reason is true or not, like females are very likely to be discriminated against in the cultures he visits.
    Or: Him to just leave without telling her why. He doesn't care too much about peoples' feelings and does what he wants.
    You'd Also Expect: Him to not let Summer get near the portal he just opened.
    Instead: He simply tells her he doesn't like going with "chicks" on adventures.
    The result: She feels offended by her grandpa, goes in front of the portal and gets dragged by male gazorpazorpians on the other side of the portal, then Rick saves her.
  • After getting on the planet Gazorpazorp Rick's portal gun gets destroyed by the males and he and Summer eventually meet the female Gazorpazorpians, who turn out to be very developed. Said women befriend Summer quickly and want to kill Rick. In order to save him, his granddaughter lies that he's actually her slave. Then the women give the two a tour of their home.
    You'd Expect: Rick to play along until they find enough information about the alien race that they need and find a way to return home.
    Instead: He has an argument with Summer, telling her that he doesn't want to continue and gives a loud fart intentionally.
    You'd Also Expect: Summer to punish and/or call out her grandpa without giving away the information that they're related.
    Instead: She angrily calls him grandpa.
    The result: The female aliens realize Rick isn't actually Summer's slave and get mad. Rick admits this and also tells them that on their planet men and women are equal. Summer believes that this isn't entirely true, because women get 70% from mens' salary.
    You Expect: Her to say that Rick is right. Summer might believe that women on earth don't get enough rights, but now it's not the time to say that, because she would risk upsetting powerful aliens. Besides, it's not like she can fix the problem about women's' salary on earth, at least not under these circumstances.
    Alternatively: If she doesn't want to lie - either out of principle or fear - she would shut up and see what happens next.
    Instead: She says her opinion about women's' salary right away.
    Result: The aliens get both of them captive and proceed to punish them. Summer fortunately manages to talk her way out of an execution.
• "Something Ricked This Way Comes"
  • Summer starts working at a shop run by Mr. Needful, who is the Devil; every item there is free but cursed. Rick figures Mr. Needful is the devil which surprises the latter and Summer calls her grandpa out for what he said.
    You'd Expect: The Devil not do anything for now and see where this is going to.
    Or: Him to use the fact that Summer called Rick out for his benefit in order to get rid of him. Maybe make him look like he's insane, so that he'll be sent to a mental health hospital.
    Or: The Devil to give up and leave.
    Or Even: Him to curse Rick with something else than an object from the shop, since you need to use them in order to get cursed and if Rick was smart enough to figure out Mr. Needful is the devil chances are he's smart enough to be suspicious about the items.
    Instead: He offers Rick a microscope that makes you retarded if you use it.
    The Result: Rick doesn't use it, but analyses it instead, finds out what it can do and uses the information he gained in order to find a way to purge the cursed items and starts a business with that in order to put the Devil out of business.
  • Rick gets annoyed at how Summer tells him off for trolling Mr. Needful, and proceeds to put the devil out of business by purging the cursed items for cash so that customers can enjoy the magical benefits.
    You'd Expect: Rick would realize that if he was trying to win Summer back, he ought to hire her at the shop for higher pay and benefits, or bluntly tell her that Mr. Needful will eventually screw her over as he does later. This isn't just Rick being a jerk; he doesn't want his granddaughter consorting with the devil.
    Instead: He mocks her when she shows up with the last of Mr. Needful's inventory and says Mr. Needful is filing Chapter Eleven.
    The Result: Rick loses his motivation to keep running the store since Mr. Needful will no longer be selling cursed items, and blobs at home.
  • Summer saves the devil from hanging himself and helps him restructure.
    You'd Expect: The devil wouldn't screw over Summer, whose grandfather ruined him out of pettiness.
    Instead: He pulls a Mark Zuckerberg on her, cuts her out of the company, and doesn't let her earn any of the profits after they sell n333dful.com to Google.
    Predictably: Summer reconciles with Rick, teams up with him to become a strong bodybuilder, and beats the shit out of the Devil when he's giving a talk in Seattle, ruining his reputation.
  • On Summer's side, he is literary the Devil himself, she really should not have been surprised that he screwed her over.
• "Close Encounters of The Rick Kind": Evil Morty frames our Rick for murdering Ricks and kidnapping Mortys. It's unknown what his ultimate goal is, but he uses a brainwashed evil Rick to tell our Rick that he's going to download the latter's mind before killing his physical form.
  You'd Expect: He would do the same or something similar to our Morty or just hook him up to the Morty-blocking forcefield outside.
  Instead: He locks up Morty with a bunch of unused Mortys.
  The Result: Morty convinces his parallel selves to break out and rebel. This saves Rick from getting his brain uploaded into a computer and killed. We don't know if any of this was Evil Morty's plan all along but if it wasn't, he messed up.
  • You might also expect that Evil Morty will use all of the kidnapped Mortys for the forcefild, or if he can't use all of them, he would kill the unused ones or lock them so that they can't escape. He could tie them up, or lock them separately or something else that would make resistance futile.
    Instead: He doesn't, which is also a factor that leads to the thing mentioned above.
• "Ricksy Business"
  • Beth and Jerry are going on a vacation that will recreate the Titanic's epic sinking. Jerry is the enthusiastic one, while Beth wants to hole up in her room and read her book.
    You'd Expect: Jerry would just go alone and enjoy it. Beth is being a jerk but he ought to have known that she would dislike it.
    Instead: At Beth's encouragement, he takes one of the Titanic maids with him to act out the movie. The maid says she could get fired, but Jerry promises he won't tell anyone.
    The Result: It turns out the maid is a rapist who threatens Jerry at gunpoint; Beth has to save him. He could have avoided that if he had stayed alone.
  • Meanwhile, Rick is in charge of the house and the kids. Beth has seriously threatened that if the house is damaged then no more Rick and Morty adventures. Morty is thus upset when Rick's party wrecks the house and leads to several people getting killed. He spends the whole time yelling at Summer and Rick for their selfishness. Come morning, his parents are walking through the door.
    You'd Expect: Morty would just let Rick take the fall on this one. He expressly told Rick in the previous episode that he's more than a shield. A break from adventures would let him catch up on sleep and schoolwork.
    Instead: After an insightful talk with Birdperson about how Rick is a broken person, Morty decides to wake up a hungover Rick and lets him clean up his mess by stopping time.
    The Result: Two seasons later, Morty once again points out that Rick is an entitled asshole, only this time with Beth enabling him.
  • Summer wants to invite the cool kids to the party in order to gain more popularity. She tells this to Rick and Morty and Rick says this isn't good and that he himself just wants to get "riggity riggity wrecked", which means just to have fun. Summer doesn't change her mind and tells Rick: "keep you sci-fi friends away from my awseome friends.". Also, Summer knows an unpopular girl named Nancy from flute practice.
    You'd Think: That Summer would only invite the popular kids. Or if she won't stop at the popular kids, she would at least make sure not to invite someone who is or might be considered lame, like Nancy for instance.
    Or: Her to follow her grandpa's advice and only care about having fun.
    Or even: Her to drop the party. Her parents won't allow it and considering how chaotic and dangerous Rick can get it might get ugly.
    Instead: She invites a lot of people including Nancy.
    Result: While Summer talks to some cool girls, Nancy comes and tells Summer she didn't see her at flute practice. The popular girls are repulsed by Nancy and ask Summer if they are really friends.
    You'd Think: That Summer would give up and tell the truth. If she lies Nancy might use it against her. Maybe Summer would also realize she shouldn't join a group of jerks.
    Or: Summer would say that she only met Nancy at flute practice. She could also tell the other girls she didn't know they had something against Nancy and ask them why they don't like her.
    Instead: She says she "doesn't even know what Nancy is doing here.''
    Later: After some events the house ends up being teleported into another dimension. Rick tells his grandchildren they need to find some crystals from said dimension and that he himself will remain at the house, then sends Abradolf Lincler with Morty.
    You'd Think: That Summer will be more concerned about returning to their dimension than the party and that she will join Morty.
    Or: Her to simply stay without sending anyone in her place, nobody is forcing her to come.
    Or: Her to ask any of the guests if they want to join Morty on his journey.
    Instead: She sends Nancy in order to get rid of her.
    Result: After Morty and Nancy return from their journey with Abradolf Lincler being presumably dead, it turns out the crystals were drugs that Rick now uses to get high and that he could've send the house back without them the whole time. A last they return to their dimension and Squanchy, one of Rick's friends says the party will continue at his place. Summer wants to join in, but Squanchy rejects her because Nancy told him Summer is a bitch. Then Nancy herself calls Summer out in her face.

Season Two

• "A Rickle in Time"
  • After the events of the previous episode, Rick Summer and Morty keep the time frozen for almost 6 months in order to fix the mess in the house before Jerry and Beth can react. Mr. Benson fell from the roof before this happened and he was stuck in the air due to the time stopping. Summer gets the task to put a mattress under him so that he wouldn't get hurt.
    You'd Expect: Her to do this task. It's not hard and she wants to make a good impression on Rick, so she might succeed in that regard by doing her tasks. Besides, she is saving someone with minimal effort, she can get satisfaction from doing a good deed.
    Or She would try to get mr. Benson on the ground. If she has difficulties in that regard she could ask Morty or Rick for help.
    Instead: She doesn't. Mr. Benson falls and gets taken by an ambulance. After this Summer feels sad, but has the nerve to blame Morty, claiming that putting the mattress was his job. Then Rick makes it clear that it was in fact Summer's job and the siblings start an argument and push eachother. Because their time didn't adjust to the time of the rest of the world no longer being stopped it fractures the time of the trio and there are now 2 versions of them. It is shown to the audience by the screen being split into 2 halves each of them having a version of the trio doing different things at the same time from their counterparts. Also, in both of these versions the house is floating in a black space full with floating cats.
• "Mortynight Run"
  • Rick takes along Morty to drive and deliver deadly weapons. On the way, Morty has pangs of conscience on learning an assassin will use the weapons for a job and kill a random life form called the Fart.
    You'd Expect: Rick to explain to Morty that sometimes life isn't black and white, especially in a galaxy where species practice Blue-and-Orange Morality, and to keep a close eye on his grandson.
    Instead: Rick takes Morty to an arcade to spend the commission money on the weapon. He doesn't answer Morty's question and tries to distract him with a Lotus-Eater Machine videogame, before getting sucked in as well. This gives Morty the opportunity to slip away and try to foil the assassination. This leads to a lot of inconvenience for Rick.
  • Meanwhile Morty decides to do what he think is right and foil the assassination.
    You'd Expect: Morty would at least get more ammo backup or intel to go up against a professional killer, or even ask why the Fart was a target for assassination.
    Instead: Morty leaps into action and tries to foil the Fart's assassination with no precautions or intel. If not for Rick intervening to save him he would have been killed multiple times. Then Morty finds out the Fart hates organic life forms, and has to kill him anyway to save the galaxy.
  • Fart, who thinks all organic life is destructive and plans to annihilate it gets his life saved by Morty who along with his grandpa help him get to a portal that leads to his home. Fart is also able to read minds and finds out Morty thinks life needs to be protected and is selfless.
    You'd Expect: Him to give up trying to destroy all organic life since this would also mean destroying Morty, who is selfless, and maybe even think about the possibility of other organic life forms being like Morty and worth keeping alive.
    Or: If he won't change his mind, he is not going to tell Morty about his plan, to be sure the latter won't try to stop him.
    Instead: He tells Morty right to his face that he plans to kill the latter's kind. Because of this Morty kills him.
• "Total Rickall"
  • Rick reveals that alien parasites cling to travelers that don't practice basic hygiene.
    You'd Expect: The genius would have an automatic sterilization system.
    Instead: He doesn't. In fact, he squicks out his family members by revealing he doesn't wash his hands after returning from space travels.
    The Result: The parasites invade the Smiths' home and their minds, creating False Memories so that no one knows who is and isn't real. Thanks to the Mind Rape, the parasites convince Morty to turn on Rick and nearly execute him. Yes, this is all Rick's fault. Mr. Poopy Butthole is the Token Good Teammate who gets shot by Beth, and he refuses to talk to the Smiths while recovering.
  • Related to the above, Beth isn't blameless regarding Mr. Poopybutthole. After the family finds out that the parasites can only create good memories they minus Jerry kill the parasites. Beth realizes she doesn't have any bad memories with Mr. Poopybutthole, but everyone else doesn't mind him.
    You'd Expect: Her to think that maybe they have bad memories with him and to ask them if they do before she jumps into action.
    Instead: She shoots him at dinner with no second thought.
    The Result: The thing with Mr. Poopybutthole mentioned above happens.
  • In one of Summer's memories, while she was heading to a concert, her little brother, who remained home, decided to start jerking off.
    You'd Expect: Him to do it in his room or bathroom. Or at least lock the door of whatever room he decides to do it in.
    Instead: He does it in the kitchen, which apparently doesn't even have a door.
    Bonus Idiot Points: He also tells her he does it in every room of the house.
    The result: His sister sees him and calls him on it. Summer later kicks him in the groin when she figures out he's done it in her room.
  • In one of Beth's memories, she and her husband get attacked by a homeless man. Jerry manages to get into the car first.
    You'd Expect: Him to open the door for his wife.
    Instead: He keeps the door closed out of fear that the aggressor might get in and Beth has to run away.
• Get Schwifty
  • A race of planet-sized giant alien heads known as the Cromulons challenge Planet Earth to win at a musical reality show, in which the losing planets are blown to smithereens via a giant Wave-Motion Gun. Since all the musicians got killed at the Grammy's, Rick volunteers himself and Morty to compete. Morty does ask why Rick doesn't bring their family with them in case things go wrong, so they aren't abandoned again.
    You'd Expect: Rick would tell Morty something about not wanting to be distracted and saving a last-minute rescue for if things actually go wrong. Or, perhaps he'd say accurately that it would be a case of Too Many Cooks Spoil the Soup and that everyone would try to take over.
    Instead: Rick lies and says that the portal gun has low juice.
    Predictably: When Morty finds out Rick was lying, he gets furious about how Rick is willing to abandon another version of his family. He grabs the gun and tries to get back home, only to get lost while dimension-hopping. Birdperson has to save him and tell him to go back and help Rick. In this interim, Beth and Jerry are nearly executed for refusing the job offers from the new Headism Church.
  • Relating to the point above, Rick is a genius scientist who travels in space and through dimensions and already knows the facts mentioned above about the aliens. He also fought in a war and is generally willing to risk his life in order to prevent disasters or just to have fun.
    You'd Expect: Him to try to take down this alien race. He does have the president's and military's assistance and while their weapons aren't good enough, he can still become stronger with the help of those organisations. Besides, other planets are also unwillingly a competing for their lives. Rick could also travel to said planets in order to gain more forces. In fact, Rick could've done something about this race a long time ago and this would've been a really exciting adventure in it on itself.
    Instead: He chooses to take part to this competition risking everything and doesn't even take the song composing seriously.
  • Meanwhile, the Headism craze is taking over the Smiths' neighborhood. Summer becomes the most devout follower, and Principal Vagina rewards Beth and Jerry by offering them dream jobs. They're thrilled but uncomfortable that Summer has essentially become a cultist.
    You'd Expect: They'd keep their mouths shut, and that Beth would surreptitiously gather evidence about the heads to find out if they're real or not.
    Instead: They make a polite refusal saying that while Summer is behaving, it's not what they want.
    The Result: They nearly get executed.
  • While Rick and Morty themselves volunteer to "SHOW THEM WHAT THEY GOT", the US's top general meanwhile is planning to attack the Cromulons with nukes, and near the end of the episode, Rick and Morty appear to be pulling this off, much to the pleasing of the Cromulons. It is at this point that The President Of The United States tells the mission control to abort the attack, now that the the show is going as planned.
  • You'd Expect: That everyone including The General would have enough common sense to stand down and not do anything to ruin the show just as things are going right for them.
    Instead: The General ends up disobeying a direct order (again) from The President and slams his fist on the Big Red Button, launching the nukes at their enemy.
  • Speaking Of Which, You Might Also Expect: Given that the Cromulons use a giant wave motion gun to blow up losing planets, how about the military oh, I dunno, AIM THEIR FRIGGEN' MISSLES AT SAID WAVE MOTION GUN, destroying it before perhaps launching a second wave of missles at a more obvious weakspot of the Cromulons's faces (e.g. their eyes perhaps?)
    Instead: their nukes merely graze the lower chin of the Cromulon leader, prompting him to yell "BOO!!! NOT COOL" followed by "DISQUALIFIED!!! DISQUALIFIED!!!"
    The Result: Since their planet has been disqualified, the Cromulons get to aim and fire their Wave-Motion Gun to blow up Planet Earth. It is only when Ice-T has a change of heart about Rick, Morty and their people and blocks the wave motion beam to let them finish their song that the Cromulons ultimately declare their planet the winners and teleport their planet back to the solar system, sparing it's destruction.
  • After this, the General is in big trouble for disobeying the president. He approaches the President, Rick and Morty after the Earth is saved.
    You'd Expect: He would take a hostage or run for it.
    Or: He would surrender.
    Instead: He tries to kill Rick, who saved everyone's butts for some reason.
    Predictably: Rick shoots first and definitely kills him.
• "Big Trouble in Little Sanchez"
  • Beth and Jerry fight again so Rick tells them they should either fix their marriage or get a divorce. Jerry then says they went to couples' therapy, which didn't work. Rick tells them that earth therapy sucks and they should try one on a different planet and sends them there. The aliens from that center have a therapy that includes recreating the image one partner has about the other in order to show that they aren't always the monsters they consider each other to be. These aliens have very advanced technology that can create life from the patients' imagination.
    You'd Expect: Considering how destructive some imaginary creatures would be if they were real and that people who go to therapy are very likely to have really dark thoughts, they are not going to bring imaginary creatures to life, but instead represent them through holograms or as computer models or something similar and harmless.
    Instead: They use the technology that brings imaginary creatures to life.
    The Result: Beth and Jerry go to therapy and try this technology. Jerry imagines his wife as a similar monster to the ones from the movie "Alien" and Beth imagines him as a cowardly worm-like creature. Later the monster-Beth takes control over the worm-Jerry through intimidation and uses him to escape and endangers everyone. Then the therapist calls Jerry and Beth out, telling them their marriage is disastrous. He may be right, but he's the idiot who didn't expect something like this to happen.
• "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate"
  • The second freezer drawer belongs to Rick, who is a genius scientist.
    You'd Expect: Rick to not keep anything dangerous there. He could buy another freezer for his workplace or considering he's a TV Genius he could build another one. Or if he decides to keep anything dangerous in said drawer he would warn the other ones and maybe even lock it.
    You'd Also Expect Jerry to stay away from Rick's drawer. Knowing Rick he should expect the stuff there to be possibly dangerous, and even if he doesn't touch anything dangerous Rick would be pissed if he found out Jerry touched his stuff, which could have really bad results.
    Instead: Rick keeps a dangerous bacteria in a pint of ice cream which he puts in the drawer, without telling the others or locking it. Then Jerry eats the ice cream, contacts the bacteria and is sent to an hospital. Also, Beth gets mad at Rick and tells him the freezer drawer is no longer his.
  • After this Jerry gets cured and hears from a doctor that the galaxy's most influential civil rights leader, Shrimply Pibbles needs a heart transplant and that Jerry's penis could work as a replacement heart. Throughout the episode Jerry goes back and forth if he should donate his penis or not. Eventually, he finds evidence that Pibbles has been fighting with heroine addiction and tells this at a conference that was taking place at the hospital in order to ruin Pibbles' reputation and not look selfish for refusing to donate his penis. However, Jerry's plan backfires, because it turn out heroin comprised ten percent of the atmosphere of Pibbles' home planet—at least, before it was destroyed by Klargon death squads, which rendered him unable to breathe without heroin. The crowd still admires Pibbles, realizes what Jerry planned to do and boos him for it. Many aliens who saw the conference on television donate money to save Pibbles and not only do the doctors have enough for a prosthetic heart, but they also reveal that this is better than Jerry's organ. Jerry gets angry at them for not telling him this and calls them out on it, but the doctors don't care and Beth tells Jerry to leave.
    You'd Expect: Jerry to give up. As mentioned, the prosthetic heart is better than Jerry's organ, so Jerry refusing the donation was actually for the better. Not donating an organ does not make you an outright bad person and lets be honest, such a donation is weird so refusing to go through with it is understandable. Maybe Jerry would apologize for what he said about Pibbles and/or continue to call the doctors out.
    Instead: He decides to donate his penis by force. Jerry bursts into the operating room during the surgery with what he believes to be a pistol and demands the surgeons to take his penis.
    The Result: His family minus Rick sees him on TV doing this and enters the operating room in which two guards have already arrived. Beth tells Jerry that he isn't really holding a gun, but one of the highly advanced vibrators from the catalog.
    Even Worse: After this Jerry puts his pants down and still insists to donate his penis. The guards shoot him fifty-seven times. Luckily, the hospital fixes him and since it's very advanced it was "like getting a splinter removed", but all the trouble really wasn't worth it.
  • Even before all of this, Jerry had the option to decide whether to donate to Pibbles or not but had multiple opportunities to make a firm decision for himself.
    You'd Expect: Jerry would just say no to the doctors on donating when first notified about the situation and explain to the doctors on why it would not be an affordable option for him to donate. Jerry could have also suggested that the hospital hold a fundraiser to raise money for a synthetic heart or look for another possible donor who was human or alien. Jerry could have also asked why the doctors would not consider asking for an alien to be a donor given that some of the species very likely possess the same type of genitalia as humans.
    Instead: Jerry becomes indecisive about donating and then when the doctor allows Jerry to use his computer to jerk off, Jerry instead decides to violate Pibbles’ privacy by searching through his private medical records to find anything supposedly dirty and scandalous about him and then reveal that private information to the public in hopes of weaseling out of the donation.
  • The Doctors aren't entirely blameless either. As mentioned above, a synthetic heart would be a better than Jerry's penis. Also, there are countless aliens species at the hospital.
    You'd Expect: Since Nimbus is so popular they would raise a fundraiser for a prosthetic heart. They could still ask Jerry if he wants to donate in case the fundraiser does not work. Also, considering Jerry went back and forth on his decision multiple times, they could search for other potential donors. Actual hospitals search for multiple potential donors and even have registries with potential donors for different kinds of people long before an emergency happens.
    Instead: They rely solely on Jerry to donate, or at least they never tell him they considered other options and shame him when he hesitates to donate.
    The result: They have to deal with Jerry's indecisiveness and probably risked Pibbles’ life. Jerry also calls them out on it during the interview, which may or may not give them negative publicity.

• "Look Who's Purging Now"
  • Rick and Morty find themselves on a planet during the Purge, which is called the Festival. At Morty's insistence, they save a girl named Arthricia from getting raped. It turns out she's impressed by Rick's armory and spaceship.
    You'd Expect: She would ask Rick for help in taking down the rich who allow the Festival to continue. Rick said repeatedly that he enjoys the killing.
    Instead: She shoots Rick while lying about rescuing her grandmother, forces Morty out of the ship at gunpoint, and tries to fly it. This is a society that only has pitchforks and shotguns for weaponry. The ship itself requires some know-how and experience to maneuver.
    Predictably: Due to her lack of flying experience, Arthricia crashes. Rick and Morty catch up to her in Powered Armor, with Morty in a murderous rage for the betrayal and being on the lam for most of the night. Morty threatens to kill Arthricia as she begs for her life, and has to be stopped by Rick tasing him. Rick would normally be the one to deliver the Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves fate but is too disturbed by Morty's sudden bloodlust to do so; he gives Arthricia a break and helps her slaughter the rich. She only needed to ask.
  • Rick and Morty, find a lighthouse on which observation platform they want to assemble a beacon so that Rick can teleport weapons from his garage that they need. The owner of the house agrees to let them only if they listen to a story of his. They agree Morty to listen to the story while Rick assembles the machine. Morty listens to the story but is clearly bored by it. At the end the owner asks Morty if he finds anything wrong with the story. The boy tells him he finds nothing wrong, but the owner insists and claims he'll accept some criticism. This determines Morty to tell him politely that he disliked the beginning.
    You'd Expect: The story teller to not be offended by the criticism like he claimed he won't and maybe even consider re-writing that story. There is also the fact that he should be more concerned about the Purge than the story.
    Instead: He feels offended and tries to throw the pair out of his house. This angers Morty and ends up pushing the owner down the stair, which leads to his death.
• Wedding Squanchers
  • Tammy is a secret agent from the Intergalactic Federation who takes the fake identity of a high schooler in order to get into the freedom fighters' lives. She makes good friends with Summer, Rick's granddaughter, and becomes Birdperson's girlfriend, who is Rick's best friend. Rick is considered the most intelligent mammal by the federation and is probably their biggest threat. Tammy is assigned to squash the Resistance through Rick and Birdperson.
    You'd Expect: Tammy to use her connections in order to have direct contact with Rick and his allies and find as much as possible about them. The federation could use this information to set them in a trap in order to kill and arrest who they want discreetly.
    Instead: She agrees to marry Birdperson where all of his Resistance friends will be invited to a giant party.
    The Result: It turns out that Rick hates weddings! What's more, he tries to avoid going because he doesn't want to see Birdperson's life getting "ruined" in his words. Rick only goes when the invitation droid delivers Jerry to the wedding by accident and spends most of the occasion drinking and whining.
    You'd Then Expect: At the party, Tammy would maintain her cover and pretend to be arrested by the Federation as well. That's what Jake Peralta did in Brooklyn Nine Nine when he infiltrated the mob, after all, and only a few people suspected he was the mole.
    Instead: Tammy uncovers her identity at the Wedding resulting into a fight between the Federation and the freedom fighters. She also shoots Birdperson when he asks for an explanation.
    The Result: While Federation does manage to kill many of the fighters, they could've done it much easier without a fight. Also, Because Tammy showed her true colors Rick fought back and managed to escape with his family thanks to Squanchy Holding The Line. He later surrenders to them, which is all part of his plan to destroy them and wins in the first episode of season 3. Tammy's only consolation victory is she becomes the new ruler of the Federation and revives Birdperson as her robotic sidekick Phoenixperson.
  • Of course, there's also Rick's attitude. He manages to get the family out by stealing Tammy's space van but is without his portal gun or any weapons. Rick then tells everyone they're on the lam and will be tortured if they return to Earth. They have to settle for a planet where everything is proportionally smaller and the food they hunt becomes extinct from one meal. Rick vetoed the cob planet and no one likes the screaming sun.
    You'd Expect: Someone to point out that it's not like Rick to give up like this. They ought to ask if he can use other planets outside the Federation jurisdiction to get food and supplies to fight back. Heck, next season he manages to create a mecha body using only cockroach brains and rat limbs. He also hates people who betray him and has more than enough of a grudge against Tammy.
    Instead: Most of the family resigns themselves to living on the too-small planet. Jerry suggests turning in Rick and going home, and Rick overhears.
    The Result: Rick turns himself in, and the family miserably lives for a few months under the Galactic Federation's occupation of Earth. He does take down the government by bankrupting it and reveals he manipulated Beth and Jerry into divorcing out of spite towards Jerry.

Season Three

• "The Rickshank Redemption"
  • The Intergalactic Federation, who caught Rick in the prior season put him in a virtual reality in order to trick him that he's actually free. He later reveals to them that he discovered their trick.
    You'd Expect: Them to take any information that Rick gives them from that moment on with a pinch of salt, since he knows he is still in jail and might come up with an escaping plan. Not only that, but Rick created stuff with his mind in the simulation, so it's possible he will use this ability again.
    Instead: They take the codes that Rick wrote for granted and write them in their own system without any verification.
    The Result: They get a dangerous virus in their system, which leads to Rick switching bodies with an employee and the final result is the destruction of the federation.
  • The Council Of Ricks finds out that Rick C-137, who they themselves accused for breaking their law, has been arrested by the Intergalactic federation.
    You'd Expect: Them not to get involved into this. They want Rick dead, but it is not worth using their resources and soldiers to break into the prison to kill him. As long as he's there he can't make them any trouble. Plus, if the Federation decides to give Rick the capital punishment, somebody else will do their work.
    Alternatively: They would lie to Summer and Morty that they want to save Rick and make it look like a genuine rescue mission. That way there would be a chance to team up with Rick C-137 if possible in order to destroy the federation, or at least he would not hold a grudge against them. After freeing him from the federation they can kill him, and maybe make it look like an accident, so that his family won't hold a grudge against them either, or decide to give him another sentence than death, or leave him alone, or something else.
    Instead: They decide to go after Rick so they could kill him and make it obvious they want that. Rick C-137 manages to switch bodies with Ricks that are affiliated with the council and ends up destroying the Citadel.
    In Addition: They put all controls for moving the citadel in one room.
• "Rickmancing The Stone"
  • Rick finds out that a green stone in a post-apocalyptic world is a powerful energy source. Summer in the meantime is enjoying hanging with the leader of a motorcycle pack after she killed his predecessor. The stone is the center of worship for said pack.
    You'd Expect: Rick would let Summer in on the plan. Even if she disagrees on a matter of principle, he can simply portal gun her back to the Smiths' garage.
    Instead: He doesn't and lets her wander off with the guy as Morty expresses concern.
    Predictably: When he steals the stone, Summer hunts him down and refuses to come home. It takes several weeks of living with the leader after Rick gives them electricity for a few weeks to get her to agree.
  • Rick created robots after Summer and Morty and later himself as well to trick Beth that the family is actually with her while they are in an apocalyptic dimension. The robots clearly behave unnatural and different from the actual family members.
    You'd Expect: Beth to realize that something is odd about her dad and kids and to try to find out what.
    Instead: She either doesn't realize it or chooses to ignore it.
    The Result: Rick calmly shuts off the Morty bot when it gains sentience, and Beth's real family refuses to play with her.
  • Morty, still feeling uneasy about his parents' divorce and his dad's cowardice about it, gets one of his arms turned huge and muscular by Rick. Said arm also thinks on its own and Morty has to fight in an arena. He doesn't want to fight and even tries to convince his opponents to leave, but the arm kills them.
    You'd Expect: Him to keep his focus on the situation, since this and many others he's been through are far more serious than his parents getting divorce. It's also worth noting that his parents did fight a lot, so the divorce should have not been unexpected and the end of their fights would be a positive result.
    Instead: He loses it and begins scolding one of his opponents for what Jerry did.
• "Pickle Rick"
  • Beth has to take the family to therapy, due to Morty wetting himself in class and Summer being caught huffing enamel. Rick isn't keen and wants a way out of it.
    You'd Expect: He would make sure he has an excuse that doesn't leave him helpless, or blatantly telegraphs to his family that he is trying to get out of therapy.
    Or: Him to tell to their faces that he doesn't want to come. They can't force him and Rick is someone who does what he wants usually disregarding others' feelings.
    Instead: Rick turns himself into a pickle and expects Morty to be amazed. Morty then finds the Rube Goldberg Device that Rick has jury-rigged to deliver an anti-pickle serum, which is set to go off after the family leaves for therapy. Beth takes the syringe with the serum since Rick claims he doesn't know what's in the syringe, and takes it with her to Dr. Wong's office. Rick then undergoes a Humiliation Conga due to a stray cat knocking him onto the floor and rolling him into the sun. He finds himself having to go to therapy anyway to get the syringe from Beth.
  • Beth meanwhile is annoyed that her father would do such a thing at a bad time. Also that he would lie to her about the serum. Rick sarcastically suggests he can go into her purse.
    You'd Expect: Beth would realize her father is pulling a Batman Gambit to get out of therapy and take him along.
    Or at least: If she's going to let her pickle-father alone at home she would close the garage before leaving to protect him from any potential outside dangers.
    Instead: Beth only takes the syringe, leaving Rick in the open garage. As she finds out later, he could have died if he hadn't found a way to use cockroach and rat brains to move around and get to therapy.
  • At the therapy session, both Beth and Rick take issue with the fact that they have to be there, and they don't want to be. Beth only scheduled the appointment because the kids' school asked her to after the desk-wetting and enamel incidents. Dr. Wong isn't antagonistic since her job is to help the family mend, not pass judgment. Summer and Morty are able to make some progress with her, and Rick gets a gentle Kirk Summation about how therapy is just boring work, like brushing your teeth, for maintaining a family. Ultimately the choice is up to him in whether he'd be a Death Seeker for cheap thrills, or to choose maintenance. The same goes for Beth, who admires her father. Morty and Summer like the session and ask if they can see Dr. Wong again.
    You'd Expect: Beth would listen to the kids and take them to see Dr. Wong again. They aren't handling the divorce well and need more stability.
    Instead: Beth refuses to listen and mocks Dr. Wong in the car with Rick, never scheduling a followup appointment. This means for the rest of Season Three she's trying to please her father, often with tragic consequences.
• "Vindicators 3: The Return of Worldender"
  • The episode starts with Rick receiving a call to duty from the Vindicators, superheroes that defend the galaxy. Morty is excited but Rick doesn't want to pick up the call.
    You'd Expect: Morty would remember that Grandpa Rick likes corrupting everything that is sacred and turning him into a nihilist, because Rick wants to prove that he is the smartest guy in the world.
    Instead: He cashes in his ability to choose one in ten adventures to convince Rick that they should go on the mission.
    The Result: Rick exposes the Vindicators as petty, overpowered jerks due to a drunk blackout, and Morty's idealism is shattered. Again.
  • Then we have the Vindicators. It's revealed that they are a bunch of petty jerks, as Rick claimed, but they dislike him because Rick is outright obnoxious. With that said, they do make an effort to try and do their job and call Rick only when it's necessary.
    You'd Expect: The Vindicators would know how dangerous Rick is. This is the same man that just escaped prison and caused an economic crash. Supernova should lock Rick up or put a restraining bolt on him so he can't get up to any monkey business.
    Instead: They leave Rick and Morty to their own devices on the ship after giving them a room and coordinates for Worldender's location. Morty then accuses Rick of being jealous of the Vindicators.
    The Result: Rick gets blackout drunk due to his alcoholism and jealousy. While doing so he kills Worldender, sets up a series of death traps to expose the Vindicators as jerks, and gets most of them killed. He also nearly dies as a result because Supernova tries to strangle him. Supernova also strangles Morty after the latter disables most of the death traps since Morty has had to dismantle neutrino bombs "too many times". By the end of it, she's the only survivor and the Vindicators are no more.
  • Ghost Train and Supernova used to be a couple. He notices that she and Million Ants are flirting. They in the meantime are handling one of Rick's death traps, which is to just shoot a few three-pointers.
    You'd Expect: Ghost Train, Supernova and Million would remember to focus. They could die at any minute if they answer wrong or try to break Drunk Rick's rules.
    Instead: He interrogates them both about their potential infidelity. After some prodding, Supernova reveals that she and Million Ants did have an affair, and had a baby that died in the womb. She also angrily says that Million Ants is better in bed.
    The Result: A three-way scuffle ensues, and Million Ants unnecessarily murders Ghost Train. Even Rick is shocked that things went that way.
• "The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy"
  • Since Rick was responsible for breaking up Beth and Jerry's marriage, Jerry is understandably resentful towards his father-in-law with how his life has gone down the toilet. Morty asks Rick to take Jerry on an adventure so that Morty can get a break from the "nearly dying" shenanigans. Rick for what it's worth is genuinely sorry about what happened, even if he thinks that his daughter is better apart from her husband.
    You'd Expect: Rick would start off his adventure with Jerry with his apology, and tell him this is an ordinary adventure. That way Jerry would know that whatever happened, Rick doesn't hate him.
    Instead: Rick drags Jerry out of his apartment naked to go to the space resort. He then waits until they're on a ride to tell him. During this time an assassin wants to use Jerry to get revenge on Rick. Jerry, after Rick accidentally pushes his Berserk Button, very nearly goes through with the murder plot.
  • Groupon, who's the assistant manager of the location with an immortality field wants to get revenge on Rick by killing him. The location has a rollercoaster that has a part outside the immortality field.
    You'd Expect: Him to ask an employee to recommend the Whirly Dirly to Rick.
    Instead: He asks Jerry, who he just met, to take Rick to the Whirly Dirly.
  • Ethan broke up with Summer and started dating another girl with bigger boobs.
    You'd Expect: Summer to take some time to grieve the breakup and not to jump to the conclusion that it was solely for looks. She also dated other boys after starting dating Ethan, so she either cheated or they were in an on and off relationship. Either way, she shouldn't take any rash actions. She should also know better than using solely her looks to get into a relationship
    Instead: She freaks out, becomes obsessed with looks and uses one of her grandpa's inventions to grow her boobs.
  • When Summer was growing her boobs, at first it goes well, but then she wants more and doesn't succeed in making her tits the same size. Out of anger she puts a hand on front of the growing ray, which causes it to grow, then she falls on her knees, which causes the ray to make her body grow disproportionate.
    You'd Expect: Summer to go away from the damn thing and try to stop the machine, since she is still able to move.
    Instead: She stays right in front of the ray and becomes so huge that the whole garage gets full.
  • After the garage incident, Morty and Beth find out what happened to Summer. Morty wants to call Rick, but his mom wants to solve the problem by herself, because she wants to prove that she's capable and to impress her dad.
    You'd Expect: Her to put her ego and desire to impress her father aside and let Morty call Rick.
    Or: If she decides to solve the problem by herself, she will search for a function that clearly says "shrink". Or whatever function she wants to try to test it on something worthless, like a rock, before using it on Summer.
    Instead: Beth takes the problem into her own hands and tries the functions "normalize" and "reverse" directly on Summer despite Morty's protests.
    The result: She makes Summer's body proportionate again, then turns it inside out making her look like a titan.
  • After Beth tries the function "normalize" Summer's body becomes proportionate but remains huge.
    You'd Expect: Since Summer is huge she will use it to her advantage to stop her mom from using the machine anymore.
    Instead: She stays completely still, her mother accidentally turns her daughter inside out. Then, like the genius that she is, Summer leaves the place and tries to attack her ex along with his current girlfriend.
  • Morty asked Rick to go on an adventure with Jerry in order to get a free day. Except, it wasn't a free day at all. Summer messes up with her grandpa's stuff and Beth makes it worse. Morty manages to call Beth out early in the plot. At the end of the day, they manage to turn Summer back to normal.
    You'd Expect: Morty to call out Summer as well, since she ruined his day with her immaturity and he didn't have a problem with calling her out in the past.
    Instead: He gets revenge on Ethan, who did nothing wrong, by mutating him.
• "Rest and Ricklaxation"
  • "Clean" Morty ran away from home and started a stock company. Rick wants him to get his "toxic" part back and return home, so he asks Jessica to try to convince Morty herself, but she refuses at first.
    You'd expect: Rick to give up on Jessica and look for someone else to talk to Morty, like Summer or Beth, or to do it by himself.
    Or: To use his technology to catch "healthy" Morty and reunite him with his other part, without any talk.
    Instead: He insists on Jessica untill she gives up and she calls Morty asking him to return, but he refuses. ONLY AFTER THAT does Rick use his technology like mentioned earlier.
    In addition: When Rick goes to Morty's house in order to turn him to normal, he takes Jessica with him.
    As a result: Jessica admits that she only took part in this because of Rick's insistences and makes the latter look bad.
• "The Ricklantis Mixup"
  • Simple Rick’s Wafer Cookie Factory, a factory that keeps simple Rick prisoner, by keeping him asleep and tied to a chair in order to use a machine on him that makes him dream about nice memories with his daughter and extracts chemicals from his brain for the titular waffles. Rick J-22 is a factory worker there and is unsatisfied with his income and that he never gets promoted.
    You'd Expect: Him to search for another job or source of income .
    Instead: He takes over the factory by locking himself with simple Rick and uses him as a bait to get a promotion. Eventually he frees simple Rick and tries to send him through a portal, but it turns out the factory has some sort of barrier that kills everyone who tries to go through a portal which gets simple Rick killed. Then the boss of the factory offers him a promotion.
    You'd Then Expect: Rick J-22 to be suspicious about this. He just destroyed the factory's source of it's most important ingrediend and he did break the law, why would they want to promote him? Also, how good will business go after simple Rick's death?
    Instead: He falls for it, then they trap him in simple Rick's place and now he's the one trapped dreaming about getting a promotion, which is a lie, while the others use this to make profit.
  • Campaign Manager Morty has been fired from the Morty Party for being a Commander Contrarian about his boss Presidential Candidate Morty having a chance against Rick candidates. While he's Drowning My Sorrows and between jobs, a Detective Rick hands him an envelope of incriminating photographs that reveal Candidate Morty is an Evil Counterpart, specifically Evil Morty.
    You'd Expect: CM Morty to leak this revelation to the press.
    Instead: Campaign Manager Morty tries to shoot Candidate Morty, leading to the latter surviving and getting elected. If he had revealed it earlier, with photo evidence, he could have gotten more sympathy.He is captured and Thrown Out the Airlock before he can reveal the truth to anyone. Furthermore, he likely helped Candidate Morty win a close election, since he could parlay the whole "survived getting shot" thing.
    In Addition: He shot Evil Morty with his left hand while being right-handed. As the Rick soldiers tell him before executing him, Evil Morty survived the shot because CM Morty didn't aim right.
  • According to the businessmen Ricks, they've been running the Citadel long before the Council and don't think president Morty is the actual leader.
    You'd Expect: Them to hide their true nature from the president and to try to get on his good side, so that they can continue ruling the citadel. Maybe even try to manipulate him to do what they want, considering that according to them at least, the council were their puppets.
    Instead: Most of them tell him right to his face that he isn't really the leader.
    As a result: Evil Morty orders their execution. At least some of the Ricks at the meeting were smart enough to keep their mouths shut and didn't suffer any harm.
• "Morty's Mindblowers"
  • Rick reveals to Morty that he has performed Laser-Guided Amnesia on the latter regularly, so that Morty can live without the knowledge of how much he and his family has screwed up with interplanetary affairs. The memories are in glass bottles that are color-coded depending on who did the screw-up. Rick keeps his separate from Beth and Summer's, and he has erased Morty's mind for petty reasons.
    You'd Expect: He could at least hide his mindblowers more discreetly so that Morty wouldn't be asking what was in the bottles.
    Instead Rick keeps his mindblower screw-ups right next to the ones of Morty's screw-ups as well as those of his family. When Morty finds out his grandfather routinely wipes his mind to take out the Rick screw-ups, he attacks Rick and causes them both to lose their memories in the ensuing struggle.
  • In one of the memories Morty got controlled by a giant worm inside of him. Rick, Summer and Beth each tell him that they love him and as a result Morty regains control and the worm starts to get out of his mouth. Summer then asks if they should get the worm out, to which her grandpa replies that they should continue to tell the boy that they love him.
    You'd Expect: Them to continue saying "I love you" to Morty until the worm gets fully out, then catch it or kill it.
    Instead: They eventually get bored and change the subject, including making puns about the situation.
    The result: The worm starts crawling back, then the others return to saying "I love you" to get it out.
  • In another memory an alien overlord asks Rick to kill him, because he holds the belief that his species achieves a happy eternal afterlife if he gets killed by a warrior. Rick holds the same belief about the species afterlife and accepts to kill him, but they go get lunch first. After finishing eating Rick says he'll do the killing after going to the bathroom. While he's gone Morty and the alien have a conversation, from which the alien finds out that he has no reason to believe in mentioned afterlife, because there is actually no proof. Then Rick returns ready to kill.
    You'd Expect: Morty to tell his grandpa about the discussion and since the latter has such a high intellect and claimed the belief about the alien's afterlife to be true, to ask him about proof. Rick might be a sociopath, but he doesn't murder unless provoked or if it gives him benefit, which is not the case. Also, Rick usually doesn't mind being asked questions.
    Instead: Morty tells the alien to run and Rick follows him. Then the alien dies by being run over by car and it turns out the thing about the afterlife was true.
  • Rick and Morty find themselves in a world during sunset. Their ship is broken and Rick claims that after the sunset the world will become so cold that they will freeze.
    You'd Expect: Him to have already made preparations before the trip to protect himself and Morty from the cold.
    Or: He will use his portal gun to escape. Maybe the portal gun didn't work for whatever reason, but Rick should've anticipated this and brought a spare one.
    Instead: He cuts an animal open despite Morty's protests so that both of them can hide inside from the cold.
    In addition: It turns out they weren't in danger at all, because Rick mistook the planet they were on for another.
  • After Rick and Morty's fight their memories end up erased. Summer tranquilizes them and gets them most of their memories back, according to Rick's plan. Then she lies them on the couch, the interdimensional cable being on, and she gives them a substance to smell in order to wake them up.
    You'd Expect: After waking up Rick and Morty to ask Summer why she gave that substance for them to smell.
    Instead: They call her a bitch for not waking them up during interdimensional cable. They were planning to watch it at the beginning of the episode, at that time Summer wasn't with them, so as far as they know she might've not seen them sleeping until that point. Besides, they didn't plan to watch a particular program, so it's not like they missed a particular thing they badly wanted to see.
• "The ABCS Of Beth"
  • Beth with Rick's help tries to save her childhood friend Tommy on realizing he's trapped in her childhood "chicken coop," Froopy Land. Rick reveals he made the fantasy world to keep the neighborhood safe from her because Beth was apparently a Creepy Child.
    You'd Expect: Rick would have put in more food sources than a honey swamp.
    Alternatively: Rick would make sure that nobody stays trapped there.
    Instead: He doesn't take measures to keep people from being trapped and if you get trapped in Froopy Land, you only have honey, rivers in which you can't drown, and the innocent Froopyland creatures. Tommy was forced to rape the creatures and eat their offspring to survive. To be fair, Beth does call out Rick for this and says she could have easily starved as a child.
  • Eventually Beth has to return alone to Froopy Land because Rick refuses to help her on hearing she deliberately abandoned Tommy there to die. She tries to get Tommy return to Earth so that they can save his father from unjust execution, but Tommy refuses both because he didn't have hope of returning to the real world anymore and because Beth wasn't taking responsibility for ruining his life. He demands an apology for being pushed into a honey swamp before they go anywhere.
    You'd Expect: Beth would lie and apologize. She's being threatened at knife-point by dozens of monster-human children and her nickname in Froopy Land is "The Destroyer".
    Alternatively: She would point out that by choosing to stay there he is letting his innocent father die and that his parents are missing him as well as he is missing them. Saving ones life is more important than keeping grudges and they can focus on who wronged whom after saving his dad.
    Instead: Beth refuses to apologize to Tommy Limpet for "pushing him in honey" when she had actually stranded him in Froopyland, the pocket dimension her dad created for her, and trying to kill him. What's more, she calls him "Princess Incest" and belittles him fearing her for falling into honey. Tommy at that point had become The Caligula in Froopyland and had an army of his hybrid children who obey every command. When he realizes Beth isn't going to apologize, Tommy sets his children on her. Beth has to fight them and then clone Tommy with Rick's help to clear his father's name.
  • According to Rick, Beth had creepy tendencies when she was little and asked her dad to build dangerous stuff for her. Rick doesn't want Beth to cause any harm to others, because he doesn't want to pick up her mess.
    You'd Expect: Him to refuse to build her weapons or any other dangerous things.
    Instead: He builds what she asks for, then creates Froopy Land, a world to keep her in so that she won't cause trouble.
    Predictably: Beth causes a lot of trouble in the neighbourhood and presumably got Tommy stuck in Froopyland for years. As an adult Beth still has serious issues.
  • Jerry while reeling from his divorce encounters Kiara, an alien priestess, on a dating site. She's also dealing with a bad breakup.
    You'd Expect: They would both admit that they have just come out of a serious relationship and take things slow.
    Instead: The two get soul-bonded, with neither admitting they're on the rebound and want their exes to notice them. Jerry realizes he leaped in without thinking and tries to break up with Kiara, blaming his kids. She then nearly murders his children and injures him when he tries to escape her. Her ex then appears right when Jerry admits the truth and she starts to take the moral high ground, and he threatens Jerry's life for sending Kiara certain text messages. Rick has to murder Kiara's ex for the entire matter to end.
• "The Rickchurian Mortydate"
  • A janitor who went into some secret tunnels of the White House is attacked by a monster and the president asks Rick and Morty for help. Rick and Morty go alone into the tunnels and the creature turns out not to be a threat for them. Rick shoots it once and it runs away frightened into a hole in the walls. Rick and Morty are bored by how easy it is
    You'd Expect: Them to suck it up and finish the creature so that they can leave. Yes, they are bored, but the task isn't hard to accomplish and satisfying the president might bring them advantages in the future.
    Alternatively: Rick would tell the president that the creature is easy to get rid of and would give the government the weapons that they need to finish it off.
    Instead: They complain and leave through a portal. It turns out that they were caught on camera, the presidents sees them and starts a conflict with them.
  • After this, the President confronts Rick and Morty for bailing on him and lying about it. While Rick makes a legitimate point that they aren't attack dogs for alien stuff, the President counters their unspoken agreement is that Rick helps out once in a while to save the world and the government won't arrest them for the thousands of laws they break daily. They terminate their relationship, with the President warning them that he won't be looking the other way the next time they meet. Rick then starts brokering peace all over the world to spite the President and appears in the Oval Office demanding a selfie for Morty. The President orders him to leave because he doesn't want to see him and needs time to think about the do-gooding.
    You'd Expect: Rick would limit his activities to passive-aggressive do-gooder trolling and not go into Bullying a Dragon. He was legitimately surprised to see that the President had teleportation travel, and no matter how egotistical the man is, he's still giving them a chance to walk out peacefully without haranguing them or threatening their families. This is a world leader, after all.
    Instead: He allows several Secret Service Agents to kill themselves and then goes on the offensive when the President tells them to take him down.
    The Result: The President unleashes an army of tech on Rick that would kill an ordinary person and puts him on the ropes. While Rick wins their battle, he throws the fight when Morty leaves with the President announcing he's a wanted terrorist for murdering White House employees. Rick has to lie that he's hopped dimensions to get off the terrorist watch list, and implicitly promises to behave himself in government affairs.
  • Beth starts worrying that she is a clone, after the ending of the previous episode and realizing that she's not acting like the emotionally abusive Beth from before. She goes to Rick to ask for the truth. Rick tells her that questioning if she is or isn't a clone means that she probably isn't one, and she isn't a clone.
    You'd Expect: Rick would stop there. He in a twisted sense wants Beth's happiness, whichever Beth she is. Also if he's lying, it's one more tactic to gain control over Beth.
    Instead: After saying that she's not a clone, he offhandedly mentions that if she were the clone then he'd kill her once she became self-aware.
    Predictably: Beth freaks out and runs back to Jerry, the opposite of what Rick wanted. They reconcile, Morty is happy that his home life has become more stable, and Rick is deposed as the family patriarch, until at least the next season.
  • Of course the President and his men were hardly being sensible. When The President orders an Agent to arrest Rick, the latter warns him that he will die if he touches him.
    You'd Expect: Given that Rick is essentially a Physical God, they would not challenge this.
    Instead: The Agent touches Rick...
    The Result: ...and drops dead instantly.
  • After seeing this, the President refuses to let Rick leave, even though Rick has proven that he can escape at any time. The General has all the Agents train their guns on him. Rick even helpfully shows them their targets.
    You'd Expect: The President and General to realize that if Rick has a deterrent against being touched, he probably has one for being shot at.
    Instead: They open fire on the General's command.
    The Result: The bullets ricochet of Rick's invisible shield and kill even more Agents. Rick even Lampshades how dumb they are for trying that.

Season Four

• "Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat":
  • Rick needs Morty's help in harvesting Death Crystals. Beth makes Rick ask Morty politely so as to set boundaries and tells Rick in no uncertain terms that if Morty is traumatized, no more adventures. Rick explains that Death Crystals can show how you die, and they're black market diamonds for people that aspire to live forever. Morty sees his own death reflected in various timelines, and only one shows him growing old, with Jessica saying she loves him. The crystal tells him to drive the ship, and he does so erratically.
    You'd Expect: Rick the genius would tell Morty they'll both die if he keeps driving this terribly after Morty explains the situation. Or Taze the kid and take control of the wheel afterward.
    Instead: He tries to wrestle for the steering wheel.
    Predictably: The spaceship crashes, ejecting Rick. Several rocks impale him.
  • Beth and Jerry find out about the episode's shenanigans from television. They start calling out Rick for letting Morty go Akira, until Morty says that this time it was his own stupidity.
    You'd Expect: They would take Morty to Dr. Wong, since Beth and Jerry have been seeing her regularly, or at least ask what the hell happened.
    Instead: Beth lets them off the hook after getting Morty's word that things are okay.
    The Result: The pair happily gloat about going on more adventures.
• "One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty":
  • Rick is annoyed by how Morty is obsessed with a heist script and has missed several adventures because of it. Morty has a meeting with several Netflix executives, with Summer mentioning that several of her friends have deals with the company. So Rick decides to break Morty's spirit and belief in the dream of becoming a Netflix screenwriter.
    You'd Expect: Rick would make Morty write the script in one night— many writers can tell you it makes them swear off doing a rush job— or use time travel to pause things as he did in season one so Morty can finish the script and get on with adventuring. We find out that Morty is terrible at pitching, and this is his first script, so it's probably going to be a disaster. In fact, the executives are giving him dubious looks as he starts stuttering over the idea and he can't even describe a plot in one sentence.
    Instead: Rick does a convoluted heist that mimics Morty's screenplay, so as to break his grandson's spirit and emphasize that his idea is stupid.
    The Result: Rick goes My God, What Have I Done? when his scheme leads to a heisting nemesis getting torn apart, and he also commits planetary genocide indirectly. He also has to apologize when Mr. Poopy Butthole, who has decided to let Rick back into his life, gets fired from his college job due to the whole scheme. (Note that this guy is one of the few beings whom Rick likes and the asshole just sabotaged him For the Lulz.) Their friendship is severed, and Mr. Poopy Butthole walks away after they help restore the planet.
  • Beth overhears Rick grousing about Morty spending his time screenwriting rather than serving as his sidekick. She goes to confront him about wanting to manipulate her son.
    You'd Expect: She would point out to Rick that Life Isn't Fair and he can suck it up for a few weeks while Morty tries at something impossible. After all, as Beth can astutely put it, Rick leaving her lead to her dreams dying. She can also saltily mention that if this is such an inconvenience to Rick, he can clone Morty and use that for adventuring since that's what he offered to her.
    Instead: She forbids Rick from ruining Morty's dreams and says only life should disillusion him.
    The Result: Rick gets a "Eureka!" Moment and Exact Words. So he technically doesn't disillusion Morty and throws himself into a heist. Instead, he creates a scenario where the planet being stolen and "life" ends up making Morty believe that heist stories are stupid where nothing actually happens onscreen.
• "Rattlestar Ricklactica":
  • Morty accidentally kills a snake that's an astronaut from another world. He worries about having doomed their race.
    You'd Expect: He would pull a Rick and leave it alone. Astronauts die all the time on missions.
    Instead: He buys a similar snake from the pet store and forces it to launch into space.
    The Result: The snake astronauts are aliens, not Earth snakes, and they can tell this female is not one of theirs. After they translate for her and one of the snake scientists falls in love with her, chaos ensues. A Terminator parody occurs where two time-traveling factions of snakes decide to travel to Earth to either kill the Smiths or save them. Rick of course rightly tells off Morty for being so stupid in showing the snakes that smarter beings were out there. He has to get the Time Cops to stop the entire adventure.
  • Meanwhile Jerry ends up floating thanks to Rick making him light enough to put on the Christmas lights and Jerry losing a shoe that keeps him down. He refuses Rick's help after ending up in the sky, and tethers himself to the ground with a rock.
    You'd Expect: Jerry would call for an Uber on his phone or walk home.
    Instead: He walks into a bar, asking for Sprite and an Uber driver. From drinking patrons. The bartender tells him no rocks allowed so he should put it down, and the other patrons bully him about it.
    You'd Then Expect: Jerry would go outside, stay on the porch, and either use his phone to get an Uber or ask someone to call one for him.
    Instead: He puts down the rock.
    Predictably: Jerry floats and nearly slices himself on the bar ceiling fans. The patrons then kick him out without the rock, and when the float limit wears off, he's forced to cling to a plane to not die. Jerry then accidentally causes the plane to crash for reasons.
• "Never Ricking Morty":
  • Rick realizes that he and Morty are trapped on a meta-train. The conductor who says "tickets please" attacks them. Rick aims a gun at the "tickets please" guy.
    You'd Expect: That Rick would keep his distance since he has a ranged weapon.
    Instead: He moves within melee-range of the "tickets please" guy, resulting in Rick getting physically attacked and ending up with a broken shin.
  • Storylord manages to kidnap Rick and Morty, using their essence to burn them out and produce the best story possible. He sets an army of Meeseeks on them, as well as a Combat Pragmatist evil Morty who sets his own army on them with a Psychotic Smirk. It's unknown what history that evil Morty and Rick have, only that this Morty sought to frame Rick for interdimensional murder and fry his brain after extracting all his memories, while saying, "Ricks don't care about Mortys." It's implied from Rick's expression that he recognizes Evil Morty, but the truth remains ambiguous.
    You'd Expect: Rick would recognize the Citadel logos at least, and go Oh, Crap! on realizing that the Citadel isn't as destroyed as he may have wished. He should probably make a note of this development, maybe even zap himself with the memory gun before he and our Morty make their getaway so as to have a clear memory of what happened to review later. Rick may be suicidal and impulsive, but he likes having a contingency plan.
    Instead: After angering Storylord into entering the Lotus-Eater Machine world to criticize them —Rick tells Morty they need to pray for Jesus Christ to save them because an Out-of-Character Moment will depower the train— Rick simply focuses on making his getaway while fictional Jesus takes on Storylord.
    The Result: The Greatest Story Never Told ensues. Rick and Morty escape the train and end up in a Mind Screw where they were inside a toy from the Citadel the whole time. Morty is confused by how this adventure technically never happened since usually there is some evidence of trauma, and all he did was tell a story that broke the train. To compound on this, Rick says they need to go buy another toy train from the same gift shop to support the economy rather than return the toy and get a refund. So Rick doesn't care that the Citadel will be gunning for him, with an unknown plan.
• "The Vat Of Acid Episode": Rick has a fake vat of acid for emergencies. He and Morty use it to escape alien mobsters.
  You'd Expect: Morty would have learned by this point not to question Rick, or calmly explain it to Rick why he thinks it's a bad idea. His grandfather is emotionally abusive and petty, who will destroy his grandson and the universe for kicks.
  Instead: He says the vat of acid is a ridiculous invention to have from a genius scientist.
  Predictably: Rick as punishment gives Morty a remote that seemingly provides do-overs and resets. He only reveals later that Morty was automatically killing his parallel selves and taking their place, and all of Morty's actions come back to haunt him. He ends up having to use the vat of acid to escape an angry mob.
• "Star Mort Rickturn Of The Jerri":
  • It's revealed that Beth asked Rick to decide if she should be cloned or not to pursue her dreams and if he wanted her to leave. Rick decided to clone her so that one could go into space and find herself.
    You'd Expect: He would keep a record of which Beth is the real one, as insurance. Honesty Is the Best Policy since he said he'd kill the clone for being self-aware.
    Or: Him to decide not to clone her. This is Rick we're talking about, he can take a third option and use his genius to come up with another solution. Or take back what he said about therapy at the beginning of the third season and tell Beth to go there.
    Or: Him to refuse to take this decision for Beth. It's her life and she should be the one who decides.
    Instead: He goes on with his decision to clone Beth and randomizes which Beth is the one going out to space and which one stays home. Then he wipes his mind so that he'll never find out.
    Predictably: Both Beths call him out when the space one returns. They decide to take the family and leave Rick, who is left with a Jerkass Realization when he reviews his memory.
    • Beth isn't blameless either. She asked her father to make the decision after she realized how destructive he truly is. She could've chose a third option herself like mentioned above, or chose to stay, or take some time to think since there was no hurry.
  • Special mention goes to Tammy. Long story short, she along with other agents manage to capture the Beths right in front of Rick and Jerry. To save his daughters, Rick gives himself in, no tricks this time.
    You'd Expect: Tammy to kill Rick on the spot.
    Or: Take him hostage, but this time be more careful so that he won't escape.
    Instead: Because she believes that Rick isn't a thread as long as he doesn't get provoked, even though he made it pretty clear that he did get provoked by trying to sacrifice himself for the Beths, she refuses his offer and wastes time by explaining him the reason why then asks him to use one of his dimension travel devices.
    Predictably: Rick refuses to follow her order, then she proceeds to shoot him because he resisted, but isn't able to, because Summer - who's invisible - takes her gun and gives it to Jerry. Rick manages to take Tammy prisoner and tells everyone to drop their guns.
    You'd Then Expect: Jerry to keep the gun and maybe even use it threaten Tammy or to shoot other agents.
    Alternatively: He would hand the gun to Rick.
    Instead: He drops it, which infuriates Rick. They did get away unharmed, due to Morty arriving with a space ship and shooting most agents with it and Rick shooting Tammy in the head with Summer's help, but it was still idiotic on Jerry's part.

Season Five

• "Mort Dinner Rick Andre"
  •  So apparently Rick has an archnemesis! His name is Mr. Nimbus and he controls the ocean. We find out he's a Not-So-Harmless Villain that can enact mind control on others with his magic shell. Rick is uncharacteristically scared of the guy and has called a truce, or treaty rather.
    You'd Expect: He would have told his family about this guy, and warn Morty to never "touch" the ocean.
    Instead: Rick doesn't. Morty has to do an emergency landing in the ocean to save them from death crystals mining (again). When Rick yells at Morty, Morty retorts that Rick is being an Ungrateful Bastard since his grandson rescued him and that Rick never told him about the guy.
    The Result: Mr. Nimbus invites himself to dinner to discuss the treaty. 
  • Following this, Rick knows that Mr. Nimbus is a heavy drinker. He needs wine, for the guy to drink half the bottle and toss it against the wall.
    You'd Expect: He would get several cases from the store in advance. Rick knows liquor like nobody's business and given how much he drinks he can get a bulk discount.
    Instead: Rick orders Morty to get wine from a Narnia-like dimension while exploiting Narnia Time to ferment it. He says it's the least Morty can do since Morty accidentally landed him in this position.
    The Result: Hilarity Ensues when Morty needs help from a resident named Hoovy, and Hoovy starts the Cycle of Revenge when Narnia Time means he comes back to his dimension, finding his wife dead and his children vengeful. To top it all off, the fight across dimensions ruins Morty's date with Jessica who gets caught in the crossfire. She gently says they should probably be friends because she can't handle this amount of science-fiction nonsense. 
  • Speaking of said date, all Morty wants to do is hang out with Jessica and watch a movie with her. She comes just after Mr. Nimbus sends the police running, and is concerned.
    You'd Expect: For Morty to know that the situation is no longer "normal" and tell Jessica to come back another time and they'll raincheck. Things get weird in these kinds of scenarios. After seeing what just happened with the police, she would no doubt understand.
    Alternatively: Morty would host the date in another place because he knows This Is Gonna Suck given his expression. Say if he suggests they watch movies at her house, go to the movie theater (assuming this is pre-pandemic), or even borrow the spaceship to give her a tour of the stars. Anywhere but the house would be a good idea.
    Instead: He invites her inside, warning everyone including Mr. Nimbus to be on their best behavior.
    The Result: Thanks to Morty trying to get extra wine for Jessica, she ends up turned off when his battle with Hoovy's children leaves her imprisoned in another dimension for decades.
  • Summer is put on sabotage duty to grab Mr. Nimbus's shell. She has to go to the Marianas Trench and fight all the sea creatures guarding it so that Rick has an edge over his archnemesis. Summer handles this task with ease, much to Rick's delight as he watches the carnage over a video player as he listens to Mr. Nimbus's terms. It turns out the shell needs to be destroyed to depower Mr. Nimbus.
    You'd Expect: Rick would give Summer a remote rendezvous point and tell her the shell needs to be destroyed. Or have her destroy the shell as part of her mission.
    Instead: He only told her to go and steal the shell. While Rick gave her the firepower to complete the job, he wasn't completely honest about the intel.
    Predictably: Summer returns to the Smith household with the shell, having slaughtered a few of Mr. Nimbus's subjects to get the object, and reveals to Rick that the mission is accomplished. She arrives just as Mr. Nimbus and Rick have reached an understanding and have renewed the treaty, which destroys all the goodwill they built. When Rick tells Summer she was supposed to destroy the shell, she retorts that he just told her to get in, steal it, and get out. A fight ensues and Mr. Nimbus has Rick arrested. To top it all off, he points out that Rick has no honor, and his late wife would be disappointed if she saw the man her husband had become.   
• "A Rickconvenient Mort": 
  • Morty falls for a superhero named Planetina, who has been active since the 1990s. The Tina-teers can summon her with rings, but have grown cynical and apathetic about saving the planet after trying to do so for thirty years. In fact, they plan to sell her off to an interested bidder.
    You'd Expect: They would keep this plan quiet.
    Instead: They tell Morty, her new boyfriend, and capture him. The Tina-teers assume that just because Morty is a naive teenager that he isn't a threat.
    The Result: Mugging the Monster ensues; Morty in a Roaring Rampage of Revenge that would make Rick proud frees himself, slaughters the Tina-Teers as well as the interested buyer, and saves Planetina.
    To be fair: Morty is no ordinary teen, but one who has Seen It All and has some fighting experience and they probably didn't know that. Also, they did manage to tie Morty up and almost kill him. But even if Morty had no chance against them it still would've been much easier to just keep their mouth shuts so that they won't have to hide their actions.
  • Beth and Jerry become concerned about Morty's growing relationship with Planetina. There are several legitimate reasons for this: Planetina is implied to be in her thirties and Morty is a minor, that she's a superpowered being and he's a human boy, and he just had a Bad Date but a normal one with Jessica. Morty wants Planetina to move in with them, and springs the concept on his parents when inviting her over to meet the Smiths.
    You'd Expect: After hosting Planetina for dinner, they could let her stay the night at least. Then Beth would bring up these concerns after the event, in private with Morty. She could relate her experiences of having fallen in love too young, and that she wants to make sure the power dynamic is equal. After all, the relationship can be construed as statutory rape, getting both Morty and Planetina in trouble with the law. Which, it ends up being that Morty has more power in the relationship than anyone thinks, but it's a legitimate point that Planetina could be grooming him.
    Or: If they are too scared to let her stay, which is understandable considering her power, they could find another place for her to stay for the night, like a motel or hotel and then have the mentioned conversation with Morty.
    Instead: They kick Planetina out when Morty innocently invites her to stay, and she has nowhere to go.
    The Result: Morty rightly calls out his parents for treating him like he doesn't know any better because he's not some dumb kid. His whole family has spent his life belittling him and ignoring his wants. Beth has no retort, and all she can do is comfort Morty after he's forced to break up with Planetina when she goes on a rampage and he can't abide her killing innocent people.  

• "Rickdependance Spray"
  • After his breakup with Planetina, Morty is in a funk, to put it mildly. He starts acting erratically and talks like Grandpa Rick, that nothing matters and he's not going to change,
    You'd Expect: The Smiths to keep an eye on Morty to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid, and keep up their Character Development this season about making a better effort as a family. He's a little violent when his love interests are threatened, something that Jerry noted. It'd be too out-of-character for them to treat him to ice cream or a rebound date, but they can at least be pragmatic.
    Instead: They all miss that Morty has been using one of Beth's horse sex tools to masturbate away his breakup grief. When Rick needs the horse sperm in a scheme to stop a feud with aliens, Morty is able to cover up for a while that said sperm is contaminated.
    The Result: Monster sperm emerge that force the CHUDs and humans into an Enemy Mine when the mutants learn how to use bombs. Rick is squicked out about Morty's actions and angry that he lied about it, but in a Pet the Dog moment tells Morty that he isn't a monster doomed to stay the same as a screwup. On the contrary, Rick says he's angry because he knows that people are capable of change, and he knows Morty can do better. While this doesn't solve the problem of the invasion, it ends up being the advice that Morty needs.
• "Rick And Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular": The President has maintained a fragile truce with Rick following the season 3 finale. Rick and Morty then botch it when during a heist to steal the Constitution, Morty causes property damage and awakens a giant murder robot hidden inside the Statue of Liberty. It's implied Rick timed the heist on Thanksgiving because nearly every year, he turns himself into a turkey and scams a pardon out of the President. The only thing is the President knows how to treat Rick like a threat. He appropriately sends a SWAT team after the Smith household, asking Rick and Morty to surrender before the soldiers are forced to invade. Rick grouses to Morty that it's turkey time, literally, as Jerry states they would have avoided this if they had gone to Thanksgiving at his parent's house.
  You'd Expect: The President would cancel the pardon, explaining that it's a state of national emergency and New York is more important than if one bird is alive. Rick can do squat if he and Morty are sent to a slaughterhouse.
  Instead: He reverse-engineers Rick's turkey transformation technology and coerces a specialized marine team to infiltrate the turkey farms and stop Rick. Much to Rick's shock, the President then enters the fray personally, recognizes Rick and Morty in turkey form, and actually can match the scientist blow for blow.
  The Result: Hilarity Ensues, and thanks to the Gambit Pileup, a random turkey is mistaken for the president and turned back. He ends up solving the New York crisis...by selling New York to France in exchange for them calling off the mecha, and bribing Congress with the new funds to go along with everything he says, to the point that they turn on the real President. Before the President can even point out how stupid this is, the Turkey President reveals he turned several turkeys into his enforcers. The real president is forced into an Enemy Mine with Rick and Morty when they're sent away to be executed, and the Vice-President forces him to admit that this rivalry is stupid and wasteful, so please deal with the fucking robot already.
• "Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion"
  • Morty is put in charge as Rick's Morality Chain when Rick reclaims the GoTron pieces. Summer and Rick are not thrilled about this, since that curbs adventures.
    You'd Expect: Summer to know that Rick favors neither her nor Morty more by this point. She may not be the same Summer that Rick gave a "The Reason You Suck" Speech to back in season two, but this same Rick yelled at her for following his orders to the detail in "Mort Dinner Rick Andre".
    Instead: She undermines Morty and encourages Rick to ignore his inhibitions to get his attention.
    The Result: The rest of the episode happens when Rick commandeers the GoTron pieces, and the pilots want them back. To make matters worse, they plan to murder the Smiths to retrieve the GoTron and ask for Morty's help. Morty refuses but Summer uses it as an excuse to fire him.
  • Rick has reverted to some of his worst behavior, letting Summer fire all of the Smiths for petty infractions, and then firing her for a similar one. He gets in trouble with Kendra and the surviving GoTron pilots. The Smiths decide to save him because as Morty points out, Rick is an asshole but he is family.
    You'd Expect: Given the boundaries that the family has been setting, once the dust has been settled that they confront Rick about how his big ego caused him to set aside his family for glory and profit, and tell off Summer that her bonding with Naruto Smith was no excuse for her actions in this episode. Morty has been firm about setting limits with Rick, and Beth called him out for the "duplicate" plot. While Morty forgives Summer for her bitchiness and Toxic Friend Influence, she needs a lecture about how her need to bond with a family member nearly got them all killed.
    Instead: All is well that ends well, and Rick doesn't learn a damn thing. Neither does Summer.
    The Result: As Morty points out, they're living with the trauma of what happened, but it's another day for the Smiths as they lock down from repeated bug invasions. The only benefit that comes out of this is that Naruto saves his family, and he's free in space. Rick himself realizes that this is a toxic dynamic in a later episode, trying to make a clean break for his and Morty's mutual health. Evil Morty implies that it's because all Mortys are conditioned to have faith in their Ricks, but it's still not an excuse.

Season Six

• "Solaricks"
  • Rick has kept an Adorable Abomination named Mr. Frundles as a pet, who although is cute, is immensely dangerous.
    You'd Expect: Rick to keep it sealed up, or even in a pocket dimension, which Rick does for kicks, thus ensuring no one in his family would be able to release it.
    Instead: Rick keeps it in his garage with a container which could be easily opened.
    As A Result: Season 2 Jerry ends up releasing Mr. Frundles after being fed up with Rick's antics, not knowing what it is. It then converts Jerry and the entire house in seconds, and then the entire planet as well, leaving it unhabitable for life, causing the Smith-Sanchez family to literally run for their lives and ditching their dimension for a new one.

Season Seven

• "That's Amorte"
  • Morty finds out that the "spaghetti" Rick has been serving to the family every spaghetti night is harvested from people who commit suicide, walking on him as he's gathering it.
    You'd Expect: For Rick to shut the door and not let Morty in until he's done gathering the spaghetti.
    You'd Also Expect: For Rick to erase Morty's memories about the encounter, either using the mind-blowers or his "Men in Black thing" that he tried to use on a doctor later.
    However: Morty would understandably get suspicious at what Rick is hiding behind the door and keep bothering him about it.
    Also However: The mind eraser Rick accidentally uses on himself not only erases every memory from his head, but also very basic knowledge like what the Sun is, so it's probably not the best device to use.
    Instead: Rick shows Morty the planet where the spaghetti is gathered.
    As a Result: Morty learns the name of a person who committed suicide and reveals to everyone that they treat the substance people turn into after killing themselves as food, leading to the president of the planet asking if they could legalize suicide for their gains. Nothing goes well.

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