Rick's Per Morty

The next season of Rick And Morty won't start till late this year. Until then, let's look at this list at Collider ranking all 31 episodes.

If you don't know the show, this will mean little, but even if you know the show, you may not be entirely familiar with the titles--if so, click on the link.  I've included a number after the title to indicate which season the episode comes from.

31. "Pilot" (1)
30. "Something Ricked This Way Comes" (1)
29. "Raising Gazopazorp" (1)
28. "Lawnmower Dog"(1)
27. "Ricksy Business" (1)
26. "Look Who's Purging Now" (2)
25. "Anatomy Park" (1)
24. "Get Schwifty" (2)
23. "The Rickchurian Mortydate" (3)
22. "Big Trouble In Little Sanchez" (2)
21. "A Rickle In Time" (2)

20. "Rixty Minutes" (1)
19. "Rickmancing The Stone" (3)
18. "Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate" (2)
17. "The ABCs Of Beth" (3)
16. "M. Night Shyam-Aliens!" (1)
15. "The Whirley Dirly Conspiracy" (3)
14. "Rick Potion #9" (1)
13. "Close Rick-Counters Of The Rick Kind" (1)
12. "The Wedding Squanchers" (2)
11. "Rest And Ricklaxation" (3)

10. "The Ricks Must Be Crazy" (2)
9.   "The Rickshank Redemption" (3)
8.   "Meeseeks And Destroy" (1)
7.   "Vindicators 3: The Return Of Worldender" (3)
6.   "Auto Erotic Assimilation" (2)
5.   "Mortynight Run" (2)
4.   "The Ricklantis Mixup" (3)
3.   "Morty's Mind Blowers" (3)
2.   "Total Rickall" (2)
1.   "Pickle Rick" (3)

I usually put up these lists to criticize them, but I must say this one is pretty good.

Looking it over, I'm reminded of the high quality of the show.  There's not a single bad episode, and even those in the bottom ten are pretty good. In fact, "Something Ricked This Way Comes" is quite good--ranked too low--as is "Look Who's Purging Now."

Also, the show has improved each season as the writers figure out how to come up with imaginative plots that offer plenty of laughs but also explore the characters.  Thus, the bottom five are from the first season, while three are the top four are from the latest season.

I have a few quibbles.  I think the worst episodes are the ones that feature mostly stray jokes and don't work that well in adding to the overall arc.  In particular, the two that deal with interdimensional cable at 20 and 18. They're not ranked high, but they should be even lower. (On the other hand, "Morty's Mind Blowers" took this scattershot approach and folded it into the arc quite well--maybe not #3 well, but probably top ten.)

Worse is the high ranking of "The Ricklantis Mixup." The story takes us away from the main story and brings us into the Citadel, where we get a lots of characters, but no plot worth caring about.  Should be in the bottom five.

I also disagree with "Pickle Rick" at the top.  It's a fine episode--stripping Rick of everything to see how he manages, not to mention delving into the psychological dynamic of the family.  But #1?  Top ten I could see.

And with "Pickle Rick" demoted, "Total Rickall" would take its proper place at the top.  It's one of those special episodes--like "Remedial Chaos Theory" from an earlier Dan Harmon show (Community)--that features a great concept perfectly executed which sets it apart from (and above) the rest of the show.