Rick and Morty: The Best Episodes From Seasons 1-6

Rick and Morty will soon be coming back to Adult Swim with Season 7 of the long running animated series, so now it's the best time to look back and highlight some of the best episodes from throughout the seasons so far! Rick and Morty Season 7 is going to be a dramatically different kind of experience from everything that has come before for some pretty big reasons behind the scenes, but in also the way each of the episodes are crafted now. With more attention paid to its serialized storytelling together with the episodic adventures, each season has advanced the series in many ways. 

In celebration of the recent release of Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-6 on Blu-ray, and the upcoming premiere of Rick and Morty Season 7 on Adult Swim on October 15th, here are the best episodes of each of the seasons so far. There are too many potential contenders for each given season, so the best way is to just highlight the particular best release for each batch of episodes to truly make the best of the best stand out, Read on for our picks for the best Rick and Morty episodes so far. 

Rick and Morty Seasons 1-6 Best Episodes

Rick and Morty Season 1

Episode 8, "Rixty Minutes"

Rick and Morty's first season seems rather meek when compared to how much the series has changed in the years since. While it still has plenty of wacky situations, the first and best indication of the much wilder direction the series would take from then on was "Rixty Minutes." This was the first Inter-Dimensional Cable special, and really got attention with its improvisational humor. This type of humor would go on to dominate the later seasons (for better or worse), but it really did make for the big stand out of the first season overall. 

Rick and Morty Season 2

Episode 4, "Total Rickall"

A strong example of the looser and wilder tone that we would see in Rick and Morty from now on was "Total Rickall." This episode continues to stand out as one of the best overall because not does its central premise make for a strong science-fiction hook as parasites creep into the Smith Family's memories, it plays on sitcom tropes by making fun of clip shows, random new characters, and more while even showcasing more of the Smith Family's complicated past with one another. To this day, there are few Rick and Morty episodes that have a better balance of everything. 

Rick and Morty Season 3

Episode 7, "The Ricklantis Mixup"

"The Ricklantis Mixup" is sort of where Rick and Morty became the huge franchise it's known as today. While there were more story based episodes before and after this, "The Ricklantis Mixup" was one of the first indications that there were plans for a much longer serialized story in place. This led to a further expansion on Evil Morty (leading to fans asking for much more of the villain for several years after), and also showcased that the series could use its multiverse to tell more elaborate stories than we had seen in the past. It kind of changed everything. 

Rick and Morty Season 4

Episode 8, "The Vat of Acid Episode"

"The Vat of Acid Episode" then took things even further. Rick and Morty Season 4 seemed to be a season caught in a flux between fans wanting more of the serialized elements teased in the previous season and telling more episode stories. But "The Vat of Acid Episode" managed to find a good blend of both of those things as it showcased many different sides to Morty as he lived out potential lives and forcibly reset them. Then the reveal "prestige" moment came later when Rick ultimately got a victory over Morty as the episode came to an end, and served to paint their dynamic moving forward. 

Rick and Morty Season 5

Episode 8, "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort"

It wasn't until Rick and Morty Season 5 that fans actually got more of Rick's past for the first real time in the series. While it had been jokingly teased before, "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort" actually shined a light into a core part of life with Birdperson. This journey into Rick's mind not only gave fans the kind of character development they never expected to see when the animated series first began, and revealed that there was an actual emotional core that would be explored in greater detail later. This had been hinted at before, but this episode's a real turning point for the series. 

Rick and Morty Season 6

Episode 4, "Night Family"

Rick and Morty might have experimented before, but "Night Family" was one of the most different kinds of viewing experiences yet. It might be an episodic story, but it's such a dramatically different Horror tinged watch than the rest of the season. It also involves the entire Smith Family on the adventure, and results in a fun car chase and fun fight between them all. It's just so intelligently put together and was an early sign that even six seasons in we would get to see lots of fun new ideas from Rick and Morty in the future. 

What are your favorite episodes from Rick and Morty's first six seasons? What are you hoping to see in Rick and Morty Season 7? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!