Rick and Morty Reveals Major Season 5 Return in New Episode Opening

Rick and Morty revealed a major fan favorite character is making their return in Season 5 with the opening scene for the next episode of the series! The fifth season has reached its final string of episodes, and while there have been small connective tissues in between each new adventure between Rick and the rest of the Smith Family (including its wildest new addition as well), there has yet to be any major connection between this season and some of the overarching stories that have come in the prior four seasons. That just might be changing with Episode 8.

Rick and Morty Season 5 Episode 8 is titled “Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” and not only did the first look at the episode tease that we would get the first major Rick solo episode of the season, but the cold open for the episode released by Adult Swim reveals the major return of “Phoenixperson” as it seems Rick will finally be working on his friend following his promise to do so in the fourth season finale. You can check it out in the video above!

Not only does the episode tease a solemn solo episode for Rick, the re-appearance of Pheonixperson’s broken form comes along with the name of the project, “Best Friend Rejuvenation Sequence.” Rick did not name this project, but his computer took it upon itself to name it as such. The fifth season has largely avoided connecting the events of the fourth season’s finale (even with a joking return of Space Beth) with the new episodes, so this is an exciting prospect.

Whether or not we get a full dive into Rick and Birdperson’s past with this next episode as this opening scene seemingly teases (especially with its title that references a movie all about memories, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), it’s the first episode of the season even broaching this subject beyond the brief tease about Diane from Mr. Nimbus in the season premiere. Thankfully it won’t be long before we find out for sure.

“Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort” is currently slated to debut on August 8th on Adult Swim, Sunday, August 8th at 11:00PM EST. But what are you hoping to see from the next episode of the season? How are you liking Rick and Morty‘s fifth season so far? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animated and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!