Even before it’s first season was over Rick and Morty proved it was one of the best animated shows (or shows in general) of all time. It may also be one of the funniest shows of all time. Its a wild and hilarious blend of dark comedy and hard science fiction and if you’ve never seen it before the best way to describe it would be the R rated adventures of the doctor from Back to The Future and his grandson, only the Doc is way smarter and way more of an alcoholic.

Season 2 left off with a pretty hefty cliffhanger and there’s no telling how season 3 is going to start off or end up. There was something that looked like an early rough cut/storyboard clip from a future season 3 episode that was shown at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con, check it out here…

I picked out what I think are 5 Essential Rick and Morty Episodes, great for newcomers to the series and loved as classics by fans (or at least this fan). Check out the list of our 5 Essential Rick and Morty Episodes (in no particular order), and if you haven’t seen Rick and Morty on adultswim you’re missing out…

(Minor Spoilers)

1. Meeseeks and Destroy — 1.05 — Meeseeks may be one of the funniest and creepiest concepts put on TV but that doesn’t make them any less lovable. Jerry causing the Meeseeks to slaughter each other was hilariously brutal and dark, but not nearly as dark as Morty’s near sexual assault by an anthropomorphic upbeat talking Jellybean…

2. Mortynight Run — 2.02 — Blips & Chitz! Who among us wouldn’t want to spend an afternoon playing “Roy”. Mortynight Run is an episode bundled up with great characters and great character moments. The singing Fart voiced by Jermaine Clement, Krombopulus Michael master assassin voiced by Andy Daly, and another hilarious “gear war” reference. To top it off we get the fantastic “Jerry Day Care” filled with countless interdimensional Jerrys.

3. Close Rick-Counters of the Rick Kind — 1.10 — This episode brought us deep into the depths of the Rick and Morty universe, or should I say universes. We learned there are countless Ricks and countless Mortys, all with little differences and all part of a galactic federation of Ricks. There’s even a “simple Rick” who happens to befriend, you guessed it, Jerry. This episode also showed us, as many Rick and Morty episodes often do, how dark the show can actually get, and this one gets a little weird at times.

4. Total Rickall — 2.04 — A wild episode that seems to go all over the place, an episode that brings the whole family together, even beloved fan favorite Mr. Poopybutthole. Total Rickall has Rick, Morty, Summer, Jerry, Beth, and Mr. Poopybutthole, working together to survive and overcome a deadly manipulative parasite and what transpires is nothing short of hilarious.

5. Anatomy Park — 1.03 — Anatomy Park was an episode early in the Rick and Morty series that featured a fantastic, John Oliver as the voice of Dr. Xenon Bloom the amoeba. The episode takes part mainly in a germ sized theme park inside of a dead homeless man’s body. Anatomy Park showed us early on just how far Rick is willing to go and how crazy the show is willing to get. Of course there’s also Pirates of the Pancreas, which I’m fairly sure is being stolen or copied by Six Flags but you didn’t hear that from me…

Honorable Mention

Rixty Minutes & Interdimensional Cable 2: Tempting Fate — These two episodes, the first from season 1 and the second from season 2, feature one of the best concepts I’ve ever seen in animation, comedy, and science fiction. Interdimensional cable. Infinite channels about infinite things from infinite universes. These episodes are hilarious and weird and like nothing else.

News around season 3’s release date varies but now it appears like Rick and Morty season 3 will be out before the end of this year or more likely during early 2017. In any case the fans are excited and anyone who isn’t a fan should catch up on season 1 & 2 before the next season premieres. Check out our 5 Essential Rick and Morty episodes, they may not be the very best but we feel they are great for newcomers and undeniable classics for fans.

Looking forward to Rick and Morty Season 3? What are your 5 Essential Rick and Morty Episodes? Are you Justin Roiland and/or Dan Harmon? Feel free to let us know, and thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: Snagged from venturebeat.com

Rick and Morty: The Complete Second Season [Blu-ray]