Warning: this article contains full spoilers for Rick and Morty Season 8!
When Rick and Morty Season 8 first premiered, Adult Swim made episodes 1-3 and 5 available for critics. As it happens, they probably couldn’t have picked a worse selection of episodes to represent the latest season of the animated sci-fi comedy. As reviewer Samantha Nelson wrote at the time, “Unfortunately, the four episodes of season 8 that I’ve seen lean on the classic Rick and Morty formula, which is getting a bit tired.” But season 8 definitely gets better as it goes along. Yes, some episodes suggest the series is growing stale and long in the tooth. But others prove it can be just as clever, insightful, and emotionally resonant as those classic early seasons.
Let’s take a deep dive into Rick and Morty Season 8, breaking it down episode by episode.
Episode 1 - “Summer of All Fears”
Oddly, while Rick and Morty’s premiere episodes are often among the best in any given season (“The Rickshank Rickdemption” and “Mort Dinner Rick Andre” being two notable examples), that’s not the case with season 8’s “Summer of All Fears.” Part of the problem is that it feels too conceptually similar to the season 7 finale, “Fear No Mort.” Both episodes deal with Morty (and in this case, Summer) being trapped in a false reality and struggling to return home. Here, more than anywhere else this season, the series struggles to escape the shadow cast by other, better episodes.
It doesn’t help that “Summer of All Fears” captures Rick at his worst as a character. He’s petty and needlessly cruel, all for the sake of a pilfered phone charger. Recent seasons have shown Rick at least putting in the effort to become a slightly better and more emotionally well-adjusted person, but episodes like this suggest he’s made absolutely zero progress.
Episode 2 - “Valkyrick”
The season’s sophomore episode, “Valkyrick,” at least shifts in a more novel direction by focusing on the relationship between Rick and Space Beth. Space Beth feels like an especially underutilized character, despite her recurring role on the show, so it’s always nice to get a deeper view into her intergalactic misadventures. Ultimately, though, “Valkyrick” is a pretty straightforward, action-oriented installment that doesn’t do much to actually mine the dynamic between Rick and his possibly cloned daughter. That would come later in the season.
Episode 3 - “The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly”
“The Rick, The Mort & The Ugly” arrives as a spiritual sequel to “The Ricklantis Mixup,” exploring the ongoing fallout of the destruction of the Citadel of Ricks. Homesteader Rick makes for a decent enough protagonist, and Boss Hogg Rick is certainly an entertaining villain. But, here again, the series feels as though it’s simply rehashing older, better concepts rather than actually blazing new territory. There’s minimal emotional weight to this silly little side story.
Episode 4 - “The Last Temptation of Jerry”
Everyone loves a good Jerry episode, and Season 8 picks up a bit with the advent of “The Last Temptation of Jerry.” What starts as Jerry being ostracized by the family for his love of Easter quickly devolves into an amusing Prometheus parody involving Christian space knights waging a holy war against pagan space gods. It’s all very weird and pretty entertaining, if a little overly reliant on if a little overly reliant on Rick and Morty’s tendency to delight in Jerry’s misery. Fortunately, an even better Jerry episode is just around the corner.
Episode 5 - "Cryo Mort a Rickver"
Season 8 reaches its nadir with "Cryo Mort a Rickver," where Rick and Morty attempt to rob a cryosleep ship and wind up waking up the inhabitants. While it’s mildly amusing to see Rick impersonate the spoiled child of an overly indulgent rich couple, this episode is a mostly dull affair that lacks the high-concept hook the series so often delivers. It’s fortunate that Adult Swim didn’t follow the traditional release schedule with season 8 by airing it in two discrete blocks. If this were the last taste fans were given of Rick and Morty for a few months, it would leave a very sour taste in the mouth.
Episode 6 - "The Curicksous Case of Bethjamin Button"
Fortunately, season 8 aired in one long, fell swoop, and things start to pick up in the back half. "The Curicksous Case of Bethjamin Button" shifts focus to both versions of Beth, as the two find a way to literally reclaim their childhood. It’s always fun seeing the series explore their weird sisterly relationship (outside of the weird clone-cest afoot in “Bethic Twinstinct”), and even more so here as we get a sense of just how unruly Beth was growing up without Rick in her life. This episode also makes hilarious use of Gene in his ongoing role as the hapless, well-meaning guy next door. The theme park subplot doesn’t quite measure up, unfortunately. While it has its amusing moments, that storyline is eventually reduced to the same, tired Westworld parody we’ve seen countless times before.
Episode 7 - “Ricker Than Fiction”
Next up is the very odd, but not unfunny, “Ricker Than Fiction.” This episode is probably most notable for featuring Superman director James Gunn in a major guest role, and even bringing in Gunn’s DC predecessor Zack Snyder for a cameo. Frankly, the big Gunn/Snyder scene is a huge letdown, relying on tired, predictable jabs at Snyder’s approach to Superman filmmaking rather than anything weirder and more inspired. That whole scene would be more at home in an episode of Family Guy.
But outside of that missed comedic opportunity, “Ricker Than Fiction” is an entertaining swipe at the Hollywood superhero movie industrial complex. Gunn himself is a pretty amusing foil to Rick and Morty as the two run amok through his misguided screenplay to "Maximum Velocitree 10." And Jerry once again proves to be the MVP here. Who knew an Adderall-addicted Jerry could be so entertaining, or that Summer writing velociraptor porn could lead to such dire consequences?
Episode 8 - “Nomortland”
Jerry’s dominance continues in “Nomortland,” easily the strongest installment of season 8 up to that point. Here we meet Mooch, a vagabond version of Jerry who takes advantage of Rick’s interdimensional antics to ramble through the multiverse. Naturally, it’s not long before Mooch and our Jerry (or “Eagle Man”) find themselves stranded far from home. This episode really makes the most of the Jerry-heavy format, allowing voice actor Chris Parnell to stretch his muscles in fun ways. It also hits that delicate balance of celebrating the fact that Jerry is a perpetual sad-sack loser without dumping on him needlessly.
With the series clearly saving its more character-driven Rick and Morty storylines for key episodes (as we’ll soon see), it’s good that Jerry and the Beths are more and more frequently being thrust into the spotlight. They’re still comparatively blank canvases. This does highlight how little season 8 accomplishes with Summer, though. Outside of “Summer of All Fears,” she doesn’t get many standout scenes. And even that episode stops short of achieving any real, lasting growth for the character. Summer seems to be the most stagnant of the Smith family at this point, and hopefully, that’s something the series can address in season 9.
Episode 9 - “Morty Daddy”
Season 8’s penultimate episode, “Morty Daddy,” is an underwhelming return to bad habits. Was anyone really clamoring for Morty Jr. to make a return appearance? His romp through the garbage portal with his father doesn’t result in many memorable moments or funny gags. Rick and Summer’s antics with the pre-cogs makes for a slightly better B-storyline. But even here, it comes across as a short gag that’s stretched far too thin. Once again, the series can’t seem to find its footing with Summer.
Episode 10 - “Hot Rick”
Season 8 may not start especially strong, but it definitely finishes on a high note with “Hot Rick.” Let’s just say you can probably expect the finale to make an appearance on our Top 20 Rick and Morty Episodes list when that’s updated next.
"Hot Rick" is an intriguing case study of what happens when Rick and Morty abandons its typical standalone, procedural format and really embraces the oddly labyrinthine continuity it’s established over the past decade. Here we have an adventure that builds very directly on loose ends left from episodes like "Rickternal Friendshine of the Spotless Mort" and “Unmortricken,” as Memory Rick escapes the confines of Phoenixperson Birdperson’s mind and makes a play for reuniting with the one memory fragment of Diane Smith that still exists within Rick C-137.
What follows is a truly mind-bending and emotionally haunting look at Rick’s relationship with his dead wife and his honest attempt at moving forward. The series maintains an appreciable level of nuance where Diane is concerned. It’s not so much that Rick himself is motivated by a desire to be reunited with Diane. We saw what that might look like back in “Fear No Mort,” but even then, it was only Morty’s perception of what his grandfather might do. Rick truly just wants to move forward and finally rebuild a life that was shattered by Rick Prime, but his destructive memories won’t allow it.
Some fans might be disappointed that the finale doesn’t further the Evil Morty storyline or introduce some new overarching villain for Rick to contend with. But does it really need to? What this episode does accomplish is finding new emotional layers in the complex onion that is Rick Sanchez, while also exploring how his actions and mistakes continue to poison his relationship with his family in unforeseen ways. It’s an episode as emotionally rich as anything we’ve seen from Rick and Morty to date, and it’s a great endcap to what is otherwise a fairly uneven season.
