Rick and Morty is an adult cartoon, and every second of the show reminds you of that. But the profanity, gore, and sexual references are not the show's end goal.
In a move that has become commonplace for the greatest sci-fi shows, Rick and Morty serves as a mirror to our own messy reality and our own messy selves. We often see our character traits and the features of the people around us in the show's arcs.
And sometimes these storylines are so dark and depressing that it's hard not to get sucked into their disturbing nature. Here are five Rick and Morty scenes that were so dark, they made fans forget they were watching an animated show.
The New Universe
S1E6 Rick Potion #9
The episode that kept many viewers up at night is the one where Rick Cronenberged the entire planet because Morty wanted to attract Jessica with a love potion and couldn't reverse the effects of his own science, so they left everyone and found a new reality where they were both dead.
The scene where the characters bury their own bodies and Morty looks at his new home dimension with a thousand-yard stare hits you right in the heart.
The Failed Suicide Attempt
S2E3 Auto Erotic Assimilation
One of the most disturbing and relatable moments is when Rick tries to kill himself after the breakup with Unity, but passes out from the alcohol before the death ray is fully ready to hit.
This is definitely the lowest point for the protagonist. He is almost a god who can have everything, but he is still unhappy and unable to love himself or others. The background music, the loneliness of Rick setting up the machine and then watching him almost kill himself... Just too devastating.
The Immortality Field Tragedy
S3E5 The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy
This is just a brief, unimportant moment, but many viewers can't forget it. The episode takes place in a luxury resort built inside an immortality field that resurrects any living thing killed inside it. This is illustrated by two alien children playing with guns and shooting each other.
But when the immortality field is turned off because the antagonists want to kill Rick, we see the brother shoot his sister and she never comes back to life. It is such a heartbreaking moment. And it gets even darker when we catch a glimpse of the boy in the same prison as the Birdperson's daughter in S5E8.
The Operation Phoenix Disaster
S5E10 Rickmurai Jack
The season five finale is without a doubt one of the most mind-blowing episodes of all time. But what is burned in the minds of viewers is the cruelty of Evil Morty, who prevented Ricks and Mortys from escaping the Citadel by opening all their portal guns into the Blender Dimension. Those who attempted to use Operation Phoenix were diverted into the giant Blender, where their remains were used to power the Citadel's dimensional drive. Oof.
The Corpse Spaghetti
S7E4 That's Amorte
The latest season of Rick and Morty brought one of the darkest episodes of the entire series. Rick treats his family to the most delicious spaghetti they've ever tasted. But it turns out that the spaghetti comes from the corpses of suicide victims on Spaghetti Planet. Pretty disturbing, right?
Well, it gets even worse when the planet's government starts openly encouraging the suicide culture in order to generate huge export revenues. And even more so when the parallels are drawn to meat production on planet Earth.
Source: Reddit.