Rick and Morty often goes out of its way to show just how right Rick is about any given situation and how much smarter he is than everyone else in the room. The series mines a lot of comedy from this inherent premise, but few are as funny or crushing as the famous “Vat of Acid Episode.” When the titular duo set out to exchange crystals with some gangsters, the deal ends up going awry, forcing Rick and Morty to jump into a vat of acid. But it turns out the vat’s a fake and is really a pool (complete with breathing tubes) planted by Rick for the duo to stage their deaths and hide out in until the gangsters leave.
After insisting that the vat was a stupid idea, Morty provokes Rick into making him a video game-like “save point” device that allows him to save his life at any point and reset back to it to make a different decision. After a heartbreaking lesson at the hands of Jerry’s buffoonery, Rick takes things one step further and absolutely punishes Morty for deriding his vat of acid. It’s the ultimate insult to injury, resulting in an outlandish and hilariously dick-ish moment from Rick that proves, once and for all, that you don’t mess with the best. —William Goodman
