5 essential 'Rick and Morty' episodes to rewatch before Season 4

Other than the obvious requirement of rewatching the Season 3 finale, “The Rickchurian Mortydate,” there are plenty of other Rick and Morty episodes and stories that’ll feel important as we move into the upcoming Season 4.

[Read our Rick and Morty Season 4, Episode 1 review now!]

Season 3 was a volatile time for the Smith family after Beth separated from Jerry in “The Rickshank Rickdemption.” Each member of the family had to grapple with what the fallout of this decision in their own way. For Summer and Morty, that meant working through their teen angst in violent ways in “Rickmancing the Stone.” For Beth, it meant defining who she wanted to be on her own terms during “The ABC’s of Beth.” Similarly for Jerry, he had to decide how committed he was to this family in “The Whirly Dirly Conspiracy.” Let’s me honest, Rick really didn’t give a crap.

Thanks to the reunion of Beth and Jerry at the end of Season 3, Rick and Morty established a new sense of streamlined normalcy that we hadn’t seen since late in Season 2. But the new season still has plenty of callbacks and Easter eggs from the past that fans should look out for

For these reasons and more, here are five of the most essential episodes you should consider rewatching:

”M. Night Shaym-Aliens!” (S1.E4)

This might be one of the more middling episodes of Rick and Morty, but when Jerry and Rick are caught inside a simulation, we get a hilarious look at Jerry’s professional life in advertising and all the terrible ideas that make him such a lovable idiot.

We don’t know when it’ll happen in Season 4, but one episode in this first batch of five will see Jerry launch some kind of alien dating app with the help of Glootie, an alien voiced by Taika Waititi. So it’s worth brushing up on Jerry’s marketing skills, or lack thereof, and even more worth rewatching perhaps the single episode that drags Jerry harder than any other.

“Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind” (S1.E10) & “The Ricklantis Mixup” (S3.E7)

Taken as a two-parter, these episodes establish Evil Morty as the greatest villain the show has ever seen.

We know nothing about where he came from — or do we? — but this Morty orchestrated a convoluted plan to take down Rick in Season 1. Then, after Rick nearly destroyed the Citadel at the beginning of Season 3, Evil Morty spent months hatching a plan to take over the entire Citadel.

Now, he might be the most powerful person in the multiverse who should return at some point in Season 4.

”Total Rickall” (S2.E4)

One of the greatest Rick and Morty episodes of all time, “Total Rickall” is the one where alien brain parasites implant false memories in the entire Smith family and try to propagate via characters like Sleepy Gary, Pencilvester, and Photography Raptor — but not Mr. Poopybutthole. He’s real!

Each new character is wackier than the last as things go from playful to total chaos in a matter of minutes. The final bloodbath is a thrill to watch, but the real value in this episode ahead of Season 4 is the introduction of Mr. Poopybutthole, who returns in Season 4 as some kind of college professor.

“Meeseeks and Destroy” (S1.E5)

Everyone’s favorite blue creature with an aim to please, Mr. Meeseeks, makes his debut in “Meeseeks and Destroy,” one of the show’s all-time best episodes.

The Meeseeks Box returns in Season 4 rather quickly, so you’d do well to get a refresher on the concept, especially because there’s a hilarious new twist you probably won’t see coming. “Meeseeks and Destroy” also introduced us to the Morty Adventure Card, which forces Rick to let Morty pick every 10th adventure, another concept that Season 4 revisits.

Rick and Morty Season 4 airs Sunday nights on Adult Swim at 11:30 p.m. Eastern.