Rick and Morty season 3 episode 3 review: The blood-soaked adventures of Pickle Rick!

“I’m Pickle Riiiick!” The catchphrase was a fan favourite — appearing on mugs, T-shirts, and other merchandise — before the episode even aired. And could Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland deliver on those high expectations? Of course! ‘Pickle Rick’ is an excellent, non-stop, blood-soaked adventure, marking one of the most bats**t crazy episodes of Rick and Morty to date.

Unlike the first two episodes of season three — one featuring the Council of Ricks, the other a Mad Max-type world — ‘Pickle Rick’ was solely based on Earth, not a single Portal Gun being used. However, with the family heading to therapy, there was only one way out for Rick; to turn himself into a helpless pickle, and subsequently going on a murderous rampage.

First off, let’s take a moment to applaud whoever thought of the initial pickle gag. Banana Rick? Cucumber Rick? Camembert Rick? Somehow, they chose the ideal food that’s both hilarious and very, very Rick. Congratulations.

Now, those fight scenes. If you thought last week’s Blooddome was violent, you hadn’t seen anything yet. Decapitating rats was just the start. Come some unnamed, high-secure facility filled with Russian mobsters being led by an English boss, people were getting holes blown through their heads by an AA battery powered laser, Pickle Rick killing almost everyone.

Of course, the scene was gags galore. Again, Rick and Morty managed to mock genre stereotypes — this time 80s action movies — while bringing a fresh twist to proceedings, mainly thanks to Rick being a goddamn pickle. Along with the joke about The Pickle Man being an “old wives tale”, Jaguar, AKA the ultimate, steroid-pumped henchman with vengeance pushing him on (voiced by Danny Trejo!), was an episode highlight, particularly with the line: “This ends when one of us dies, and I’ve never died before.”

Meanwhile, the rest of the Smith family — minus Jerry, who unfortunately didn’t make an appearance this episode (we miss you too, Jerry) — actually attended therapy, being seen to by Dr. Wong, voiced by the always awesome Susan Sarandon. This season has already gone notably deep on Beth and Jetty’s divorce, the last two adventures both spawning from family members avoiding confronting their problems, keeping continuity whereas the show may have previously left the story arch behind.

Unlike Morty and Summer, Beth hasn’t been to a post-apocalyptic world to beat out her inner conflict. She instead denies that Rick may have lied about turning into a pickle just to get out of therapy, refusing to say whether the syringed substance is a cure for pickleism. We know Beth has unresolved abandonment issues, and that mental agony is causing her some serious inner stress that comes out in snarky attacks on everyone around her.

When Rick finally arrives at therapy — a smaller pickle glued onto his pickle body — the genius claims he needs the formula from Beth. But couldn’t he have just made another batch himself? Really, Rick cares for the family, knowing he should attend therapy. Because despite this Summer and Beth not being his original Summer and Beth — they’re busy feasting on Cronenbergs — these versions have a special place in Rick’s pickle heart. Now, let’s get to Shoney’s!

Rick and Morty is available in the US on Adult Swim and on Netlfix a week later in the UK.