Rick Sanchez from Rick and Morty is a mad scientist, a dimension-hopping grandpa…and well, a guy who turns himself into a pickle to avoid family therapy.
The image of Rick Sanchez as a pickle, along with his catchphrase “I’m Pickle Rick!” quickly spread across the internet. The absurdity of the concept (a talking pickle that engages in violent combat) and Rick’s enthusiastic proclamation made it ripe for meme culture. Since then, Pickle Rick’s image has been adapted into various forms of fan art and official merchandise, including T-shirts, stickers, and back bling in Fortnite.
So, when does Rick undergo this funny and bizarre transformation? It’s in the third episode of the third season of Rick and Morty.
What exact happens in the episode?
The Rick and Morty episode begins with Rick calling Morty into the garage to show him something. Morty discovers that Rick has turned himself into a pickle. When questioned about his reasons, Rick claims it’s simply because he can and that it demonstrates his incredible scientific abilities.
Moments later, Beth (Rick’s daughter and Morty’s mother) enters the garage and finds a syringe rigged to a timer hanging above Pickle Rick. Suspecting that Rick is trying to avoid the family therapy session, she takes the syringe, which Rick admits contains an antidote that would revert him to human form, and leaves for the session with Morty and Summer (Morty’s sister), leaving Rick behind.
Left alone, Rick begins a journey of survival as a pickle on the driveway. He needs to reach the syringe but is stuck due to his lack of limbs. After a rainstorm washes him into the sewer. Pickle Rick then finds himself in a heavily fortified compound run by a foreign embassy where he goes full John Wick on a bunch of agents. This part of the episode is both ridiculous and hilarious.
While Rick is off having his pickle adventures, his family is left to confront their own demons in therapy. Beth struggles with her abandonment issues, Summer feels invisible, and Morty… well, Morty just wants to be left alone to play video games, but hey, that’s relatable.
In the end, the therapist calls Rick out on his avoidance tactics, forcing him to confront the fact that he uses his genius as a way to escape his own emotions. Of course, being Rick, he doesn’t take this revelation too seriously. He turns himself back into a human, rejoins his family, and promptly takes a dump on the therapist’s desk.