Rick Potion
A love potion triggers a global catastrophe.
"Rick Potion #9" is the sixth episode of the animated series Rick and Morty, written by Justin Roiland and directed by Stephen Sandoval. It premiered on Adult Swim on January 27, 2014, and was seen by 1.7 million viewers at first airing. The episode's title references the 1959 song "Love Potion No. 9" by the Clovers.
Quick Facts
- Episode
- 6
- Series
- Rick and Morty
- Air date
- January 27, 2014
- Writer
- Justin Roiland
- Director
- Stephen Sandoval
- Viewers at first airing
- 1.7 million
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Morty, who has a long-term crush on Jessica, asks Rick for a love serum on the night of the Flu Season Dance. Rick gives him a serum derived from vole hormones. Only Morty's relatives, including Rick, are unaffected. Rick attempts to counteract the original serum with an antidote made from mantis DNA, but it fails, mutating the world's population into monstrous mantis-people who want to eat Morty after mating with him. Meanwhile, Jerry, feeling insecure about his relationship with Beth, follows her to work. He encounters the mantis-people, kills them with a shotgun, and arrives at the equine hospital where Beth works. He kills her infected co-worker with a crowbar, and the two reconcile. Rick makes a third serum from various DNA sources that ends the population's desire for Morty but mutates them into barely humanoid blobs. Morty blames Rick, who points out that Morty wanted to roofie Jessica. Rick dubs the creatures "Cronenbergs" and decides the situation is beyond repair. He scans the multiverse for a nearly identical universe where alternate versions of himself and Morty found a solution but died soon after. Rick and Morty enter Dimension C-131, bury their alternate selves, and assume their places. The episode ends with Morty traumatized, set to "Look on Down from the Bridge" by Mazzy Star.
Reception
Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B+, praising it as a deconstruction of the creepiness of the love potion trope. Joe Matar of Den of Geek liked the episode, noting it was not as funny as the previous episode but had a wonderfully dark ending, and he enjoyed Jerry's action hero subplot. David Roa of Dead Screen loved the ending, calling it a satisfying deus ex machina and comparing it to how people treat the planet. An author for Junkie Monkeys ranked it as his second favorite episode up to that point, behind "Anatomy Park". Noel Davila from Geeks Under Grace rated it 8.6 out of 9.0, calling it one of the greatest and most impactful episodes to the series mythology, appreciating its relationship dynamics and combination of high-concept science with dark humor. Justin Roiland considered the episode his favorite after the first half of the first season, for its pacing and ending.
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