Ridiculously Smart Jokes From Rick And Morty That Went Way Over Your Head, You Stupid Jerry

Jerry's robe, which he wears in numerous episodes, features the Chinese character ruò, which roughly translates to "weak." Jerry's weakness of character is one of the greatest obstacles in his marriage, especially coupled with Beth's domineering nature, resulting in an unhealthy dynamic of co-dependence between the two.

What's so brilliant about this Jerry jibe is that the robe itself with its Chinese character is symbolic enough, representing Jerry's pathological need to look cool, regardless of whether or not he understands the contract he's entering into. 

While no one's accusing Rick and Morty of being feminist, there's just something about Latin that makes it inherently intellectual (at least on a superficial level). So in "Raising Gazorpazorp," in which the stairs of the exclusively female society read, "Sis Sempur Calumnium," Latin for "You're Always Wrong," it is a joke that is both brilliant and a touch misogynistic. Plus, it's hilarious. 

In "Something Ricked This Way Comes," Summer and Rick team up to get super buff and beat the living Hell out of Summer's former employer, Satan. They take the time to beat up a few other folks who deserve an ass-whooping, like a homophobic protestor holding up the sign "God Hates F*gs."

For a frame, the sign changes to "God Hates You." The sign changes just as the hateful protester sees a swole Summer heading in his direction. There are a fair amount of God jokes in Rick and Morty - most of which paint religion in a negative light. Harmon and co. point out that if a god exists, he hates the people who holds up those signs. 

"Lawnmower Dog" is the second episode of the series and contains a subtle literary reference that perhaps even the best high school AP English students may have missed. When Rick builds a device to boost the intelligence of the family dog Snuffles, it's not long before things get out of hand.

Snuffles builds an EXO-Suit for himself and seeks to subjugate humanity, renaming himself Snowball. Snowball is the name of the pig in George Orwell's Animal Farm who shares Snuffles's views on humanity, wholeheartedly believing in an animal uprising. 

Chalk this one up in the meta-humor category. Dan Harmon's production company, Harmonious Claptrap, used to depict claymation versions of Harmon and his wife watching TV, lovingly snuggled up on the couch after every episode.

However, after his real life divorce, the image changed in time for Season 3, now depicting a slovenly Harmon apparently passed out drunk on the couch surrounded by trash with no wife in sight. While this is quite depressing, it's also brilliant, as few would think to sneak humor into an element of the show that really exists outside the show. 

As Rick and Morty are fleeing across the universe from the Council of Ricks in "Close Rick-counters of the Rick Kind," Rick opens a bunch of portals to throw their pursuers off their trail. A mug and notebook come falling through one of those portals, which seems innocuous enough, unless you're an eagle-eyed fan of Gravity Falls, a Disney show created by Justin Roiland's friend Alex Hirsch.

In the Gravity Falls episode, "Society of the Blind Eye," those exact same items are seen disappearing into a portal. While this isn't the most intellectually complex thing to grasp, it's just exceedingly clever to span universes in this manner given Rick and Morty's established setting in the infinite multiverse.