What makes Rick and Morty so special is its deceptively intelligent writing. For example, real science is actually explored in Rick and Morty; some entries feel more like a graduate-level course than an episode of an animated comedy. The writers use real-world knowledge to subvert television norms that audiences have grown accustomed to, and the result is one of the best half-hours of television you can enjoy today.

Rick and Morty, however, dives deeply into the psyche of each character (and almost always to the point of discomfort). Morty is in the height of puberty, wrestling with the very real anxieties that come with it. His sister, Summer, is similarly developing, but with the added tribulations associated with being a young woman. Both are internalizing their parent’s marital problems in their own unhealthy ways.

Then there’s Beth who has some serious daddy issues that she quite realistically is incapable of recognizing (evidenced superbly in “Pickle Rick”), while her meek husband, Jerry, portrays a victim of emotional abuse.

And of course there’s Rick, who is… difficult to analyze. He’s not truly a sociopath, as he can feel, but he’s perhaps a perfect depiction of the most intelligent being in the universe. Given his intellect, he is only capable of viewing life through an analytical lens. It often overrides his emotional perspective. Considering his experience with lifeforms across multiple universes, it makes sense that he sees each individual life as relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

Rick and Morty both breaks continuity while simultaneously making itself impervious to it. How does it do that? Through infinite universes, of course.

There are infinite Ricks and Mortys, so if there’s ever a continuity issue, it can be explained by Rick’s interdimensional meddling. There’s actually a theory that Rick’s current Morty isn’t his original Morty. More concretely, in “Rick Potion #9,” Rick and Morty essentially turn their entire Earth into a monster-infested nightmare. Rick then uses his portal gun to take them to another parallel Earth where he and Morty recently died, so they’re able to bury their alternate selves and take their places.

As an inspection of real world psychology, the traditional American family is placed under a microscope in Rick and Morty, and its findings are often troubling and all too real.

Having inadvertently gotten pregnant with Summer, Beth and Jerry got married at a very young age, and as a result, their marriage has never been stable. The show explores what this set of circumstances does to parents, as well as children – especially when external complications (AKA Rick) are thrown in.

Fourth-wall breaking is the most direct form of meta humor, of course, but there are also a myriad examples of existential humor in Rick and Morty that doesn’t involve this technique.

The pilot episode ends with Rick telling Morty about all the exciting adventures they would go on, citing “RickAndMorty.com” and “RickAndMortyAdventures.com,” both real websites. The next entry into the series is actually one big existential joke: Creators Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon pitched a show called Dog World, the essence of which is captured in Rick and Morty’s “Lawnmower Dog” episode.

Again, meta humor exists in Futurama and is used occasionally, but this isn’t a fundamental element of the show’s DNA.

A show doesn’t have to be edgy or controversial to be funny. But straying into that realm offers a whole lot of possibilities, and Rick and Morty takes full advantage of that.

Rick borders on sociopathic – his disregard for nearly all lifeforms, and life in general, is wicked and results in some really dark humor. Of course, edgy humor can be found in nearly every scene of Rick and Morty, so take your pick.