Rick turns himself into a vegetable in “Rick and Morty” season 3 Episode 3 titled “Pickle Rick.” The mad scientist gets into serious rodent trouble during his time as a pickle.
Pickle Rick introduction
Adult Swim has released the trailer for "Pickle Rick," which opens with Morty at his grandfather’s lab/garage. He finds the scientist face down on the table as a pickle and asks why he would turn himself into a vegetable. Rick answers in riddles and asks his grandson to just be impressed with his transformation. The scientist supposedly turns himself into a vegetable to make everyone in the Sanchez household smile following Beth and Jerry's divorce.
He especially wants to please his grandson, who is greatly affected by his parents’ separation.
This is not the first time we see “Pickle Rick.” Ahead of the release of the Episode 3 trailer, the showrunners have already teased what is to come in Season 3, through a video that shows some of the scenes in the installment. The preview also opens with Morty looking for his grandfather at the garage and finds him as a vegetable. Then going through the trailer, we see Rick in his adventures as a pickle, especially one that involves a battle with rats.
Rat fight
In “Rick and Morty” Season 3 Episode 3, the scientist finds himself in the sewer surrounded by rats. As a pickle, he is defenseless since he does not have arms and legs.
However, Rick outsmarts the rodents when he manages to create armor complete with limbs and turns himself into a killing machine.
In the video below, we can see how Rick creates his strap-on armor from body parts of a dead rat. He uses the rodent’s limbs and removes its brain to power his armor. “Pickle Rick” eventually annihilates the rats that surround him and he escapes the sewer.
The trailer for Episode 3 shows him come out from the toilet.
'127 Hours' reference in 'Rick and Morty' Season 3 Episode 3
Ryan Ridley, one of the writers of the animated series, says the episode is a reference to the movie “127 Hours.” It is not a spoof of the film. However, Rick supposedly relates himself to James Franco’s character, since he has to find a way to get out of the situation that he gets himself into while he is a vegetable.
Of course, this situation refers to his being trapped in the sewer being hunted by rats. "He’s a pickle, so he has to figure out how to get himself out of that with really basic ingenuity, and so he kept talking about 127 Hours, or Gravity, like these movies about characters that are just in these situations,” Ridley tells Y Combinator.
