'Rick and Morty' Season 9 premiere recap: Evil Morty returns amid major mid-credits prison twist

Rick and Morty returned for its ninth season with a premiere episode centred on the comeback of Evil Morty, whose latest actions once again place Rick and the Smith family in danger across the multiverse.

Episode 1 titled "There's Something About Morty" begins with Morty discovering that Rick Sanchez has secretly been communicating with Evil Morty behind his back. Morty quickly learns that Rick has been coerced into helping him after threats were made against the entire Smith family.

Evil Morty later reveals he has rebuilt the Omega Device, previously linked to Rick Prime, which has the power to erase every version of a person across the multiverse by killing a single variant. He targets what he describes as the “nicest” Smith family in existence in order to pressure Rick into cooperating.

The episode also introduces a cosmic entity known as the Collective, which Rick and Evil Morty temporarily work together to defeat. During the mission, Morty becomes increasingly insecure about his relationship with Rick after seeing the intellectual chemistry between the pair.

However, Rick later secretly destroys the Omega Device by erasing its blueprint from every dimension, freeing himself from Evil Morty’s control. The betrayal pushes Evil Morty into launching a violent attack against the Smith family inside a fortified bunker dimension.

After a prolonged battle, Evil Morty is eventually arrested by time police led by Shleemypants for committing temporal crimes. In the mid-credits scene, he is transferred to a time prison, where officials warn he will face aggressive inmates rather than remain in suspended stasis.

The episode strongly hints that Evil Morty’s story is far from over and sets up a possible return later in the season.

Episode 2, titled "Ricks Days, Seven Nights", will premiere on Adult Swim on Sunday, May 31, in the US, with the UK release to follow on Monday, June 1 via HBO Max.