The Rick And Morty Episode With A Simpsons Easter Egg You Likely Missed
Pretty much any adult-oriented animated sitcom these days owes at least some debt to "The Simpsons." It's hard to understate the Fox series' influence over the last several decades, so it's only appropriate the show got a shoutout in an episode of "Rick and Morty."
In the post-credits sequence for "Rick and Morty" Season 7, Episode 2 — "The Jerrick Trap" — a visage of Rick remains trapped in Jerry's mind after the two spent the majority of the episode sharing brains. Rick runs around various memories, only to discover that Jerry believes every machine is solely powered by gears and springs. At one point, Rick goes to a nuclear facility, which bears an uncanny resemblance to Homer Simpson's workstation at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Even there, Jerry thinks it's all just gears and springs.
A Redditor pointed out the moment with side-by-side images, along with the message, "The funniest part about this bit is that it suggests that Jerry's entire knowledge of nuclear power plants comes from watching the Simpsons." It does indeed look nearly identical to Homer's workspace in what appears to be a clear nod to the iconic series. The only thing that would've made the connection even stronger is if "Rick and Morty" included Homer's board of Maggie pictures.
Rick and Morty has crossed paths with The Simpsons before
With the show running for so long at this point, "Rick and Morty" has turned into "The Simpsons" a bit, falling into certain patterns. One such pattern seems to involve regularly taking trips to Springfield, as the Season 7 Easter egg isn't the first time "Rick and Morty" has paid tribute to its predecessor. The most well-known instance is when the titular duo stops by for a "Simpsons" couch gag, crashing into the family with their spacecraft and liquefying them. Morty's tasked with cloning them while Rick goes around their house, helping himself to whatever he finds.
Redditor u/spritesprites found another Springfield landmark within the absurd science-fiction world. The user posted a screenshot from "Rick and Morty" Season 4, Episode 8 — "The Vat of Acid Episode." In it, Morty pushes a man out of his wheelchair in front of a building that looks awfully similar to Moe's Tavern from "The Simpsons." Moe's sign isn't hanging above the door, but the windows are practically identical, so it appears the "Rick and Morty" animators like to put in subtle nods to a show that no doubt influenced them.
On top of all this, "The Simpsons" seems to be a show within the world of "Rick and Morty." In Season 3's "Morty's Mind Blowers," Rick mentions how not all of the segments shown have names, unlike the "Treehouse of Horror" specials from its predecessor. Homer and his family get a lot of love from "Rick and Morty," but they probably hope they don't swing by again any time soon.