WARNING! This article contains spoilers for Rick and Morty season 7, episode 1!

Now that Rick and Morty season 7, episode 1 has finally arrived, the Adult Swim hit’s best jokes prove the series hasn’t lost its magic touch. Rick and Morty season 7’s production was plagued by controversy. Although the season 5 finale of the series was a show-shaking installment that effectively rewrote the canon of its entire universe, Rick and Morty season 6 felt like a step backward as its standalone episodes returned to more straightforward misadventures. Outside its premiere and Rick and Morty season 6's ending, the latest batch of installments largely ignored the events of season 5, episode 10, “Rickmurai Jack.”

However, such storyline and gag criticisms soon became the least ofRick and Morty season 7’s problems. In January 2023, voice actor Justin Roiland was charged with domestic battery, leading Adult Swim to cut ties with the controversial star. This meant that Rick and Morty season 7's cast needed to replace both title characters and many supporting figures, and the show’s creators courted controversy upon announcing that Rick and Morty’s new actors would be “soundalikes.” While Roiland’s other series Solar Opposites immediately acknowledged his exit with a meta-joke, Rick and Morty season 7 opted instead to ignore the issue. Nonetheless, Rick & Morty season 7 returns with plenty of hilarious gags for the series' final few outings.

10 Mr. Poopybutthole’s Fourth-Wall Breaking Intro

Ignoring Roiland's exit turned out to be the right call. Against all the odds, Rick and Morty season 7, episode 1, “How Poopy Got His Poop Back,” is one of the show’s funniest episodes in years. The loose, goofy plot began strong with the revelation that Mr. Poopybutthole had been crashing with the Smiths since breaking his legs at the end of season 6. While Rick and Morty season 7 confirmed dead characters could potentially return, the comeback of Mr. Poopybutthole was still unexpected since the series had only used him for post-credits stinger scenes recently. Thus, Mr. Poopybutthole grabbing the camera and addressing the audience was a hilarious surprise.

9 Birdperson’s Strained Parenting

While Mr. Poopybutthole’s return was the first big laugh in “How Poopy Got His Poop Back,” this was not the last time that the episode mined a surprising character comeback for comedy. After Rick accepted that he needed to organize an intervention for Mr. Poopybutthole, despite his refusal to use the term, he set about getting Mr. Poopybutthole’s friends back together. This meant contacting Birdperson, who was last seen in a poignant Rick and Morty season 5 outing where he learned he had a daughter. After this emotional revelation, finding out that Birdperson was now eager to abandon her to get drunk with his friends was a hilariously out-of-character shock.

Related: 10 Wild Rick & Morty Season 7 Theories That Could Actually Come True

8 Gene’s Role in Rick and Morty’s Big Reunion

After Rick and Morty season 7 reunited Gearhead, Squanchy, and Mr. Poopybutthole with Rick, the show’s antihero realized that the intervention needed at least one sober designated driver. The unlikely final addition to this ragtag band was Gene, an unassuming neighbor of the Smith family. Seeing this quiet suburbanite join in with the debauched partying and prove that he could hold his own was another unexpected and welcome gag.

7 Rick’s Ridiculous Robot Ghost

Before Rick could concede that an intervention was clearly necessary for Mr. Poopybutthole, the character briefly attempted to get rid of his house guest with a robot ghost. This plan involved Rick constructing a robot, programming it with unspecified “Business,” then pulling the plug on it before its Business was fully uploaded so that the resulting robot ghost would have “Unfinished business.” While this initial gag was funny, it was the sight of the ghost robot haunting Rick later in the season 7 premiere that really tied this one together.

6 Hugh Jackman’s Unexpected Rick and Morty Cameo

Since Rick and Morty season 7’s risky Roiland recasting has dominated news about the show’s return, “How Poopy Got His Poop Back” managed to sneak an unexpected and hilarious A-list celebrity cameo into its storyline. When Gene, Squanchy, Gearhead, Mr. Poopybutthole, and Rick arrived at an exclusive rave, they were met by none other than Hugh Jackman. While Rick thought his clout as an Oscars host would give him some common ground with the star, it turned out Gene was the one Jackman really wanted to hang out with.

5 The Predator’s Affair With Amy

The Predator made a surprise appearance early on in “How Poopy Got His Poop Back,” when Mr. Poopybutthole guiltily admitted that he had sent one of the franchise’s eponymous monsters to track his ex-wife Amy. However, when Mr. Poopybutthole tracked down Amy later in the outing, he was horrified to discover that the Predator was doing more than merely stalking his ex. The revelation that the iconic sci-fi horror monster was sleeping with Amy was an inspired gag.

4 Mr. Poopybutthole’s Misguided Meta-Reference

When Mr. Poopybutthole faced down the Predator, he seemed doomed to lose the fight. However, he then reminded the Predator that, as viewers who had seen his earlier appearances in Rick and Morty would know, he was actually a surprisingly adept martial artist. What made this meta-gag so funny was the fact that, immediately after reminding the Predator of his canonical fighting prowess, the drunken Mr. Poopybutthole promptly got beaten to a pulp.

3 Rick’s Fading Pills

While Rick and Morty season 7 promised a major character return in one promo, the show didn’t hint at just how many of its supporting stars would show up in the premiere. Brilliantly utilizing these many characters' returns, the closing scene of “How Poopy Got His Poop Back” gave Rick, Hugh Jackman, Squanchy, and Gearhead the Stand By Me treatment as Mr. Poopybutthole narrated their future misadventures. However, this was hilariously subverted when Rick revealed that he had given everyone pills that made them fade away, claiming these were a perfect hangover cure.

2 Gene’s Special Meal Deal

The fading pills worked for everyone else, although Mr. Poopybutthole found the process more painful than anticipated, but badly backfired for Gene. He had just purchased a large fast food meal that was intended for a group of friends to consume together when the entire gang faded away before he could re-emerge from the Mexican restaurant. Thus, Gene was left alone and had his meal taken from him, still without a clue where the gang disappeared to.

1 Gene’s Wayward Lawn Mower

While Mr. Poopybutthole’s stinger appearances have been dark, they are rarely as hilarious as the grim post-credits scene of “How Poopy Got His Poop Back.” Here, the lawnmower that Gene abandoned to hang out with Rick and company is revealed to have cut a bloody, chaotic swathe through his hometown. The appliance kills one last cop before puttering to a stop, prompting Rick and Morty’s bemused policeman to note that their superior would have survived if he simply moved a few feet away.