Rick and Morty Episode 37: Never Ricking Morty

Rick and Morty wake up on a **Story Train**: a literal story device filled with strangers who are all telling different, often absurd tales about Rick. At first they act like passengers in a normal anthology setup, but they quickly realize the train itself is built around narrative rules, and they begin trying to force their way out.

Rick first kills the train’s ticket taker, then uses a **“continuity explosion”** to expose a hidden map of the train and figure out how it works. He and Morty move from one compartment to another through a series of increasingly self-aware story setups, including one where they have to fabricate a story that satisfies the **Bechdel test** in order to keep progressing. As they push deeper into the train, the episode keeps cutting between different exaggerated story tropes, making it clear that the train is feeding on and arranging stories about Rick.

Eventually, Rick and Morty reach the engine area and confront **Story Lord**, who captures them and explains that he wants to use their **“story potential”** to power the train so it can go beyond the **fifth wall**. They are then forced through a barrage of possible futures and escalating fantasy scenarios, including a conflict involving Meeseeks, Gazorpazorpian males, robotic Ricks, Evil Morty, and an evil Mr. Poopybutthole. To stop that battle, Rick and Morty absurdly resolve the situation by giving their lives to **Jesus**, which halts the confrontation and disrupts Story Lord’s plans.

That anticlimax slows the train enough for Story Lord to enter the projected future, and Jesus himself appears in response. Rick and Morty use that literal **deus ex machina** to escape back onto the train while leaving Story Lord trapped in “every writer’s hell: the Bible.” When they try to leave, Rick discovers the control panel is fake, and the episode reveals that the entire Story Train is actually a **toy model train inside the Smith household**.

Story Lord then explains the nature of the setup to Jesus, after which Jesus breaks the toy train. Rick snaps at Morty to buy another one, complaining that “Nobody’s out there shopping with this fucking virus.” In the post-credits scene, a commercial advertises a **“Citadel of Ricks Story Train”** toy line, featuring versions of Jesus, Story Lord, and the train’s Rick and Morty.