M. Night Shaym-Aliens!
episode of Rick and Morty (S1 E4)

"M. Night Shaym-Aliens!" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Rick and Morty. Directed by Jeff Myers and written by Tom Kauffman, the episode was aired on January 13, 2014. It stars Justin Roiland as both titular characters, Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith, Chris Parnell as Jerry Smith, and Sarah Chalke as Beth Smith. Summer Smith, a series regular voiced by Spencer Grammer, does not appear in the episode.
The title of the episode is a reference to Indian-American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan and his penchant for twist endings. The episode received positive reviews from critics upon its premiere.
Plot
Aliens hold Rick and Jerry captive in a virtual reality, in an attempt to steal Rick's recipe for Concentrated Dark Matter, which would allow them to travel at higher speeds in outer space. As Rick repeatedly attempts escape with Morty (later revealed to be a simulation), he discovers that there are multiple virtual realities layered on top of each other; each simulation's version of the aliens running the "lower" simulation. In contrast, Jerry—despite numerous system glitches—remains completely oblivious, and continually attempts to sell his advertising slogan for apples. Rick finally outsmarts the aliens by giving them a fake recipe, who send Rick and Jerry back to Earth.
“M. Night Shaym-Aliens!” enters the record as episode of Rick and Morty (S1 E4). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Night, Shaym-Aliens and episode can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “M. Night Shaym-Aliens!” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.