Written by Matt Roller and directed by Wes Archer, the episode first aired on Adult Swim in the United States on July 26, 2015.

In the episode, Rick, Morty, and his sister Summer—having restarted time after freezing it in the season one finale "Ricksy Business"—are in a quantum-uncertain state of existence.

An argument leads to the creation of two alternate timelines, which need to be stitched back together fast if they are to escape quantum collapse.

Though it was leaked online preceding its official premiere, it was tied as the most-watched cable program the night it first aired.

Morty and Summer argue, and the resulting uncertainty tears time apart into two realities—depicted visually as two mostly synchronized parallel realities.

Rick uses a Time Crystal to try to mend the timelines together, but Morty and Summer's continued uncertainty prevents the fusion from working.

As an animal surgeon, Beth attempts to help the deer at a veterinary hospital, but notices a gunshot wound in its side.

[1] There was talk of the frozen-time conceit being just a joke for a cold open, but the writers decided to expand it to the entire episode, with Roiland saying, "Okay, let’s try to actually do that and try to tell a whole story that shows why time is sort of problematic.

At first, chaos as a whole was responsible for the split time, but they decided on uncertainty as a cause solely to serve a joke about flathead/Phillips head screwdrivers.

[8] Harmon felt it a suitable source for the time split because uncertainty was "an intersection between quantum physics and [the] human condition.

"[9] The team was happy when they created the joke that Rick believes his parallel self is plotting to kill him, because it "felt like [we] were writing a cartoon.

"[10] The earliest incarnation of the B-story involved Rick taking Beth and Jerry and placing them amongst a sea of random individuals on an island or parking garage to occupy them;[11] Harmon characterized it as an "homage to event programming," such as Lost.

[13] Another version fused the episode's B-story more prominently with its A-story in that when a "time quake" would occur, Beth and Jerry would unknowingly experience repeated moments,[14] and their settings would change between the past, present, and future.

[26] "A Rickle in Time", alongside the second episode of the second season, "Mortynight Run", leaked online one month before its television premiere.

[27] Roiland noted that it was ripped from a press-only site, with subtle audio and animation errors that would be fixed in the final version.

"[29] IGN writer Jesse Schedeen dubbed the episode "truly memorable," summarizing it thusly: "[It] reminded us why this show is so unique.

"[30] Gita Jackson of Paste gave the episode at 9.0/10, commenting, "There's thought here, there's polish, they want to make sure you can see the work put into this.