Why Rick's Love Potion In Rick And Morty Makes No Sense

In the Season 1 episode titled "Rick Potion No. 9," one of Rick's inventions goes terribly wrong, and it wouldn't be the last time. Morty asks Rick to make a potion to use on his crush to make her fall in love with him. Rick obliges him and uses oxytocin extracted from a vole — an animal that mates for life — and some of Morty's DNA to make a potion. Of course, Rick fails to mention the side effects, and when the potion comes into contact with the flu, it quickly becomes airborne and spreads. Rick then tries to cure the infected by using praying mantis DNA, but then everyone is turned into insect-like "Cronenberg" monsters. The only solution for Rick and Morty is to find another habitable universe for them to live in.

But what really doesn't make sense about Rick's love potion is how he used oxytocin. As someone who is supposed to be the smartest man in the universe, Rick should've known that oxytocin doesn't work that way. While oxytocin has been dubbed the "love hormone" and plays a role in social bonding, it can't be used to make a stranger fall in love with you. According to Harvard Health, it's mainly a hormone that triggers childbirth, or it's released when you're already in love. It's not going to work on a stranger, as in Morty's case.