What Morty doesn’t expect in the slightest is that Jessica doesn’t totally rebuff his admission, instead noting that his nervousness is a kind of selfishness, and she agrees to go on a date with him.
The bad news is that it lands them in the ocean, and evidently that’s a place that Rick is never supposed to go.
For what is supposed to be just the opening of an episode, there is a hell of a lot to unpack here.
While it’s not uncommon for Rick and Morty to drop audiences into action that is already in progress, this is arguably the first time where it really looks like it might be the end for the titular duo.