The ‘Rick and Morty’ Thanksgiving Episode Takes a Delightfully Cynical Jab at American Values

Belief Rick and Morty to place a very weird spin on the Thanksgiving episode trope. No offense to Charlie Brown or particularly Bob’s Burgers; we love Thanksgiving with the Belchers a lot, we did a whole list celebrating all of the turkey-adjacent fiascos they’ve endured. However again in season five, “Rick and Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular” let you understand it was popping out of left discipline by airing in the course of July—and it instantly set about twisting custom on its head as quickly as its plot kicked into movement.

Proper off the bat, Rick and Morty (nonetheless of their Justin Roiland period at this level) piss off the President of the USA (Keith David) when their scheme to steal the Structure Nationwide Treasure-style goes horribly awry. Who knew there was a killer large robotic hidden contained in the Statue of Liberty? This catastrophe is technically Morty’s fault, however Rick and the POTUS love nothing greater than going to struggle with one another, so it’s sport on as soon as once more.

The one manner out, Rick figures, is to show himself right into a turkey and trick the president into pardoning him as a part of the White Home’s annual Thanksgiving custom. It’s such a dumb concept that it simply would possibly work. The truth is, it has labored. We all know this as a result of the Smith household’s incredulous response to listening to Rick’s plan is, to cite Jerry (Chris Parnell), “Once more? What number of occasions have you ever performed this?”

When Morty factors out that the President is of course going to count on Rick to strive it once more, we quickly notice doubling down on the subterfuge makes it much more thrilling—for each events. The president has an equally elaborate competing scheme to try to out-Rick Rick.

He calls it “Operation Deep Gobble,” and it includes a gaggle of gung-ho Marines reworking into turkeys who’re then marked with monitoring chips, armed with machine weapons, and outfitted with cool sun shades. Turkey Rick and Morty shortly infiltrate their numbers; the president instantly sees by way of this. His subsequent transfer—to additionally rework right into a turkey—takes Rick without warning. A uncommon achievement!

A frenzy of pecks and feathers ensues; when the president’s monitoring chip will get swallowed by an precise hen, the navy’s scientists mistakenly inject that turkey with presidential DNA. The ensuing body-horror abomination instantly assumes all of the Commander in Chief’s duties, and his reputation skyrockets when he begins brazenly bribing Congress. In the meantime, Rick, Morty, and the president return to their human kinds, and the battle begins getting extra difficult.

“Thanksploitation Spectacular,” which has a operating joke about calling folks “terrorists,” ultimately drills down into the continued and breathtakingly petty feud between the neatest man within the universe and the chief of the free world. As Rick factors out, he’s not anti-American; he hates all international locations and all politicians equally. The argument that ensues contains the phrases “nerdy poopies,” “edgelord anus,” and “booger-eater”—all delivered in Keith David’s velvety voice.

There’s a short, if frosty, second of peace because the POTUS joins Rick and his household for a Jerry-prepared Thanksgiving dinner. However the true therapeutic begins when the TV information reveals the turkey president’s plan to show each turkey in America right into a hybrid half-human, half-turkey, all-terrifying super-soldier.

The one resolution is for Rick, Morty, and the president to work collectively, cracking into the “Crypt of the New World” hidden beneath the Lincoln Memorial, which the president explains conceals “this nation’s oldest secret, one disguised by centuries of Thanksgiving folklore.” Out of chilly storage come the unique enemies of the turkey dinosaurs that when dominated America: historic aliens who very suspiciously resemble stereotypical Pilgrims and Indians, albeit with some notably Predator-esque enhancements.

A large conflict ensues. In victory, Rick and Morty lastly get their pardons—and the episode ends with reflection on how aliens actually constructed America, not the Pilgrims and the Indigenous folks that schoolkids study within the story of the primary Thanksgiving.

Morty has an understandably confused response to that, however the President—whose strife with Rick makes an inevitable return in future seasons, due to course it does—merely advises him to “Really feel grateful.”

Whereas we wait to see how the Rick and Morty universe will increase with the president’s personal spin-off sequence, President Curtis—which gained’t function Rick or Morty and can due to this fact want to seek out comedic misadventures of its personal making—we will nonetheless really feel grateful that the Grownup Swim stalwart didn’t cave to sentimentality on this unconventional (and uncommon) holiday-focused installment.

Individuals: we don’t know our personal historical past, and we’re so deeply dedicated to popping out on prime we don’t contemplate the injury we is likely to be doing to get there.

You want solely watch the post-credits scene—by which we witness an alarming facet impact that comes with reworking a marine right into a turkey and again once more, adopted by a dig about his crappy medical insurance—to know cynicism guidelines ‘spherical these components, it doesn’t matter what festive vibes are within the air.

Rick and Morty season 9 is predicted to reach in 2026; to date there’s no launch date set for President Curtis. You may watch previous seasons of Rick and Morty, together with season 5’s “Rick and Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular,” on HBO Max and Hulu.

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