Rick and Morty’s interest in incest continues in “Final DeSmithation”

An innocent family dinner at the local Panda Express takes a strange turn when the fortune cookies arrive, and one of the folded sugar wafers prognosticates that Jerry is going to have sex with his mother. Jerry’s life is soon plagued with fear that such a ridiculous prediction might come to pass, so Rick, taking pity on him, tries to set his mind at ease. Or, failing that, to find out who is playing with the fates. It’s the writer’s barely disguised fetish for incest exposed in this episode of Rick and Morty, “Final DeSmithation.”

To start with, I enjoyed the episode. It pretty much had me after the cold opening; I just love the ridiculousness of the premise, in combination with Jerry’s continued haplessness. The presentation was perfect too. The opening scene is purposely boring, and you’re sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then Jerry reads his fortune, and cut to theme song: love it.

Breaking things down further, this is another episode that gives itself space and time to focus on  just one storyline. Jerry’s fear of fucking his mother is our only concern (and what a concern at that), and the writers use that breathing room effectively.

The first act of the episode focuses on Jerry’s seemingly illogical paranoia, as well as the family finding humor in him even worrying about it. Morty and Summer’s antics at the expense of their father are pretty funny. Personally my favorite was the bit where Jerry attempts to vomit to nullify the fortune cookie (everyone knows they only work if you actually eat the cookie) and laments that Sleepy Gary had “ruined his gag reflex.” Swinging Jerry.

After this, Rick takes pity on Jerry and tries to show him he has nothing to fear, saying that any random event is just as likely as any other. This theory is questioned, however, when Rick scans Jerry with a gadget that shows he is giving off increased odds for giving dear old mum the old in-out, in-out. From this point, the story spirals into a conspiracy as Rick and Jerry see how deep this rabbit hole goes. As deep as Jerry’s mother’s vagina. 

SPOILERS for Rick and Morty Episode 605 follow below

The gimmick of the episode is interesting. So basically, Rick and Jerry discover an underground company that produces fortune cookies that alter the eater’s fate. This allows for lots of fun jokes as their enemies consume fortune cookies that grant them powers and such. And anyone whose fortune remains unfulfilled is immortal. I like that, if only because it makes Jerry less of an obvious liability. Rick’s free to do whatever without having to babysit him.

Overall I really enjoyed the episode, but there are a few blemishes. For one, we have that problem again where Rick is immune to death. It’s getting so bad the show doesn’t even bother explaining “how” Rick is doing it. Usually we see the device or instrument or whatever pop out of his body and do what it needs to do. In this episode, Rick straight up gets shot in the head, but the bullets — for whatever reason — don’t penetrate. So, I guess we can assume Rick has a bulletproof plate in his skull too? Great, add it to the list.

At least the show took steps to make Rick’s immortality interesting this episode by upping the cartoon absurdity to it. For example, in this episode Rick also gets electrocuted like a Looney Tunes character. A deadly object coming for his skull is avoided when Rick’s head simply pops into his shirt. At least they’re getting creative with it, even if I find myself less and less interested in sequences of Rick recking a roomful of people The show tries to make it feel different each time, but there are only so many coats of paint you can give it.

That said, I really enjoyed the climax this episode. Rick saves Jerry from a fate worse than death and watches him skitter away from his mother. Although, quick digression, why is Rick complaining about having his immortality ruined by Jerry? Shut up dude, as if you have’t been immortal since Season 3.

And that’s all I’ve got for this episode of Rick and Morty. Join me next week when, I don’t know, maybe Summer gets stuck in the dryer machine and Morty helps her out.

Grade: B

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels