Review: Rick and Morty, "Final DeSmithation" | Season 6, Episode 5
Review: Rick and Morty, "Final DeSmithation" | Season 6, Episode 5
Jerry and Rick go on a road trip to stop the unthinkable on a gross, goofy, and very funny episode
All right, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way: “Final DeSmithation” is the second episode this season built around an incest joke, and while this week is considerably sillier than “Bethic Twinstinct,” it’s still a curious choice for a running gag. Rick And Morty has never shied away from incest-adjacent humor: there’s a bit in “Lawnmower Dog” about a dream version of Summer getting too friendly with both her grandfather and her brother, and, of course, we have the Giant Space Baby from last season. I don’t really think there’s anything intentional about it, beyond just “we’re a show that likes to be edgy, what’s edgier than incest?” (A lot of things, but you get my point.) But I’d feel remiss if I didn’t mention it, y’know? Just dealing with it up front. Here’s an episode where Jerry gets extremely worried that he’s fated to have sex with his mom. Let’s all take a moment.1
The fact that he doesn’t end up having sex with her—and the added fact that I …