Episode 3 of Rick and Morty’s sixth season was sick, but Episode 5 is somehow even more twisted, with Jerry opening a fortune cookie that predicts the worst future imaginable, for him, and for his mom.
That third episode found Beth making love to herself, which was weird enough – the most upsetting moment in the season thus far. But Episode 5 – titled “Final DeSmithation” – finds Jerry very nearly having sexual relations with his mother, which is as messed up as Rick and Morty gets.
It all starts in a Panda Express – what strange sci-fi adventure doesn’t? – where the family finishes a meal and opens their fortune cookies. It’s all very dull and predictable, until Jerry cracks his.
“You will have sex with your mother” reads the message, which immediately – understandably – sends Jerry spiralling.
What happens in Rick and Morty’s “Final DeSmithatian”?
Questions over the legitimacy and specificity of the prediction haunt Jerry, making him sick, and giving him sleepless nights.
As the Smiths plan for a family trip to the zoo, they mercilessly mock him via pranks, cruel jibes, and posts on social media. But Jerry being Jerry becomes ever-more convinced his fate is sealed, especially when out of the blue, his mom starts texting and calling.
Rick is initially skeptical, but soon comes round, creating a bizarre penis/box experiment to figure out if said fortune will come true. Which in turn, convinces him that whoever wrote the fortune has god-like powers.
Fate isn’t fiction
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So with the family at the zoo, Rick and Jerry are paired off on their own adventure; one that takes them back to Panda Express, then onto the cookie factory, where they uncover a vast conspiracy.
Seems a cult has sprung up around cookies which proves that fate isn’t fiction, but rather being controlled for profit, by the world’s rich and powerful.
As for the fortunes themselves, they are being crafted by a huge alien that eats chaos then effectively poops them out. Oh, and the cookie that terrified Jerry and intrigued Rick was crafted by an old man who wants to elope with said alien. Convoluted doesn’t being to cover it.
But the episode is all good fun, with Rick spending the climax fighting henchman who know their own fortunes, while Jerry spends it trying to not shag his mom.
The Verdict: Is Rick and Morty “Final DeSmithation”
After last week’s slice of sci-fi genius, S6 E5 is a more pedestrian Rick and Morty. If you can call an episode that ends with a portal sucking a monster and alien out as a man fires a fortune cookie with the words “No sex mom” into the mouth of his son-in-law pedestrian.
But episodes that pair Rick with Jerry are always a blast, the pair proving to be the show’s oddest couple as they undermine each other while arguing their way through each adventure.
Making “Final DeSmithation” a decent episode with a messed up A-plot, and a B-plot that’s brilliantly forgotten until an equally messed up postscript; one that brings proceedings to a close with the biggest of laughs.
