Some episodes of Rick & Morty season 5 have earned criticism for being sillier than ever, but the zaniest outing so far actually houses a dark, thoughtful slice of satire beneath its goofy exterior. Rick & Morty has often prompted debate among fans and critics about just how smart (or dumb) the series really is. Since its inception, the Adult Swim hit has won critical acclaim for its moments of thoughtful genre deconstruction and playful approach to familiar tropes.
However, Rick & Morty has also injected lewd humor and crude silliness into classic sci-fi settings for the sake of dumb laughs. There is, of course, nothing wrong with self-consciously silly humor, but some recent punchlines (like Morty and Summer’s Giant Incest Baby) have been criticized for erring too far into this goofy territory. This makes it all the more interesting that the show’s most recent outing masked a lot of thought-provoking satire beneath its extremely silly action.
Rick & Morty’s “Rick & Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular” (season 5, episode 6) seems, on the face of it, to be one of the season’s dumbest outings (an impressive achievement when following up an episode about sentient killer sperm). However, the combination of the Turkey President Doppelgänger’s satire of corruption in US politics and the brief mention of the healthcare crisis and its effect on uninsured veterans, makes this episode one of the most painfully real attempts at satire since season 4’s triumphant, underrated “Promortyus” (season 4, episode 7). Like that earlier episode, this outing wraps its pointed political jabs in a layer of genre-spoofing mayhem that masks the episode’s prescient points.
Consider the joke of the Turkey President Doppelgänger holding the office for longer than anyone anticipated because he continued to give Congress raises and thus politicians on both sides of the aisle couldn’t have cared less whether he was a turkey planning to kill them or not. It is a hilariously over-the-top gag, but most viewers could probably think of a politician or two who would do the very same. As a result, season 5 of Rick & Morty can use this surreal set up to take aim at these uncaring figures - albeit via the silliest means imaginable. It is a lot like how earlier episodes in the season addressed Rick & Morty’s historical lack of compelling, fleshed-out love interests for Morty, but did so via time travel and superhero parodies.
Meanwhile, the character of Cooper - Timothy Olyphant’s soldier who saves the President and yet still cannot afford basic groceries, let alone treatment for his evident PTSD - features some of the most real themes Rick & Morty has ever touched on. The issue of average Americans being unable to afford necessary treatment due to not having healthcare is a real, tragic problem and probably the last theme viewers would expect to see in an adventure that combines killer turkeys with broad action movie parodies. However, Rick & Morty's season 5 episode 6’s post-credits scene manages to neatly loop these two together as Cooper’s grocery store breakdown is both a damning indictment of the long-standing healthcare crisis and a hilariously surreal Rick & Morty stinger.