'Rick and Morty' Just Aired Its Stupidest Episode Yet
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Rick and Morty season 5, episode 4 spoilers follow.
On a show where Slut Dragons and Jellybean Kings are commonplace, it's easy to dismiss Rick and Morty as a dumb, throwaway cartoon. But to anyone who's actually watched an episode all the way through, it's clear that Rick and Morty is usually so much more than that. We say "usually" because season five's latest episode may cause some fans to question this claim.
'Rickdependence Spray' starts with Morty banging a breeding mount used to collect horse sperm in his mother's workplace. And not just once either. The "dirty little dog" has sex with it over and over again. One week in, Rick suddenly interrupts these plans when he uses the "horse" sperm to create a weapon that will kill the CHUDs, cannibalistic horse people who live underground.
Weirdly enough, that's not the strangest set-up we've ever seen on Rick and Morty. But then Morty's semen accidentally leads to the creation of killer space sperm... and that's it really. Throw in some action-movie tropes along with a giant incest baby, and that's the crux of this episode in a nutshell.
'Rickdependence Spray' is worlds away from the first two episodes of season five, AKA Morty's Narnia-style escapade and the whole decoy family mindf**k. Both took a convoluted sci-fi concept and ran with it, stretching things out to their most absurd conclusion in what Den of Geek affectionately refers to as a "sci-fi puzzle box" approach to storytelling.
When episodes like this succeed, they're among the very best that Rick and Morty has to offer. But sometimes, Rick and Morty shines brightest when it's at its most stupid. Remember when we discovered that the legendary rapper Ice-T is actually an anthropomorphic letter from the planet Alphabetrium? It's dumb, but crucially, it's also funny, because Rick and Morty is actually really smart about dumb humor, for the most part.
Because of that, we spent most of this episode waiting for Rick to reveal that he knew what Morty did all along, and that he created the killer sperm to teach his grandson a lesson. It's a narrative this show has played around with before, and that would have made it a tad predictable, but at least this kind of twist would have added an extra layer to the story. Instead, this episode really is just about Morty's killer sperm impregnating Summer's giant-size egg. And it's just as dumb (and gross) as this sounds.
There's something to be said for committing to the bit. Those "sci-fi puzzle box" episodes work so well precisely because the writers truly commit and surprise us by taking things to the nth degree. And the same can be said for some of Rick and Morty's sillier jokes too. Just look at the very best episodes of 'Interdimensional Cable' to see what we mean. Those would never work unless you go balls-to-the-wall crazy with it. Like the most squanchy you could imagine.
'Rickdependence Spray' does that too, but unfortunately, it relies far too hard on grossing us out without anything smart to back it up. Watching Rick make out with a pregnant horse princess is kind of funny, sure, but it's also aggressively dumb in ways that just feel a bit empty. And don't get us started on that giant incest baby who floats off into space at the end.
Rick and Morty normally prides itself on being smart, to the point where some fans have even argued that only intelligent people can understand this show. While that's absurd and narcissistic, it is disappointing to see the writers resort to shock value here without something more interesting to back it up.
Even when Beth and Summer point out the government's misogyny, presumably in a bid to add some depth, the jokes just feel flat and outdated. Given everything Summer has been through, not to mention who her grandfather is, it's hard to believe that this kind of sexism would come as such a shock to her.
Of course, there will be fans who laughed all the way through this episode, and who perhaps even enjoyed a respite from some of the more convoluted stories we've seen in recent weeks. Not every episode can be — or even should be — as complex as something like 'Mortiplicity'. Standout episodes like 'Pickle Rick' are proof of that.
And there's nothing wrong with grossing us out either. Fans of the show have come to expect that ever since King Jellybean tried to molest Morty all the way back in season one. But without something smarter and funnier to back up the horse sex, all you're left with is another messy low point like last season's Slut Dragons episode.
Rick and Morty airs on Adult Swim in the US.
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