Rick and Morty is no stranger to all things gross in writing and animation alike, but "Rick and Morty's Thanksploitation Spectacular" turns up the dial on upsetting visuals with its turkey transformation sequences; here's why. Rick has embodied a pickle, a shrimp, a wasp, and more, but never have audiences seen as disgusting a process on screen as this. Fart jokes and deification humor aside, this sequence from the show's latest episode is sure to stick in viewers' minds as among the grossest things Rick and Morty has ever done.
Rick and Morty's season 5 Thanksgiving retcon takes to task the eponymous American tradition celebrating alleged peace between the Pilgrims and indigenous peoples in the 17th century. The concept plays upon the Turkey Pardon, a ceremony in which the President of the United States spares a turkey on thanksgiving as an act of benevolence. To avoid persecution for destroying several American icons (the Constitution, the Lincoln Memorial, the Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty), Rick resolves that he and Morty must transform into turkeys in order to trick the President into pardoning them, as Rick has apparently evaded justice for his crimes in this way several times before. The President, however, knows Rick's gambit and resolves to turn into a turkey himself, alongside some Marines, to stop the charade.
The resultant transformations are among the most unsettling and grotesque sequences to grace a Rick and Morty episode. Although it lasts only an instant, the way in which their faces contort in apparent agony makes an impression on any who sees it. The show has seen Rick and Morty have transformed into several things throughout the course of the show, but this is by far the most explicit view of the actual process of the transformation that the show has featured yet, owing undoubtedly in part to the increased budget and manpower season 5 wields over its predecessors.
But this sequence hardly comes out of left field, as the show has featured plenty of disturbing visuals leading up to this one. In "Rick Potion #9," Rick and Morty inadvertently turn every living thing on their home planet into a "Cronenberg," referencing the body horror iconography of the famed Fly (1986) director. They even revisit Cronenberg World on occasion in later episodes. Another example comes from "Promortyous," in which characters birth alien eggs before dying explosive deaths. "Edge of Tomorty: Rick Die Rickpeat" features arguably the most holistically disturbing sequence in the show, where Mr. Goldenfold (here rendered as a prey insect) is torturously eaten alive, along with his offspring, by the wasp-Smith family.
The show also delights in gross-out themes, especially in its humor. Often, the writers make reference to bodily functions, like eating poop in "Pickle Rick," shy pooping in "The Old Man and the Seat," and innumerable fart jokes across the series. As the show has grown in scope and scale, its animation has followed suit, allowing violent scenes to be animated with so much gore, the sequences approach gross-out levels of carnage. Such improvements have also enabled the show to tackle more stomach-turning subject matter in character detail, like the hell-dwellers in "Amortican Grickfitti," whose body piercings and pain-loving accouterments might offend delicate sensibilities. And the show has embraced overt displays of sexuality since the pleasure-chamber sequence in "Lawnmower Dog", the second episode ever, arguably culminating with arguably its squickiest sequence yet in Rick and Morty's season 5 episode with the incest baby.
Rick and Morty was built upon a gross foundation, and it will continue to aspire towards the goal of being the best, grossest show on television with reckless abandon. While the turkey transformation is certainly upsetting to watch, it likely won't be the last time that Rick and Morty viewers will have an animation sequence burrow into the most disgusting recesses of their minds, especially with the animation budget continuing to increase and the writers' room continuing to hit the gas on horrific sci-fi/adventure concepts in the show's later stages.