Trust Rick and Morty to put a completely bizarre spin on the Thanksgiving episode trope. No offense to Charlie Brown or especially Bob’s Burgers; we love Thanksgiving with the Belchers so much, we did a whole list celebrating all the turkey-adjacent fiascos they’ve endured. But back in season five, “Rick and Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular” let you know it was coming out of left field by airing in the middle of July—and it immediately set about twisting tradition on its head as soon as its plot kicked into motion.
Right off the bat, Rick and Morty (still in their Justin Roiland era at this point) piss off the President of the United States (Keith David) when their scheme to steal the Constitution National Treasure-style goes horribly awry. Who knew there was a killer giant robot hidden inside the Statue of Liberty? This disaster is technically Morty’s fault, but Rick and the POTUS love nothing more than going to war with each other, so it’s game on once again.
© Adult Swim
The only way out, Rick figures, is to turn himself into a turkey and trick the president into pardoning him as part of the White House’s annual Thanksgiving tradition. It’s such a dumb idea that it just might work. In fact, it has worked. We know this because the Smith family’s incredulous reaction to hearing Rick’s plan is, to quote Jerry (Chris Parnell), “Again? How many times have you done this?”
When Morty points out that the President is naturally going to expect Rick to try it again, we soon realize doubling down on the subterfuge makes it even more exciting—for both parties. The president has an equally elaborate competing scheme to try and out-Rick Rick.
He calls it “Operation Deep Gobble,” and it involves a group of gung-ho Marines transforming into turkeys who are then marked with tracking chips, armed with machine guns, and outfitted with cool sunglasses. Turkey Rick and Morty quickly infiltrate their numbers; the president immediately sees through this. His next move—to also transform into a turkey—takes Rick by surprise. A rare achievement!
A frenzy of pecks and feathers ensues; when the president’s tracking chip gets swallowed by an actual bird, the military’s scientists mistakenly inject that turkey with presidential DNA. The resulting body-horror abomination immediately assumes all the Commander in Chief’s duties, and his popularity skyrockets when he starts openly bribing Congress. Meanwhile, Rick, Morty, and the president return to their human forms, and the battle starts getting more complicated.
“Thanksploitation Spectacular,” which has a running joke about calling people “terrorists,” eventually drills down into the ongoing and breathtakingly petty feud between the smartest man in the universe and the leader of the free world. As Rick points out, he’s not anti-American; he hates all countries and all politicians equally. The argument that ensues includes the phrases “nerdy poopies,” “edgelord anus,” and “booger-eater”—all delivered in Keith David’s velvety voice.
© Adult Swim
There’s a brief, if frosty, moment of peace as the POTUS joins Rick and his family for a Jerry-prepared Thanksgiving dinner. But the true healing begins when the TV news reveals the turkey president’s plan to turn every turkey in America into a hybrid half-human, half-turkey, all-terrifying super-soldier.
The only solution is for Rick, Morty, and the president to work together, cracking into the “Crypt of the New World” hidden beneath the Lincoln Memorial, which the president explains conceals “this country’s oldest secret, one disguised by centuries of Thanksgiving folklore.” Out of cold storage come the original enemies of the turkey dinosaurs that once ruled America: ancient aliens who very suspiciously resemble stereotypical Pilgrims and Indians, albeit with some notably Predator-esque enhancements.
A massive clash ensues. In victory, Rick and Morty finally get their pardons—and the episode ends with reflection on how aliens really built America, not the Pilgrims and the Indigenous people that schoolkids learn about in the story of the first Thanksgiving.
Morty has an understandably confused reaction to that, but the President—whose strife with Rick makes an inevitable return in future seasons, because of course it does—simply advises him to “Feel thankful.”
While we wait to see how the Rick and Morty universe will expand with the president’s own spin-off series, President Curtis—which won’t feature Rick or Morty and will therefore need to find comedic misadventures of its own making—we can still feel thankful that the Adult Swim stalwart didn’t cave to sentimentality in this unconventional (and rare) holiday-focused installment.
Americans: we don’t know our own history, and we’re so deeply committed to coming out on top we don’t consider the damage we might be doing to get there.
You need only watch the post-credits scene—in which we witness an alarming side effect that comes with transforming a marine into a turkey and back again, followed by a dig about his crappy health insurance—to know cynicism rules ‘round these parts, no matter what festive vibes are in the air.
© Adult Swim
Rick and Morty season nine is expected to arrive in 2026; so far there’s no release date set for President Curtis. You can watch past seasons of Rick and Morty, including season five’s “Rick and Morty’s Thanksploitation Spectacular,” on HBO Max and Hulu.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
