This is one of those episodes where characters ramble off batshit high-concept stuff at speed, but somehow, it’s all followable. You can harness the power of the pooping fate monster by writing what you want to happen on a slip of paper and then putting it inside a pooped-out fortune cookie? Got it. Once you get a fortune from a cookie, as long as your fate hasn’t yet come to pass, you’re effectively immortal? Makes sense to me. The old guy who takes care of the pooping monster put a bunch of “You will have sex with your mother” fortunes out into the world in hopes someone would come investigate and liberate him and the monster from their forced labor? Why, of course, it’s the only explanation that makes sense!
There’s a freewheeling, absurd cleverness throughout “Final DeSmithation” and it extends to Rick’s sci-fi powers. As usual, Rick is pretty well in control of the situation, killing baddies and dodging death without breaking a sweat, but his methods this time are consistently fun to watch. I don’t think Rick has ever been this Inspector Gadget-like before, with robotic implants extending from all over his body to get he and Jerry out of different binds. From an extend-o-eye that reveals hidden cameras to an ability to duck his head into body to avoid bullets, there’s a great playfulness to all of Rick’s sci-fi abilities this time around, adding welcome charm to what could be more exhausting sequences of Rick effortlessly killing everybody.
Also charming is that this an episode that pairs up Rick and Jerry, which is a rare but almost always fun character permutation. Rick having to keep Jerry safe like he’s a dumb, defenseless puppy throughout the episode is cute as are his occasional attempts to joke around with Jerry and lighten the mood. Overall, these two bouncing off each other makes for funny stuff. (However, the post-credits tag joke, which features the rest of the family, is overlong and brings the episode down a tad.)
Last, but certainly not least, is that “Final DeSmithation” is elevated by a running gag about the theme from classic seventies sitcom, Taxi, because of, as Morty explains, a meme from a subculture on TikTok of kids who have decided the theme from Taxi slaps. I like this a lot because the theme from Taxi does, in fact, slap.