Will Rick’s CHUD Son Ever Return to ‘Rick and Morty’ After His Disastrous First Appearance?
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In all the fandom discourse surrounding the worst ever episode of Rick and Morty, no one ever brings up the other unholy bastard child to come out of “Rickdependence Spray.”
The Rick and Morty Season Five episode is so infamous among the show’s vibrant and active online following that the phrase “giant incest baby” is enough to send many stans into Vietnam flashbacks or Battle of Blood Ridge thousand-yard stares. The worst episode of the show’s worst season was an immediate source of anger for fans who felt that the quality and ingenuity of their favorite series was slipping away before their very eyes. According to many fans at the time, the gross, uninspired and unfunny plot line about sentient sperm and space incest seemed to spell doom for the series as some feared that “Rickdependence Spray” was Rick and Morty’s shark-jumping moment.
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Two seasons later, Dan Harmon and his writers have righted the ship as the fandom lauds Season Seven for being a complete return to form for a series that so recently seemed to have lost its way. Considering the Rick and Morty writing staff’s obsession with continuity and callbacks, one fan wonders whether Rick and Morty can reclaim a piece of lore from its most hated episode and reintroduce a grotesque lovechild back into the cast — but not Naruto Smith, of course.
In the Rick and Morty subreddit, user Dr_Middlefinger recently reminded the show’s fandom that a certain member of the Smith family introduced during “Rickdependence Spray” is still floating around out there, with “there” meaning the sprawling underground and not outer space where the other tragically unforgotten Smith child floats. “Rick has a son. Any thoughts on his possible future?” the user wrote, referencing the picture of the half-human, half-human-horse-hybrid born to CHUD Princess Poñeta (voiced by Christina Ricci) after her fling with Rick Sanchez.
During the episode, Rick’s illegitimate horse-son not only saves Rick from punishment at the hands of the CHUD King, but he also helps Poñeta convince her father to assist the overworld in fighting off the mutant sperm menace. The unnamed lovechild did not, however, save “Rickdependence Spray” from disgusting a fanbase that’s become accustomed to ambitiously grotesque imagery and scientifically amoral amalgamations. Roasted Cronenberg, anyone?
Very little that was introduced in “Rickdependence Spray” has yet to impact the greater continuity of the series. Naruto Smith, better known as the “giant incest baby” or, more aptly, the “giant incest monster,” plays a supporting part as an impromptu siege weapon in Season Five’s “Gotron Jerrysis Rickvangelion” and is mentioned in an off-hand comment during a single episode in Season Six. Seemingly, the writers’ will is aligned with the fans’ wishes to forget that the entire unfortunate episode happened as the series continues on with only implied incest playing a central role in future plot points.
Rick’s CHUD son may only be the second most disgusting out-of-wedlock progeny of “Rickdependence Spray,” but considering how quiet the underworld has been since Season Five, it doesn’t seem all that likely that the human-horse hybrid child will return to the foald.
