During his wild and fantastical adventures in the cosmos, Rick Sanchez (Justin Roiland) often delights in disobeying authority. So much so that he refuses to join a government made up entirely of Ricks. But the United States government is another authority that Rick feels particularly deserves his wrath. This longtime rivalry begins in the Season 2 episode “Get Schwifty,” when Rick and Morty (also voiced by Justin Roiland) must defend Earth from a group of intergalactic giant heads they plan to use in their music competition. If they lose, they get burned.
The stakes are high and the military is confident they know how to deal with the problem. Kurtwood Smith voices trigger-happy General Nathan, who believes the only way to defeat the Minds is to fire missiles at them. His faith is so strong that he KOs the POTUS (Keith David) with his gun. Useless in this endeavor, of course, the government’s missiles are proving ineffective against the heads. The only real solution is to play the game and use the power of music to win heads. Smith’s long history of playing grumpy fathers and villains makes him perfect for the role. His voice is just recognizable enough to be a notable actor, and just nefarious enough that it seems okay for Rick to blast him into oblivion with a particle beam.
