Grid Effect

Haven’t watched Survivor all that closely, we’ll try to skim through it at lunch for a rehashing just so the post is somewhat coherent. For now, here’s a recap of last night’s South Park, which we were pleasantly surprised with.

We can’t believe it took Parker and Stone this long to start dropping acid, but damn if it didn’t pay off. I have to tell you, if you haven’t seen a carebear get shot through the head by a terrorist then you my friend, haven’t lived. “Imaginationland” was like a cross between the “Woodland Christmas Critters” episode, one of the more “adventurous” episodes of Tailspin, and the hallucinations I experienced my freshman year of undergrad.

Just a tip of the iceberg.

As a general rule of thumb, when an episode of South Park deviates from the norm and into absurdities, they tend to utilize it well, and this was yet another example of that being the case. Using all mainstream children’s fables to create a world where our collective imagination is a living, breathing entity, then having it hijacked by terrorists and Butter’s being held captive, is, without saying, fucking genius. Then to have it all set to a subplot of Kyle signing a written contract to fellate Cartman’s scrotum should he prove the existence of a Leprechaun, which he did, only adds another element to an episode loaded with laugh out loud moments.

We can’t remember seeing a South Park episode where one could make the claim that there was almost too much going on in it, but there is a first time for everything. But we’re not complaining. None of the story lines felt flat, Cartman has always used the phrase “suck my balls” as a dismissive, watching someone fret over a court order to literally do so might seem cheap and easy, but it’s hysterical.

Additionally, Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided to use an episode revolving around the power of imagination to illustrate how little those in Hollywood occasionally seem to have. M. Night Shammaylan was mocked for his obligatory “twist” endings, Michael Bay for his obsession for CGI and special effects and ignorance of plot and character development. They did a number on Mel Gibson as well, but at least he was granted the approximation of having a semblance of understanding for storytelling, even if he is a perverted masochist (It’s about this time I start worrying about what abnormal Google searches will stumble onto this page). Anytime this series mocks celebrities for their mediocre work, it tends to be appropriate, as it was here.

Some highlights:

-Rockety Rocket freaking out as the terrorists were actually using him to blow up the wall separating good and evil imagination. His “Jesus Christ” right before he is rolled into the barricade.

-Butters assuming the gregarious fat man dressed like half a clown was going to rape them.

-Stan and Kyle’s court hearing.

-Everything about the imagination land.

-The depiction of the leprechaun, and the rainbow he created to disappear.

Definitely a top twenty episode for a series with about 160 under its belt. Even better, this is a three part saga. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t interested as to where the actual story is going as well, usually we say on this site that if a comedy evokes laughter, then it’s successful, but if the story regardless of how ridiculous can actually provide intrigue, then all the better.

Survivor recap later today. Maybe some more links if we can find the time.