Friday, October 14, 2011

South Park: Burgers & Butters

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

The return of South Park is always an interesting time of year. You never know what they're going to come up with, and with news constantly surfacing, pop culture references are usually as relevant and up-to-date as possible. The first two episodes were just-okay in my opinion, but there were still plenty of genius moments, and that's enough for me. The first picks up right where the mid-season finale left off, with Stan's family on the rocks. The second seems to be rather popular, as I've already heard two references to it in real life. Which did you prefer, and what do you hope to see in the next bunch of episodes?

South Park "Ass Burgers" (S15E08): It's 7am and Stan wakes up depressed in an apartment building. [The spoof on Terra Nova was funny.] The school seems to be requiring mandatory HPV vaccinations for the girls. [I thought it was going to be an interesting take on that whole shenanigan, but it kinda gets dropped rather quickly] Stan finally breaks from his silence and gets sent to the principal's office. The principal thinks that Kyle has Asperger's because of a flu shot a year before. Of course, Cartman hears the word and takes it literally... to the point where he comes to school the next day with hamburgers in his underwear. [funny and revolting all at the same time...] He's trying to claim he has "ass burgers." [...duh.] Kyle tells Wendy that Stan is a life-suck now. [which seems pretty true, honestly.] Kyle tries a hamburger from Cartman, loves it, and starts passing them out. Stan and his mother go to an Asperger's Institute, where he attends a group session... which is apparently a cover for a Matrix-like conspiracy. [this really just had me shaking my head for several minutes...] Stan, of course, is interested in making things not sound like sh!t. [again, you had to see the previous episode to "get it."] They give Stan some whiskey and he sees the sun smiling and is happy again. DrunkStan apologizes to Kyle, but also mentions some alien conspiracy. The next day there's some more Matrix crap, like a world of illusion... complete with a lot of Jamison drinking. [10-year-old alcoholics... my favorite. NOT.] All the while, Cartman is selling his burgers for $5 each, and there's a "secret last process" step.  A bunch of fast food company workers are trying to figure out what Cartman is doing to his burgers to make them lose customers... they send Stan to go find out what the secret is, and, in the process, Stan ends up realizing that change is cool. Cartman's secret is that he puts the burgers in his butt... once that's out in the open, his little business is destroyed. Stan's parents reconcile in the end of the episode... because they think it's best to "stick with what you know."  [don't even get me started...] Stan, however, remains depressed, and secretly drinks to stop the world from sucking. [oh boy...]

South Park "The Last of the Meheecans" (S15E09): The kids are playing Border Patrol, with Cartman being the lead of the Texans and most of the kids being Mexicans (including Butters, Kenny, Stan, and Kyle). [the forks being taped to the border as barbed wire was funny.] Clive lets Stan in because he was distracted... and more kids get over the wall while Cartman is screaming. [haha!] Cartman pouts because he lost the game... until it looks like Butters is still out in the woods... and it's snowing. Hours have gone by, and Butters starts walking and gets hit by a car... by people who think he really is a Mexican. [hahaha.] They bring him back to their house and call him "Mantequilla," which is Spanish for "butter." [LoL!] Butters is doing housework for the couple, who end up eventually letting Butters go... so they drop him off at El Pollo Loco. [LoL.] The workers there think it's funny that a white American kid wants to be Mexican. [well...] So, they decide to go back to Mexico, Butters in tow. Butters is heralded in Mexico. [This is generally when his parents or another adult would realize that Butters is missing and a search party of sorts would form. Why didn't this happen this time?]
photo courtesy: Comedy Central
Cartman has joined the volunteer border patrol, who just stops people crossing the boarder - regardless of which way they are going. [I found this to be absolutely hilarious - both that people were going "back" and that border guards were stopping them.] A couple dozen Mexicans head toward Mexico and Cartman tases them. There's a celebration for Butters in Mexico, but he soon decides to head home. The border is going to let in Butters, since they find it sad that Obama has made the country so sh!tty that the Mexicans don't want to come there. [hahahahahaha!] Cartman doesn't want to lose his game, however, so he just keeps trying to stop Butters from getting in... which leads to a chase by donkey, boat, four-wheeler, etc. It took Butters 2.5 weeks to return. Butters still does, however, have a super-power of sorts: he can bring the Mexican people to cheering without being anywhere near there. [wonder if we'll see this play out again?]
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