Alright, so I'm back with another one of these f***ing reviews, and despite the intro, I'm in a much better mood. Does my mood swing have anything to do with a strong episode this week? F*** you, how should I know.
In all seriousness, this was one of the best episodes of the season. After a lackluster showing last week, Matt and Trey stepped up to the plate and kicked Daniel Murphy out of the box. This episode showcased some very strong writing, a couple very hilarious moments, and a ton of good ole South Park fun.
The episode is centered around shaming, both in conversation, confrontation, and on the web. For the first time this season, there is no true main plot/subplot divide. The episode is instead broken into three sections: fat shaming, charity shaming, and Butter being everyone's b****. Not sure whether I should censor that. The fat shaming plot centers around Cartman, as he posts pictures of his body on the internet, a cardinal sin. The expected backlash follows, and PC Principle is forced to start an initiative to help him out. He forces Butters to filter through every comment on Cartman's social media, filtering out the trolls and only spotlighting the positive comments. Eventually, this plan is spread out to include celebrities being fat-shamed(new word), and Butters is forced to do the same thing, with him taking on more and more of a load, pun intended. This all comes to a head in a fantastic musical number(really, watch it), where Reality attempts to intrude. At this point, we'll switch to the other storyline.
This was the one I was dreading, but actually ending up preferring. Randy, one of the main catalysts of this season, finally gets hit with some retribution. As part of the ongoing gentrification storyline, Randy is enjoying visiting Whole Foods, when he gets assaulted with some charity shaming. This is the more realistic of the two main plots, as almost everyone has been in the position of having to turn down a donation at the register. A Whole Foods employee takes passive aggressive to a whole new level with some pretty outlandish stunts. He bullies Randy unmercifully, leading the Marsh patriarch to start a social media campaign called #shamelessAmerica. I won't spoil this plot too much, as it really deserves watching. It's very well written, exploring this particular type of shaming very thoroughly, and can lead the viewer to all sorts of assumptions about donations and charity. There's some ads, a cardboard cutout, and fun with the loudspeaker. The only problem I had was with the "donation to put a hamster through college". This is completely over the top, especially given that we already have a college for hamsters- BYU.
It's at this point that the two stories, and really all three, collide in a big gala to raise money for #shamelessAmerica. Reality crashes the party, telling the guests that Butters is about to die for their trouble, having gone insane reading through so much negativity. The shamed realize the errors of their ways, and there's a nice tie-in for both storylines. In the end, humankind prevails, and Reality is hung by Butters.
My complaints for this episode are pretty brief, mainly centering around the Reality content. I like the little touch of making Reality the villain, but most of this seems forced. I feel like Matt and Trey just needed a protagonist to offset everything, and just throw this character in. Despite the complaint, I did like some of his work, including the rant at the #shamlessAmerica party.
9/10
I'm going to end the rambling here. I loved the episode, and even the worst aspects of it were still somewhat enjoyable. This was a massive step up in quality, and I want to see more of it. Just remember, in my Safe Space, none of you are welcome.
In all seriousness, this was one of the best episodes of the season. After a lackluster showing last week, Matt and Trey stepped up to the plate and kicked Daniel Murphy out of the box. This episode showcased some very strong writing, a couple very hilarious moments, and a ton of good ole South Park fun.
The episode is centered around shaming, both in conversation, confrontation, and on the web. For the first time this season, there is no true main plot/subplot divide. The episode is instead broken into three sections: fat shaming, charity shaming, and Butter being everyone's b****. Not sure whether I should censor that. The fat shaming plot centers around Cartman, as he posts pictures of his body on the internet, a cardinal sin. The expected backlash follows, and PC Principle is forced to start an initiative to help him out. He forces Butters to filter through every comment on Cartman's social media, filtering out the trolls and only spotlighting the positive comments. Eventually, this plan is spread out to include celebrities being fat-shamed(new word), and Butters is forced to do the same thing, with him taking on more and more of a load, pun intended. This all comes to a head in a fantastic musical number(really, watch it), where Reality attempts to intrude. At this point, we'll switch to the other storyline.
This was the one I was dreading, but actually ending up preferring. Randy, one of the main catalysts of this season, finally gets hit with some retribution. As part of the ongoing gentrification storyline, Randy is enjoying visiting Whole Foods, when he gets assaulted with some charity shaming. This is the more realistic of the two main plots, as almost everyone has been in the position of having to turn down a donation at the register. A Whole Foods employee takes passive aggressive to a whole new level with some pretty outlandish stunts. He bullies Randy unmercifully, leading the Marsh patriarch to start a social media campaign called #shamelessAmerica. I won't spoil this plot too much, as it really deserves watching. It's very well written, exploring this particular type of shaming very thoroughly, and can lead the viewer to all sorts of assumptions about donations and charity. There's some ads, a cardboard cutout, and fun with the loudspeaker. The only problem I had was with the "donation to put a hamster through college". This is completely over the top, especially given that we already have a college for hamsters- BYU.
It's at this point that the two stories, and really all three, collide in a big gala to raise money for #shamelessAmerica. Reality crashes the party, telling the guests that Butters is about to die for their trouble, having gone insane reading through so much negativity. The shamed realize the errors of their ways, and there's a nice tie-in for both storylines. In the end, humankind prevails, and Reality is hung by Butters.
My complaints for this episode are pretty brief, mainly centering around the Reality content. I like the little touch of making Reality the villain, but most of this seems forced. I feel like Matt and Trey just needed a protagonist to offset everything, and just throw this character in. Despite the complaint, I did like some of his work, including the rant at the #shamlessAmerica party.
9/10
I'm going to end the rambling here. I loved the episode, and even the worst aspects of it were still somewhat enjoyable. This was a massive step up in quality, and I want to see more of it. Just remember, in my Safe Space, none of you are welcome.
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