South Park "Got A Nut" Review (Spoilers)

[matt_zimmer]

Also a review for the latest episode of Bob's Burgers.



South Park "Got A Nut"

This is not forever, but temporarily I want to see where things go.

One of the interesting things the episode notices is that Jesus is still is in the school, and P.C. Principle is still Power Christian Principle. The absolute worst part about living during all this is there IS no break from it. South Park deciding to make this hell "The New Normal" says (correctly) there is no escaping this, this toxicity is everywhere. And when it comes to Clyde and Mr. Mackey, it's in places you don't expect.

The Kristi Noem thing is a very good slam. Not the Botox stuff. That's tired. But the fact that Kristi Noem shot a puppy in the head, and is the public face of ICE anyways is beyond fucked up. It is very true that a whole bunch of people in power have done equally fucked up things and gotten away with them all. But having her repeatedly shoot puppies in the episode is legit upsetting. And the fact that she did it SHOULD upset people. And for some reason, it doesn't. Society just decided it doesn't matter for some reason. And this episode shows how insane and evil some of the things we have forced ourselves to normalize actually are. The episode's brilliance is forcing us to understand the ugly reality of that and why it's unforgivable.

You know, the Botox jokes DID land with a thud, and gave Noem herself some soundbites to play the victim over, but the truth is the horrific scenes of her killing puppies is the truly pointed slam at her. It's one she can't argue against either which is another reason it's effective.

ICE raiding Heaven is like Trey and Matt going all in on joining forces with the liberal douches while Trump is where he is. The fact that they take such a negative view of these kinds of toxic dudebro podcasters and Charlie Kirk says this show's fans might actually be forced to second guess the shit that has been spewed everywhere else.

I think the rule is, when America tried to be nice in general, South Park roasted it with meanness. Now that America is SO fucking cruel, they are roasting it with kindness.

Unless this level of hatred lasts forever, I don't expect the show's Wokeness to. But I'm here for it while it is. It's kind of shocking to see this specific messaging come from South Park. They are probably confusing the hell out of a shit-ton of their fans. I'm here for that too. ****1/2.




Bob's Burgers "Mr. Safebody"

Arnold has a great character design. Love those yellow glasses.

I was thinking Arnold shouldn't trust Louise for this because she ruins everything, but then he runs away from the bullies screaming and I realized this was never gonna work out anyways.

Gene had a couple of funny moments. Joking about corporate America being afraid of boards and demanding Louise get down off her ivory tower. Unfortunately, I remember how much and why I hate the kid because he's about to eat an old French fry off the dirty floor of a place he saw a dead rat. The show didn't actually have him do it because even THEY knew that was too far, but the fact that they had him thinking about it is why he sucks. Unbelievable.

The thing with the radio and the crime scene was less successful but of course when the fingerprint guy shuts of the radio, it's a song Bob actually likes. Worse, it's a song like "Sweet Caroline" that is cut off right before the crescendo "release". Bob yells at the guy to turn the radio back on, he claims there's a dead body in the backseat, waits a beat, says he's joking, puts back on the baller song, and Bob gets in a rare minor win.

Arnold's idea for dealing with the bullies was genius. I love it when people outwit their enemies, and that's how the characters on this show always survive. I love it.

The episode was pretty good. ***1/2.

Comments

[the_overlord]

Apparently Charlie Kirk is either so stupid or making such a desperate attempt to save face,but he is using Cartman with his hair cut as his Twitter profile picture. These people are almost too stupid to properly mock.

[matt_zimmer]

And they're winning. How embarrassing is that?

[the_overlord]

Far be it from me as an outsider to cast judgements on your political system, but people from the rest of the world think the US political system has become stagnant and rewards bad behavior.

[matt_zimmer]

Judge away. America is as fucked up as it is because we refuse to listen to harsh truths. Any information that does not confirm how awesome we are is immediately rejected. This is not the way a healthy, normal society operates.

I mean, look at how Trump voters are treated in this country by Democrats. We plead with them that we'll do better in the future and understand their economic anxiety. A functioning society wouldn't be feeding their destructiveness and narcissism. We'd be saying, "What the hell? You assholes totally fucked up!" But you nailed it. Bad behavior is rewarded. Not just to the politicians. But to the idiot voters too.

Until that changes and people are treated like adults responsible for their own actions, things can never improve. And I don't think our current narcissistic, selfish society is capable of doing that. And the media, and even the Democrats, are never going to demand they do that.

[neoultramike]

Yeah like his twitter literally has him praising the bit of Eric doing a bit from his show... like if you ARE a fan or even know anything about South Park how in the hell can you not connect the dots that "if Cartman is looking up or imitating you and is positioning himself on your side and is the only character in the show really doing so that means YOU are the bad guy who should really be looking at yourself in the mirror." Like this is an even more direct "he is clearly doing this for attention and the fact he is a horrible person seriously you should NOT be on his side" parallel then even when he was imitating Glenn Beck in "Dances With Smurfs."

[matt_zimmer]

South Park is not exactly subtle. Why do you think I gave it up for two decades?

[neoultramike]

"The Kristi Noem thing is a very good slam. Not the Botox stuff. That's tired. "

- And yet apparently is the thing that ticked Kristi off the most as she commented they just made tasteless appearances jokes and didn't actually critique her work... except they clearly did. Even ignoring the multiple puppies she shot in like 20 minutes, a big point of the episode was showing the extreme lengths Kristi is going to just to remove good innocent people just because of their nationality from places they SHOULD be save in. You know like Children's concerts, or Heaven. Like apparently THAT is a perfectly fine thing to show you doing, but the face melting is where you draw the line? What kind of backwards mentality is that?

[matt_zimmer]

That's why the slam was dumb. It gave her a chance to play victim. It's bullshit on her end, but the joke was bullshit too.

[neoultramike]

I get the joke not working. IMHO it is clearly one of those "you know this would have been funny once MAYBE twice but the team clearly love it so much they have to keep doing it like at least a half dozen times and beating it to death" bits that South Park loves doing. It's been in the series since at least "Jared Has Aides" if not before that but you know there used to be more plots or characters to bounce around and now though the writing is more generally focused it also means the bits tend to keep battering the same one over and over again which can be rather grating. And you know at least the dog shooting one (which was more accurate anyway) at least had a funny payoff shooting Krypto... kind of think it'd be funny if like the bullets reflected off and she at least had to use a Kryptonite bullet or something but better pay off then the facial reconstructive surgery bit.

But the thing is Kristi Noem trying to play victim on THAT I do feel actually makes her entire case wrong. Like it makes it seem like she's focusing on the WRONG thing compared to what her actual problems and the actual more legit points the episode is making about her. Especially since it's not like SP just became this far more juvenille and tasteless series it has always done dumb and low hanging slabs like that. Which I also get especially if you don't like those giving up on the show. I never gave up for like decades or anything but I admit some of the sour more depressing periods of the show made me stop watching before getting back in a couple of times. Like the season 22 finale made me quit the show for like a year and only get back in when season 23 was mid way through and then yeah The Pandemic Special made me stop watching for like over a year and a half just due to how that ended. So yeah bits can not work and turn someone off but I feel this bit whether or not you feel it work just hurts her case especially in how she's playing it then really makes her any sort of victim. Especially since the premiere had so many jabs at Trump having a tiny dick so like it's clear they will go after whoever on these more legit but also silly jabs.

[matt_zimmer]

Noem has no leg to stand on regarding those jokes. But the problem is the Botox stuff made it appear to certain circles that she did. That's why it was counterproductive, and it's no wonder it's the thing she's latching onto. She can't defend the puppies or ICE thing.

Do you know the worst part? Like you said, South Park has run that specific bit into the ground already. They tainted their entire attack on her for a bit that wasn't even funny. Unforced comedy error.

[neoultramike]

The thing is they take the whole botox angle to such extremes it's really hard to even act like it's a legit jab. Like really the best strategy would either to be ignoring it entirely or knowing they are making a joke on YOU and just rolling with the punches. You know not playing it up and acting like the variation they portray you as (which is what Charlie Kirk is clearly doing) but acknowledge the joke and move on. Which is why of everyone mocked in the last episode or even last two J.D Vance publically had the right reaction; be aware of the joke and just act like it doesn't bother him and move on. Because honestly Christi trying to clap back at this one aspect more easily allows her to be attacked by everyone for the other things she CAN'T clap back on, so regardless on whether or not it's a good joke it's still not a good look on her to react to it like this.

[matt_zimmer]

I actually thought Vance's reaction was ridiculous. He's thinks he's George Bush, and Trey and Matt are Dana Carvey, and they are all friends at the end of the day, and having a good laugh.

That's... not what's happening, J.D.. Read the room.