The boys are back. Meaning Trey Parker and Matt Stone, as well as their creations Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny. The venerable South Park is now entering the back half of its thirteenth season (defined by calendar years, as opposed to the typical TV season going from Fall to Spring), and the 6-month break has provided the show with plenty of good, albeit morbid, material for this new episode.
South Park works very well when it manages to delve into the nation's consciousness, using its comedy cred to reveal a truth that may be felt but not publicly spoken. In this debut episode, that truth is an acknowledgment of the uncomfortably large number of recent celebrity deaths.
Plot Summary
Kyle's little brother Ike is being visited by the ghosts of these celebrities, visible only to him. The reveal of this is handled well. Ike is shown in his bed on a scary night. A cloudy apparition drifts into his room to a swell of suspenseful music, only to then pop into the form of late TV spokesman Billy Mays, characteristically screaming about a new product.
These visitations start taking their toll on Ike, so the family enlists the help of the Ghost Hunters TV show to investigate. This then becomes a great opportunity to take a potshot at the supernatural hit series- they are shown to be total idiots, ridiculously skittish, and afraid of even their own bodily functions.
A Hilarious Hodgepodge
The rest of the plot deals with why all these celebrities have yet to move on to the next "plane of existence" (they're waiting around in a purgatory modeled literally after a plane cabin), and what's to be done about it. The reason concerns a returning favorite celebrity target of the series. Along the way, the show manages to reference The Sixth Sense and Poltergeist, to take on child beauty pageants, and to make an almost lawsuit-worthy running joke at the expense of the Chipotle fast food restaurant chain.
In other words, "Dead Celebrities" is rude, topical, random, controversial, clever, and most of all, funny. A fine return to form that bodes well for the rest of the season.
Interesting Tidbits
- Ike is now consistently speaking in full words and sentences, going against the common TV animation trope of non-aging infants, a la Maggie Simpson.
- Spotted in the purgatory waiting room is a pretty comprehensive list of the recently dead; Natasha Richardson, Dom DeLuise, Patrick Swayze, Ted Kennedy, Bea Arthur, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, DJ A.M., David Carradine, Walter Cronkite, the aforementioned Billy Mays, and the mystery celebrity (who is probably easy enough to guess).
South Park airs new episodes Wednesday nights at 10pm on Comedy Central, and for those who don't know, every episode of South Park ever can be seen streamed (legally) on SouthParkStudios.com.
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