The FBI stops them by using a large bunch of balloons. It is here that “The City Part of Town” asks the painfully basic question that the shows dissidents always fall back on: “How would you like it if we made fun of you?”, While Butters sits in bed crying over these criticisms, the still politically-correct Randy demands a call to action in an attempt to repair the “image problem” that Mr. Garrison inflicted on the town and its residents. Episodes & Videos. Tuong Lu Kim builds a giant wall around South Park. I have some conflicting issues with Lu Kim as a character. It’s been almost two years since South Park has done a Butters episode, which probably speaks to how mindful they are of diluting the character through oversaturation. And thank god, Kenny’s humility is rewarded, as SoDoSoPa is abandoned, returning to its former status as the true shitty part of town, much to the glee of the McCormick family. All Rights Reserved. Specifically, he was a lot like the Butters of “Cartman Sucks” here, with Butters once more at the mercy of his own bewilderment over grown-up concepts like homosexuality and multiple personality disorder. With SoDoSoPa proving to be a great success, Randy calls Whole Foods headquarters to assist in the towns endeavour to establish one of the socially conscious supermarkets. The boys load the cows into a truck and head for Mexico. What’s not to love? On the one hand, it was an original, character-based story—something I’m always harping on about, I know—and one that flowed together smoothly through its very funny climax, with Mr. Takayama thwarting Janus/Lu Kim’s murder plot, only to commit suicide over the shame of not recognizing Kim was actually a white guy (all while decrying the fact that he was enacting an Asian stereotype). Jared has Aides - Season 6 Episode 1; Child Abduction is Not Funny - … And like that, Kenny’s house is whored out as a “historic” landmark that acts as the foundation for these newly established trendy bars, gourmet restaurants, and frozen yogurt stores. With CtPaTown acting as the newly gentrified hotspot district, it only makes sense that the Whole Foods would set up shop next door to City Wok, where we’re presented with a montage of South Park residents happily shopping with large smiles, while minorities such as a Mexican family look scared for their lives. But, as I criticised in my review of “Stunning and Brave”, directly quote from the website of a current gentrification project within District Detroit, Tom Scocca of Gawker best critiqued this phenomenon through his article where he refers to it it as “smarm”, Gary Goodspeed: The White Savior We Hate to Love, Super Mario Galaxy — Nintendo’s Claustrophobic Cosmic Corridor, Dear Millennials (with apologies to Big Gay Al), 6 Signs a Woman Wants to Be Approached by You, Why You Don’t Have to Feel Too Sick About What Happened Last Night, 9 Micro-Habits That Will Completely Change Your Life in a Year, How To Make Enough Money to Retire in the Next 5 Years, 12 Age-Reversing Habits: How I Made My Brain 10 Years Younger. Imagine Detroit as it once was. Randy’s greatest comedic assets have always been grounded in his over-the-top annunciation, with “More Crap” being a classic example, as he repeats, “HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT” during the intense heat of taking a world-record breaking shit. The boys are invited to a dance at the youth center. From Season 06 Episode 11, Child Abduction Is Not Funny. So “City Sushi” ended up being one of those episodes that I appreciated as a whole more than often truly enjoyed in the moment, admiring it as an overall story without finding anything specific in it that I’ll still be laughing about months later out of context—not like “Vunter Slaush,” for example. However, “The City Part of Town” proves to be one of the rare examples of the creators turning the light of satirical cultural analysis on themselves. All Rights Reserved. Gentrify the fuck out of South Park. Perhaps the episodes funniest moment comes as the Whole Foods representative is taken to the fourth graders classroom, where Garrison has been replaced with a PC approved female asian teacher. South Park begs Tong Lu Kim to build a great wall around their city to keep out abductors. However, “The City Part of Town” takes an interesting turn, as it explores territory that South Park isn’t typically known for. It will be home to the young and the young at heart, families, new residents and long-time residents who want to be where the action is. The boys and their friend candidates hit the amusement park, and the confessional booth, to start the competition for Kenny's replacement. Overall, it was a bit akin to its ending, which recreated the denouement of Psycho right down to having Janus/Lu Kim repeat Norman Bates’ interior monologue word-for-word: It was clever in its execution, but ultimately lacking that extra madcap sting that pushes South Park over the edge from good to great. Finally, a staunchly politically correct representative from Whole Foods arrives in South Park (in a Prius, of course), and wishes to see the town in its most natural state in order to evaluate whether they are worthy of the notorious supermarket. However, most people are not aware of the fact that City Wok is based on a real restaurant chain of the same name. In an attempt to repair his own companies image, the City Wok owner employs a child labour force in the belief that hard work will eventually prevail. Yeah, it’s funny, and I understand that this is subjective, but it’s simply beginning to wear thin for me. Our pretentious narrator from before returns to wax psuedo-philosophically over these scenes, “There’s a time when a town becomes more than it was, when the people take that bold step into making things better to progress, to change, to not be what you were in the past. And while I’ll admit that I laughed more at “Bitch” this time around—as one tends to do when they’re not preoccupied with note-taking and judging—I’ll stand by my nearly two-year-old opinion: Butters episodes are better when they play to his innocence rather than ironically off it, and I preferred the way “City Sushi” stuck to the blissfully ignorant Butters of old. And if this episode is self-aware enough to acknowledge supporting characters of the shows past, then why does the show constantly insist on focussing on Randy? While many have tried to define it, I believe Tom Scocca of Gawker best critiqued this phenomenon through his article where he refers to it it as “smarm”. It adds a level of humanity to the show, to which even the shows harshest critics couldn’t fault. Because this week also saw the further implementation of South Park’s beautiful ability to interpolate real life footage into the context of the animated cartoon world. Tegridy Farms. The boys test their friend candidates at the Bus Stop. After all, there’s only so much horrible stuff the kid can happily endure before it starts to seem formulaic, as though Butters is some sort of psychological Road Runner, merrily oblivious to the traumatic anvils dangling just above his head, and always escaping unscathed in the end. And yet, while the surprise was genuine, and I admire the way it was executed, I’m also conflicted about how it was orchestrated, which keeps me from nudging the episode up into “A” territory. The next morning, a small army of dirty hippies show their support. And in “The City Part of Town”, it works to great effect, as we’re shown mocking advertisements for SoDoSoPa, which shows hilariously generic stock footage of affluent white people wining, dining and socialising, while a smooth talking Trey Parker narrates with a coy smugness, “There’s a certain quality to the vibe and energy that is SoDoSoPa, from the independent merchants and unique cafes, to the rustic charm of a mixed income, where else can you let loose your wild side whilst still being a part of the local economy…it’s a place to laugh, a place to gather, a place to mingle with people of all economic classes, and now, it’s a place to live. Tuong Lu Kim builds a giant wall around South Park. RELATED: The 10 Best Seasons Of South Park, Ranked. The boys break into the cow farm. The parents are thrilled with an exclusive time-share only lift. Because to do so would make you an enemy of everything pure and culturally righteous. Taking his fathers poorly informed advice, Kenny resorts to working for Tuong Lu Kim (aka. This is South park. Excuse the colloquialisms, but the juxtaposition game of this episode is just on point. As Seen In. Heck, I was just happy to see Randy talking to Mr. I personally hold the belief that his character was severely denigrated in the name of a lazily executed twist in “City Sushi”, where it was revealed that he was actually a caucasian child psychologist within Dr. William Janus, who treated Butters for a poorly diagnosed Dissociative Identity Disorder. What’s also unique is the way that these real life scenes are directly imposed with characters from the animated universe, as we’re shown a couple in a hot tub enjoying the views of a typical domestic dispute in the McCormick house. Professor Chaos accepts Dougie as his sidekick, General Disarray. More. If you look close enough, you’ll see appearances from characters of old, such as Dr. Mephesto, Officer Barbrady, Big Gay Al, and even rhinoplasty surgeon, Dr. Tom. Enter SoDoSoPa (Southern District of South Park), which intends to revitalise the impoverished area with a sense of “charm that hipsters like”.