VOLCANO
The following review was written during an active viewing of the episode. All of the analysis are deeply self projected and all jokes are made originally… poorly… these shouldn’t be read by anyone.
Opener: The crux of the humor in this episode is the fact that the majority of South Park adults aren’t nearly half as worried as they should be about a freaki’n Volcano. Often reactions are non chelant and calm for no reason.
Defiance of expectations is everywhere in this episode, such as Cartman’s fake monster Scuzzlebutt actually being real, or the only sane adult in town is a cafeteria chef at an elementary school.
Jimbo Cern makes his debut in this episode and it feels pretty hilarious to say the least, as Jimbo never really seems to disappoint for a good hard laugh for at least one scene.
Main body: I would consider the idea that maybe the people of South Park are indifferent rather than oblivious because so many strange or frightening things happen, so it’s just another Tuesday. A volcano would only big deal to some given that level of desensitization.
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Randy appears in this episode, falling asleep just as the eruption hits and immediately springing into action, showing responsibility, but also displaying just being plain board. How can you be bored in a town visited by aliens on a regular basis and where ghosts, monsters, and scuzzlebutt are all real? Because that’s normal for South Park.
South Park’s earliest success really does seem to have come from the absurdity that went so far beyond most similar cartoons at the time, I mean Scuzzlebutt literally has a celery arm and Patrick Duffy for a leg, the very idea makes me want to laugh so hard I’d spit milk.
Jimbo makes at least one joke about how due to laws by Democrats, they have to declare the animal is charging right for them before they are allowed to shoot. I’m not sure if this joke is at the expense of conservatives, or Democratic politicians or both, seeing as how such a law has a really easy workaround as false deceleration of a threat.
Closer: The final punchline in this episode comes from when Randy’s plan to divert the lava, causes the flow to hit Denver colorado. This ultimately flies in the face of the needs of the many, as a small mountain town essentially annihilates a city easily three times their size.
Rating /: 5/5 A solid start, I love how comically large the guns look in the boys hands
