[7.2/10] This episode is chock full of the kind of light, largely absurd fun that befits a South Park holiday episode. I love how this one starts with a simple idea -- skewering the dubious logic deployed in History Channel pablum, and then spins into ever more loony places.
What’s funny is that the episode could do well with nothing but poking fun at the History Channel’s turn into bargain basement sensationalist bunk. Using the first Thanksgiving as a foundation to spoof the channel’s specials that posit nonsense like extraterrestrials and alien technology involved in historical events does a good job of highlighting the lunacy of the theories presented and the questionable tactics used in presenting info. The year 2011 was arguably the height of the network turning from a legitimate historical docu-channel into the Weekly World News, so it was and is fun to see the nonsense poked fun at.
But then, this being South Park, the show takes things one step further. Using the idea that all these bonkers theories are real, and channeling it through the “myth is reality” conceit of the 2011 Thor movie is a clever turn. It’s an amusing melding of fiction and...well...more fiction, that exposes how out there the History Channel “theories” are through presenting them through an Asgardian lens.
It’s also just fun! This is the point in South Park where they got a little fancier with their graphics and were proud of it. So seeing Asgard and Niflheim rendered as a larger-than-life Pilgrims vs. Indians showdown is the right mix of neat and silly. And the “stakes”, that this intergalactic war decides the fate of we mortals’ stuffing supply, is just goofy enough to work.
I don’t love every part of it. The running gags about Kyle being on his period are weak, and the whole routine involving Natalie Portman’s “wormhole” is lazy. But this episode has one of my favorite South Park setups -- Kyle trying to debunk or decry the ridiculousness of something, only to be drawn deeper and deeper into it. Him hating the History Channel nonsense, only to be treated as an expert by their S.H.I.E.L.D.-like leadership is fantastic.
Overall, there’s nothing deep or incisive about this episode. It’s just a South Park gagfest with an easy target and recent movie spoof. But it does both of those things well, and is worth putting on for some yuks during the Turkey Day festivities.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParentSpoilers2023-11-16T05:33:16Z
[7.2/10] This episode is chock full of the kind of light, largely absurd fun that befits a South Park holiday episode. I love how this one starts with a simple idea -- skewering the dubious logic deployed in History Channel pablum, and then spins into ever more loony places.
What’s funny is that the episode could do well with nothing but poking fun at the History Channel’s turn into bargain basement sensationalist bunk. Using the first Thanksgiving as a foundation to spoof the channel’s specials that posit nonsense like extraterrestrials and alien technology involved in historical events does a good job of highlighting the lunacy of the theories presented and the questionable tactics used in presenting info. The year 2011 was arguably the height of the network turning from a legitimate historical docu-channel into the Weekly World News, so it was and is fun to see the nonsense poked fun at.
But then, this being South Park, the show takes things one step further. Using the idea that all these bonkers theories are real, and channeling it through the “myth is reality” conceit of the 2011 Thor movie is a clever turn. It’s an amusing melding of fiction and...well...more fiction, that exposes how out there the History Channel “theories” are through presenting them through an Asgardian lens.
It’s also just fun! This is the point in South Park where they got a little fancier with their graphics and were proud of it. So seeing Asgard and Niflheim rendered as a larger-than-life Pilgrims vs. Indians showdown is the right mix of neat and silly. And the “stakes”, that this intergalactic war decides the fate of we mortals’ stuffing supply, is just goofy enough to work.
I don’t love every part of it. The running gags about Kyle being on his period are weak, and the whole routine involving Natalie Portman’s “wormhole” is lazy. But this episode has one of my favorite South Park setups -- Kyle trying to debunk or decry the ridiculousness of something, only to be drawn deeper and deeper into it. Him hating the History Channel nonsense, only to be treated as an expert by their S.H.I.E.L.D.-like leadership is fantastic.
Overall, there’s nothing deep or incisive about this episode. It’s just a South Park gagfest with an easy target and recent movie spoof. But it does both of those things well, and is worth putting on for some yuks during the Turkey Day festivities.