7.9/10. If there's an area where South Park excels the most, it's stories where people treat mundane or ridiculous things with grave seriousness, thereby exposing the absurdity beneath how seriously people actually treat such things in the real world. The console wars and the insanity of Black Friday shopping are absolutely rife for this sort of treatment, and using Game of Thrones as a lens to tease out the sillier aspects of these cultural phenomena, not to mention HBO's water cooler show du jour itself, is brilliant.
Turning South Park's mall into a local version of GoT's The Wall, and with it, the mall security guards into parodies of the Night's Watch is a particularly good choice. As any fan of Dawn of the Dead knows, using zombies around a mall to symbolize the brainlessness of consumerism is nothing new, but still, turning anxious shoppers into would be White Walkers, and mall security into a hardened, potentially doomed security force is a match made in heaven. It combines the social commentary of how nuts it is that real world malls require enhanced security to keep people from being trampled and injured, with the heightened fantasy elements that come from Game of Thrones and slot nicely into South Park's world.
By the same token, turning Randy Marsh into South Park's version of Jon Snow works surprisingly well. His plan to beat the Black Friday rush by being a security guard is actually pretty clever, especially for him, and it creates some solid if silly stakes when he's torn between enacting his plan and honoring his feigned loyalty to the Security Guard Commander who sees potential and selflessness in him. There's some of the trademark goofy South Park touches, like Randy making buzzing noises when calling himself a busy bee or the commander revealing that his eye scar is just a stick on (one that he passes on to Randy a la the Lord Commander's sword), that make sure things stay light and fun, but the melding of the two things really works.
Speaking of keeping dark things light and fun, my god, I know it's about the least politically correct joke in the world, but I couldn't help but laugh at the "please don't touch me Elmo" doll. South Park has a unique way of playing in pretty offensive spaces, but taking the jokes to such absurd places that you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It's admittedly an easy joke (and I'd forgotten that the scandal was in the news at the time) but the image of the little red doll emulating the man who voiced him was just bonkers enough to work.
The meat of the episode, however, centered on the Game of Thrones-like alliance and betrayal among the boys. The show does a good job at imitating Game of Thrones's plotting and style, with unexpected divisions and rallying of support ahead of an expected gigantic battle. The episode wears its parody on its sleeve, with Cartman directly referencing the HBO show that inspired the episode, but as it did in the show's Lord of the Rings parody, the show takes to the swords and sorcery elements like a fish to water. It's clear that Matt & Trey know the tropes for these sorts of shows front-to-back, and are as adept at deploying (and mocking) them in a comedic setting as David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are in a dramatic one.
And it's there that the grave solemnity and friendship-destroying seriousness of the issue at hand reaches peak ridiculousness. As someone who lived through the bitter, playground-dividing arguments over Nintendo vs. Sega (and later, Nintendo vs. Playstation), there's something almost nostalgic about the way these boys are driven to anger over which next generation console is the worthiest one. But immersed in this nostalgia in a subtle commentary about the absurdity of the way people take a preference in consumer products as a part of their identity. It's an element whose seed is planted here, that's explored in a little more depth later in the arc.
But for now, it's enough to tear Stan and Kyle, the show's closest duo, apart, underlining the would-be gravity of the situation. Stan declaring that Kyle missed his preferences because "that's just how XBox people are" is a nicely amusing illustration of the way folks draw arbitrary lines and make character attributions based on what people buy. At stake is a minor but real concern -- if the boys don't all get the same console, they won't be able to play together, making this battle one for the students of South Park elementary's gaming future.
Of course, if there's anyone in South Park suited to the eternal gamesmanship and doubecrossing inherent in the Game of Thrones ethos, it's Cartman. His commitment to the bit, combined with his preexisting propensity to toy with and manipulate anyone and everyone around him to get what he wants makes him perfect for the power-hungry chessmaster role in the GoT parody. As he walks through the "Garden of Andros" (a delightful parody of Thrones's many palace intrigue scenes set in the gardens of King's Landing), his attempts to tilt the upcoming Black Friday War in his favor, and make under the table alliances in the process, is as amusing as it is suited to the show South Park is poking fun at.
Then again, it would be Game of Thrones without a shocking betrayal that changes the balance of power. The reveal that Princess (nee Lady) Kenny has switched sides to Stan's PS4 crew, where he'll be allowed to be the princess he wants to be is a fun twist, and the rat stand-in for Daenerys Targaryen's dragons is another great nod to GoT.
But that's what's so great about this episode, and this arc -- it works on so many levels. It works as a well-observed parody of Game of Thrones with clever sendups of the show's blueprint and fun translations of its iconic settings and characters into the world of South Park. It works as commentary on consumerism, both in the hoopla surrounding Black Friday and in the internecine arguments over what the best console will be. And it works purely as text (albeit silly text) with the boys divided and Randy overwhelmed in the midst of all this turmoil. When South Park can deliver parody, commentary, and great storytelling all in one package, the result is an episode that captures so many things the series does so well.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-12-22T05:24:24Z
7.9/10. If there's an area where South Park excels the most, it's stories where people treat mundane or ridiculous things with grave seriousness, thereby exposing the absurdity beneath how seriously people actually treat such things in the real world. The console wars and the insanity of Black Friday shopping are absolutely rife for this sort of treatment, and using Game of Thrones as a lens to tease out the sillier aspects of these cultural phenomena, not to mention HBO's water cooler show du jour itself, is brilliant.
Turning South Park's mall into a local version of GoT's The Wall, and with it, the mall security guards into parodies of the Night's Watch is a particularly good choice. As any fan of Dawn of the Dead knows, using zombies around a mall to symbolize the brainlessness of consumerism is nothing new, but still, turning anxious shoppers into would be White Walkers, and mall security into a hardened, potentially doomed security force is a match made in heaven. It combines the social commentary of how nuts it is that real world malls require enhanced security to keep people from being trampled and injured, with the heightened fantasy elements that come from Game of Thrones and slot nicely into South Park's world.
By the same token, turning Randy Marsh into South Park's version of Jon Snow works surprisingly well. His plan to beat the Black Friday rush by being a security guard is actually pretty clever, especially for him, and it creates some solid if silly stakes when he's torn between enacting his plan and honoring his feigned loyalty to the Security Guard Commander who sees potential and selflessness in him. There's some of the trademark goofy South Park touches, like Randy making buzzing noises when calling himself a busy bee or the commander revealing that his eye scar is just a stick on (one that he passes on to Randy a la the Lord Commander's sword), that make sure things stay light and fun, but the melding of the two things really works.
Speaking of keeping dark things light and fun, my god, I know it's about the least politically correct joke in the world, but I couldn't help but laugh at the "please don't touch me Elmo" doll. South Park has a unique way of playing in pretty offensive spaces, but taking the jokes to such absurd places that you can't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. It's admittedly an easy joke (and I'd forgotten that the scandal was in the news at the time) but the image of the little red doll emulating the man who voiced him was just bonkers enough to work.
The meat of the episode, however, centered on the Game of Thrones-like alliance and betrayal among the boys. The show does a good job at imitating Game of Thrones's plotting and style, with unexpected divisions and rallying of support ahead of an expected gigantic battle. The episode wears its parody on its sleeve, with Cartman directly referencing the HBO show that inspired the episode, but as it did in the show's Lord of the Rings parody, the show takes to the swords and sorcery elements like a fish to water. It's clear that Matt & Trey know the tropes for these sorts of shows front-to-back, and are as adept at deploying (and mocking) them in a comedic setting as David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are in a dramatic one.
And it's there that the grave solemnity and friendship-destroying seriousness of the issue at hand reaches peak ridiculousness. As someone who lived through the bitter, playground-dividing arguments over Nintendo vs. Sega (and later, Nintendo vs. Playstation), there's something almost nostalgic about the way these boys are driven to anger over which next generation console is the worthiest one. But immersed in this nostalgia in a subtle commentary about the absurdity of the way people take a preference in consumer products as a part of their identity. It's an element whose seed is planted here, that's explored in a little more depth later in the arc.
But for now, it's enough to tear Stan and Kyle, the show's closest duo, apart, underlining the would-be gravity of the situation. Stan declaring that Kyle missed his preferences because "that's just how XBox people are" is a nicely amusing illustration of the way folks draw arbitrary lines and make character attributions based on what people buy. At stake is a minor but real concern -- if the boys don't all get the same console, they won't be able to play together, making this battle one for the students of South Park elementary's gaming future.
Of course, if there's anyone in South Park suited to the eternal gamesmanship and doubecrossing inherent in the Game of Thrones ethos, it's Cartman. His commitment to the bit, combined with his preexisting propensity to toy with and manipulate anyone and everyone around him to get what he wants makes him perfect for the power-hungry chessmaster role in the GoT parody. As he walks through the "Garden of Andros" (a delightful parody of Thrones's many palace intrigue scenes set in the gardens of King's Landing), his attempts to tilt the upcoming Black Friday War in his favor, and make under the table alliances in the process, is as amusing as it is suited to the show South Park is poking fun at.
Then again, it would be Game of Thrones without a shocking betrayal that changes the balance of power. The reveal that Princess (nee Lady) Kenny has switched sides to Stan's PS4 crew, where he'll be allowed to be the princess he wants to be is a fun twist, and the rat stand-in for Daenerys Targaryen's dragons is another great nod to GoT.
But that's what's so great about this episode, and this arc -- it works on so many levels. It works as a well-observed parody of Game of Thrones with clever sendups of the show's blueprint and fun translations of its iconic settings and characters into the world of South Park. It works as commentary on consumerism, both in the hoopla surrounding Black Friday and in the internecine arguments over what the best console will be. And it works purely as text (albeit silly text) with the boys divided and Randy overwhelmed in the midst of all this turmoil. When South Park can deliver parody, commentary, and great storytelling all in one package, the result is an episode that captures so many things the series does so well.