Randy and Butters confront different types of monsters in an uneven South Park Halloween episode
TV Reviews Recap
Throughout season 23 of South Park, Randy Marsh has continuously alienated his family with his increasingly selfish behavior. He’s consumed with growing Tegridy Farms above all else, and as a result, Stan and Sharon barely speak to him, while Shelly has developed an intense hatred of marijuana. Tonight’s “Tegridy Farms Halloween Special” took on Shelly’s hatred of pot, as Randy tries to convince her that weed is Actually Good. The problem is that he ignores the actual reason why Shelly is upset — that Randy no longer has any concern for his family’s desires — and just focuses on defending weed in the most basic ways possible, such as a trip to the museum where he feigns amazement at the ancient Egyptians’ usage of hemp. He misses the mark for obvious reasons, leaving Shelly angrier than ever, which drives most of the main plot of the episode. Randy plans on selling a “Halloween special” strain of weed, and throwing an epic party, but a more-enraged-than-ever Shelly has other plans.
Towelie develops the Halloween strain of weed, and he and Randy quickly get baked from it. That’s when Shelly pours a toxic witches brew all over the weed, seemingly destroying it. Now, Shelly Marsh has never been the kindest South Park resident; she was initially conceived as an older sister who tortured Stan because That’s What Older Siblings Do. In this particular situation, though, it’s hard not to find her actions at least partially justified. Randy’s been ignoring his family in favor of weed throughout the season, while also ignoring Shelly’s concerns about it. I couldn’t help but be reminded of when Lisa Simpson destroyed Homer’s suckling pig in “Lisa The Vegetarian,” after Homer’s own insensitivity. Neither character exactly did the right thing, but you also couldn’t blame either of them for being upset.
Randy and Shelly aren’t the only ones at the museum; Butters is there in his Indiana Jones outfit, collecting stickers for his Junior Archaeologist book. When he notices one sticker he hasn’t collected, he travels to a remote part of the museum, finding a rare mummy sarcophagus. At this point, the old man from “Insecurity” shows up to warn Butters about the dangers of collecting the final sticker (he was one of the best parts of that episode, and it was good to see him again), but Butters ignores his concerns, figuring it’s nothing Archaeologist Butters can’t handle. He gets more than he bargained for, however, when the mummy visits Butters in the middle of the night to give him a present; a Fit Bit, which Butters already owns. Butters says he’ll give it to a friend, but this enrages the mummy, who goes around town wreaking havoc. The next day, the cops visit Butters, asking him about his encounter with the mummy, and they ultimately blame him, saying his hurtful behavior was truly to blame.
This is where the mummy plot takes a strange turn, acting as a metaphor for abusive relationships, and how people often defend the abuser, and look for reasons to blame the victim. Throughout the episode, Butters pleads his case that he did nothing wrong, but people accuse him of either being passive-aggressive, or being in a co-dependent relationship with the mummy. It was nice to see South Park handle a difficult topic, and their hearts were certainly in the right place here. That being said, everything felt a little bit rushed. We keep getting short scenes of Butters and the Mummy interspersed with the main plot, but it feels too brief, like there’s more to this issue that they could have covered, except they had to get back to the main Randy/Shelly weed plot. Trey and Matt were onto something here, and they would have been better off giving it its own episode, and really exploring the concepts at play.
When Shelly pours her concoction on Randy and Towelie’s weed, we first think it’s destroyed, but the opposite is true; the chemicals have made it stronger than ever, to the point where there is a very potent, radioactive looking weed tree growing in the barn. Randy’s Halloween party is saved, except that his continued selfish behavior makes the situation with Shelly even worse. This reaches a peak when he inexplicably has the cops take her for a night in jail, because she has a “marijuana problem.” Whether the cops think she has an actual drug addiction, or simply share Randy’s sentiment that not liking weed is a problem in and of itself remains to be seen, but either way, it’s a new low for his cruel treatment of his daughter.
When Shelly gets out of jail (along with Butters, who is sent there after another mummy rampage gets blamed on him), she goes back to the Tegridy Ranch, where the cops are already there, as Randy’s party has gotten quite out of control. The people who smoke the Halloween weed after it’s been affected by Shelly’s potion morph into half-human half-marijuana creatures, in one of South Park’s most ingenuously creepy animations since the horrifying mall mutants from last year’s two-part season finale. It gets crazier; Randy is confronted by Winnie The Pooh, as well as all the cows he and Towelie killed at the end of “Let Them Eat Goo,” and apparently Harvey Weinstein. After all of his bad behavior, Randy is finally getting his comeuppance. Or so we think. It turns out that all of the horrifying things Randy is seeing are actually just hallucinations caused by some very intense weed. We might think that having such a vivid hallucination would cause Randy to finally learn a lesson about how he’s been acting, but no; he wakes up on November 3rd, bragging about how stoned he got, and admitting that he was the only real target audience for his Halloween party. So, we’re halfway through the season, and Randy still doesn’t realize that he’s done anything wrong. Much like Cartman’s abuse of Heidi in season 21, this seems poised to get worse before it gets better.
“Tegridy Farms Halloween Special” had some good ideas, and plenty of great visual gags, but neither plot felt entirely satisfying. The Butters/Mummy plot had too much potential to be squeezed in as a subplot, while Randy’s antics can only be so amusing when he continues to hurt the people around him, and learn nothing. At this point, I’m wondering if he’s truly oblivious, or if he’s become downright sociopathic, or some combination of the two. I’m intrigued to see how the final five episodes will go about answering that. As for tonight’s episode, it was an often-intriguing, yet ultimately muddled affair that could have been classic if it had just been a bit more focused. It’s worth your time, but as far as Randy-centric Halloween episodes go, it’s certainly no “Nightmare On FaceTime.”
Stray Obervations
- PC Principal gets an amusing cameo, warning us about the dangers of cultural appropriation. “IF I SEE ANY OF YOU GIRLS DRESSED UP AS FUCKING MOANA I WILL LOSE MY FUCKING MIND!”
- Randy’s delivery of “did you know that Snoop Dogg smokes weed?” was absolutely pitch-perfect.
- Is it possible that we haven’t seen the last of the mummy? That whole plot just seems so detached from everything else we’ve seen this season. And it ends on such an unsatisfying note. There has to be more here, right?
- Shelly’s hatred of marijuana is mostly displaced resentment of her father, but she also seems to genuinely hate the effects it has on people, as well as the culture in general. South Park has pretty much always been pro-weed, but it’ll be interesting to see if they give a bit of space to the opposing viewpoint as this season wraps up.
45 Comments
Was Butters v. Mummy a metaphor for abusive relationships or more narrowly a commentary on the “mummy” in the fractured Parker household? Shelly’s opposition to pot runs pretty deep. Yeah, she seethes at her dad’s selfishness, but she really thinks marijuana is making the world dumber — with her own father as compelling evidence. The plot line is an example of the show’s even-handed integrity. I enjoyed the episode and still get the feeling the reviewer watches South Park like it’s an annoying chore.
I definitely got the impression Trey was taking digs at his ex with the mummy.But I also disagreed with the review that we needed more out of that storyline. Mr. Mackey and others telling Butters he was being selfish out of nowhere made it more funny.
I was entertained. Good ep.
Yeah, the Butters subplot definitely needs more attention. That was by far the better act. It’s such a typical Butters thing to happen too.-d
Agreed.
Butters definitely needed to be the A plot this episode, with Randy and Shelly filling out the B plot.
I understand wanting to see the mummy subplot as its own episode, but the reason it got shoe-horned into this one is because it’s the Halloween episode. So, it kinda makes sense.I do think the police believe Shelly has a problem with smoking weed. The line the officer gave her when he placed her in the cell was something like “drugs and alcohol end up hurting the ones around you”, suggesting he assumes Shelly has a problem with substance abuse.As for Randy, yes the idea of him selfishly defending his weed farm might seem old, but he seems to have to confront a new adversary each episode about it.Episode 1: The private growersEpisode 2: The Chinese governmentEpisode 3: TowelieEpisode 4: The Goo ManEpisode 5: ShellySo, I see this as being a season-long arc with him finally having to confront either Stan or Sharon in the finale, likely leading to the destruction of Tegridy Farms. I think this one fell flat because unlike the previous 3, there wasn’t anything really topical about it, other than the Halloween theme. Hopefully he’ll get back to defending Tegridy Farms against something like power outages to prevent wildfires, labor strikes halting his production chain, or (dare I mention him) Garrison looking for a scapegoat to distract from the impeachment proceedings.
The policeman’s line was, “If you have a problem with drugs and alcohol…” which leaves the whole thing up in the air.
Weakest ep of the season so far.
Did I miss a resolution to the Heidi thing?
Yes, it was the finale of two seasons ago.
I remember Cartman began corrupting her mind but beyond that I don’t recall how it wrapped
While hunting for Mr Garrison after the whole “Kyle godes Garrison into nuking Canada” debacle in the woods, Heidi and the gang came across where Heidi threw away her cell phone and later, the woods where Cartman got her abducted by a witch. During the flashback to the witch incident, Heidi realized Cartman arranged the trip to the woods explicitly to get her abducted and killed and later had a ghost encounter with her pre-fat self. At the end, she helped the White family aid Garrison in escaping the SJW lynch mob Ike had summoned and then dumped Cartman in front of the entire town after realizing how deeply he had changed her.
She lost all of the weight she had gained between season but has been demoted to extra. IIRC her last on-screen appearance was a non-speaking role in the Mr Hankey gets canceled episode.
Thats a helluva recap. Thank you!
2 good plots underdeveloped and mashed up.Randy’s crazy enthusiasm for everything weed really is a great poke at how far the cultural pendulum has shifted. It went legal in Canada over a year ago and sometimes it feels in areas thats ALL people want to talk about. Its a great option but it just isn’t the center of some people’s universe, just like drinking or smoking has never been the be all and end all vice for others.The Snoop Dogg line WAS perfect though so props for that.
yeah for some of us this still feels like science fiction.
There is something to be said about criticizing the “culture” of marijuana. I have zero problem with people smoking it and think it should be legal..BUT I also roll my eyes at grown people being all about it and acting like they are college age in a frat house about it. It is a vice, like drinking. When you are 21 it is still new and cool to rave about getting drunk, you do it at thirty and everything thinks you are a loser and an alcoholic. If you go home and get drunk, do so, but no one brags about it. It is your life. Weed should be the same. It is mostly legal. If you are over 25 and your relaxation is getting baked, just do so without telling the world about it. You are getting high, shut up about it.I do think this is what South Park is saying this year with the tergrity farms story. (Especially since they touched on this before with the weed is KFC episode)
Interesting it was Randy who gave us this very level headed take on smoking pot:
wow I forgot that at some point he was articulate and not a total douche. This is from the first few seasons isn’t it?
Season 6: “My Future Self ‘n’ Me”
I can also attest to having worked with young people who have been smoking since before graduating high school, and it is the goddamn worst. You can see them just going into a blank phase. And If you talk to them about anything, you better hope they remember it 5 minutes later, even more stressful when your job is on the line.I felt for Shelly, I’m glad the creators like to question weed culture just like anything else that trends with supposedly no consequence.
* also, i am bored of the “CBD oil cured my impotence and also cancer” posts on Facebook. I don’t care about your placebo, i have my own placebo thx
This was not my favorite episode this season. I’ll never not hate Shelly enough for a Shelly story to work, for one. I know Randy is hopeless, but she’s always just so awful.I wish they’d spend more time making fun of the weed industry itself. There is a lot of South Park friendly material in all that. Especially in Colorado.
I thought the one where she dates Feegan the Vegan was pretty good
Nice, understated touch in that Shelly’s ingredients for her witch’s brew sure seemed to be about what you’d need to cook meth at home. Nobody mentions it, but it’s right there to notice and pre-explain why Randy starts seeing really gruesome shit after he smokes weed that’s been soaked in it.
The mummy angle was very surprising. When it first shows up, the idea of being “cursed” by a mummy who just wants a hug was something I was looking forward to. Then it just turned into gaslighting Butters, which Cartman’s already been doing for years.
If you want to see a cartoon that also runs with the “Cursed Mummy just wants a hug” premise, check out the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode ‘Love Mummy’!
I remember that episode! God it’s been so long since I’ve seen ATHF!
I’m getting tired of the Tegridy Farms focus. I don’t mind arcs if they’re funny, but this is reaching to me. There’ve been moments of funny, but so far, this season’s been meh.
I feel they’ve kind of ‘disbalanced’ Randy as a character with this Tegridy farm stuff. The old Randy was a relatively positive dad albeit prone to obsessions and fads in a very specific ‘dad’ kind of way that prevented him from being a caricature like Homer or Peter Griffin. As of late however, Randy is acting like a completely unrepentant jerk. There is a meanness to his character that simply didn’t exist before, which at least for me significantly diminishes anything funny he may say or do. I mean, seriously, killing Winnie the Poo???
The road to hell is paved with dad-jokes and the occasional murder of cartoon characters.Or am I the only one?
Randy’s always been an asshole.
“Dad obliges daughter to smoke pot” is one hell of a concept, unfortunately like late day South Park, they just present the idea right away make obvious jokes on the great concept instead of thinking of creative twists to present and make fun of it
the mummy act was good, because it was purely nonsensical. I don’t think you need to learn a profound lesson about abusive relationship for it to work.
The straight-to-VHS music accompanying the Hallowe’en weed was a nice touch. Visually and aurally, “South Park” gets more impressive each season. Butters’ storyline’s resolution was typically downbeat for South Park, but still made me cringe. Still, the gaslighting parallels aside, this didn’t feel like a very well-developed episode. “They fuck you up your (mummy) and dad…”
Randy’s been a monster dad for ages on the show. To the point that whenever they want to humanize Butter’s abusive parents, they always use Randy as a plot device to make the Stoches, who physically and mentally abuse their own son, realize they suck and repent their own failures in so far as Randy’s evil parenting makes even them freak out.
Also, it’s been speculated that Parker and Stone have invested money in a pot farm, hence them pushing the series retool of Stan’s family owning one. As they’ve openly stated that they no longer give a shit about the kids and prefer writing Randy episodes since they “relate” to him more than the kids.
(The Gerald plotline doesn’t really count, since Parker and Stone have admitted that plotline was from a non-SP movie script they wrote that got repurposed a South Park storyline).Also, I don’t see the parallels between the Butters/Mummy storyline to Parker and his collapsing marriage given the nature of it (Parker married his favorite junkie stripper/whore, who he wrecked his first marriage to continue to see her, due to her enabling his sick and depraved sexual kinks stemming from having caught his first love mid-fuck with another man; in part because it ended up being cheaper after Book of Mormon wiped out most of his savings). If anything, it’s more of an excuse plot for Butters being brutalized.
But lost in all of this, is that the line at the end (Randy acknowledging that he’s the only “audience” that counts) continue a trend we’ve seen since “Your Getting Older”: that Parker and Stone openly want to be done with South Park, but have utterly squandered the billions they’ve made over the 20+ years on drugs and whores and hard partying, that they have no choice but to keep it going just to keep living the rich guy lifestye they have gotten accustomed to. Between the meta “Cancel South Park” ad campaign last season and this season itself, I have to think we have reached “Wacky Deli” level trolling from Parker and Stone in regards to them WANTING to drive away the audience in hopes that the show tanks in the ratings to such a degree, that Comedy Central decides that it’s not worth continuing and not renew the show after the newest contract expires; allowing them to escape it at long last. The fact that this season is pushing Randy (a character that is arguably the most polarizing character of the series) as hard as it has, indicates they WANT to crash the show hard and get out of the South Park business.
Let’s not forget: Randy’s acted like this in the past. Warcraft, fighting with baseball dads, trying to be a chef? Randy even admits why he did those things: he was covering up the fact that he’s not happy.PC culture, Renovating houses, now a weed farm. See where I’m going with this? Randy’s headed for a fall. A big one.
I’m getting concerned with how far they’re taking Randy’s deranged promotion of Tegridy. He’s always been a buffoonish character oblivious to the needs of his family, but they’ve always kept it from crossing the line of making him unlikable. He’s becoming downright abusive this season, and I’m not sure they can bring him back from that. It’s a lot like when they made Gerald skankhunt. He became such a vile, unlikeable sociopath that season that I have nothing but disdain for him anymore.
That isn’t “The old man from ‘Insecurity’”, it’s Jud from the 1989 Pet Semetary and he’s been a character in the series since “Butter’s Very Own episode” back in season 5.
South Park has pretty much always been pro-weed, but
it’ll be interesting to see if they give a bit of space to the opposing
viewpoint as this season wraps up.
There is no opposing viewpoint. If you don’t like weed then don’t use it.
Randy bringing up some geology in the hot tub was great.
Were there some “Creepshow” references in the “horror” parts of the episode on Randy’s farm? The music and lighting and even the plant-based nightmare reminded me a lot of Jordy’s story from the “Creepshow” movie.
Me at the beginning of the episode: OMG STOP WITH THE TEGRIDY STUFF RANDY IS ANNOYING!Me at the end of the episode: OMG RANDY AND TOWELIE ARE HALLUCINATING AND IMAGINING POOH ATTACKING THEM LMAO
Anyone else notice the similiarity in the Butters plotline to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force episode ‘Love Mummy’?
Butters is Trey Parker and the mummy is his ex wife, he’s going through a divorce and used his opinion on the matter as the subplot. That’s why Randy says so directly at the end that the target audience for his Halloween Special was himself. It was a selfish inclusion and doesn’t deserve any further consideration.