21x03 Holiday Special

[7.0/10] This one was kind of all over the place. It had a lot of good elements, and moments I liked, but they only rarely crystallized into something cohesive.

The best part of the episode is the boys not really understanding or caring what Columbus did or didn’t do, merely freaking out that someone would take away their day off of school. It’s a well-observed bit about how kids in particular couldn’t care less about the larger political issues at play but lament the things that would take away the small pleasures in their elementary school lives. Cartman’s remixed rhymes about Columbus sailing the ocean blue in order to get them “a day off from schoo” was particularly amusing.

The business with Randy was generally funny, but also pretty scattershot. I like what the show used Randy to represent here -- the sort performative woke bro who goes over the top in his efforts, partly because he has skeletons in his own closet. Randy being so gung-ho about his anti-Columbus fervor that he calls random people who live in Columbus, Ohio and berates them is a nice satire of the vitriol of social issues these days. And Randy’s extreme fear of being found out and attacked for his past Columbus impersonations is likewise over-the-top, and works as a parody of both the overblown fears of being called out and as performative woke bros like Randy seeing that as the object of the game of being more sensitive to cultural issues.

There’s also some interesting satire of people using DNA tests and the like to try to establish their own victimhood. Randy in particular trying to game the system, and the claim (in a characteristically insane way) that he’s a victim of oppression because he’s 2% Neanderthal is a particularly inspired bit of commentary. At the same time, I got a kick out of the school board member in charge of the calendar who reflexively refuses to believe anything from the internet because it’s “fake news” but is willing to accept something if he sees it on a VHS tape.

But really, the best parts of the Randy storyline had little to do with the broader social and political commentary the show wrapped up into a big jumble, but rather the smaller, more random details. The fact that Randy was so into Columbus that he dressed up as him for his wedding is the sort of absurdity the show thrives on. The Native American man who becomes romantically attached to Randy is a weird, but amusing bit. (And the scene Randy creates when he tries to kick him off his property is some nice farce.) And most most all, Randy’s misunderstanding and misuse of the term “indigenous” is a great strain of humor, in line with GOB’s use of the word “circumvent” on Arrested Development.

Overall, “Holiday Special” is less than the sum of its parts, but there’s enough interesting and amusing parts to hold your interest.