[7.2/10] Another episode that’s kind of all over the place, but which has some interesting ideas and humor at play. Oddly enough, the thing I appreciated most about the episode is when it went for drama. I wasn’t expecting the episode to reference “Red Hot Catholic Love”, the first time South Park addressed this controversy almost (“oh god, has it really been that long?”) two decades ago. But there’s something oddly powerful about Father Maxi admitting that he knew about this, that he went to the Vatican and came back thinking things could be fixed, but that the institution is rotten. There’s some genuine desperation and self-loathing there, and his rejection of Butters as his pal adds personal stakes to it. South Park rarely goes serious, but something about dropping the comic mask there had an effect.
That said, the show is still good for getting a laugh. I liked the conceit of how everyone likes going to church, but only because they can make molestation jokes, which works both as social satire and straight comedy. The “clean up crew” and their assortment of bodily fluid-wiping supplies managed to go for some solid physical humor (especially the noise the “cumby” made).
And there’s little humor more biting or blistering than Father Maxi thinking the clean up crew is coming to take him out, when really they’re just there to sweep it under the rug and make it go away “like we’ve always done.” It’s on the nose, but effective commentary.
Aside from the one big dramatic moment, the eyebrow-raising friendship between Butters and Father Maxi wasn’t as strong an element of the episode as it could have been, and all the kids bristling at Butters letting Father Maxi tag along didn’t really go anywhere, and those two things took up a lot of the episode. Still, the good outweighed the bad, if only by a little bit.
Overall, this is an episode with one really strong moment, and an undercurrent of good laughs with some noteworthy social commentary underneath them, which are enough to pull this one into “good” territory.
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2018-10-16T01:16:48Z
[7.2/10] Another episode that’s kind of all over the place, but which has some interesting ideas and humor at play. Oddly enough, the thing I appreciated most about the episode is when it went for drama. I wasn’t expecting the episode to reference “Red Hot Catholic Love”, the first time South Park addressed this controversy almost (“oh god, has it really been that long?”) two decades ago. But there’s something oddly powerful about Father Maxi admitting that he knew about this, that he went to the Vatican and came back thinking things could be fixed, but that the institution is rotten. There’s some genuine desperation and self-loathing there, and his rejection of Butters as his pal adds personal stakes to it. South Park rarely goes serious, but something about dropping the comic mask there had an effect.
That said, the show is still good for getting a laugh. I liked the conceit of how everyone likes going to church, but only because they can make molestation jokes, which works both as social satire and straight comedy. The “clean up crew” and their assortment of bodily fluid-wiping supplies managed to go for some solid physical humor (especially the noise the “cumby” made).
And there’s little humor more biting or blistering than Father Maxi thinking the clean up crew is coming to take him out, when really they’re just there to sweep it under the rug and make it go away “like we’ve always done.” It’s on the nose, but effective commentary.
Aside from the one big dramatic moment, the eyebrow-raising friendship between Butters and Father Maxi wasn’t as strong an element of the episode as it could have been, and all the kids bristling at Butters letting Father Maxi tag along didn’t really go anywhere, and those two things took up a lot of the episode. Still, the good outweighed the bad, if only by a little bit.
Overall, this is an episode with one really strong moment, and an undercurrent of good laughs with some noteworthy social commentary underneath them, which are enough to pull this one into “good” territory.