South Park Season 2 (1998)

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South Park Season 2 Review

The second season of South Park is a minor improvement upon the previous one, but it still has its many middling episodes.

Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus is a very controversial episode because it opened up the season with a filler instead of continuing the last season’s cliffhanger. But even though that was problematic, it was funny in and of itself and Saddam is great here. But it is in the end a typical Canadian episode, forgettable and just okay.

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“Ey! I am a cop, and you will respect my authoritah!“

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Cartman’s Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut is not only a worthy conclusion to this two-parter, but is arguably better than its predecessor. The twist at the end is shocking, but the episode succeeds mostly because of its subplot involving Mr. Garrison and others resolving to cannibalism in order to survive. That was so funny and Kenny’s part is also great.

Ike’s Wee Wee is absolutely fantastic. It is one of the rare South Park episodes that focuses on character development and relationships instead of humor and it paid off as it has a lot of heart with a genuinely moving finale.

Chickenlover has a very overrated Cartman part, but this is probably the best Officer Barbrady episode and he is so good here. His illiteracy provided many amusing moments and the episode’s mystery is interesting.

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Conjoined Fetus Lady is easily the very best episode of this season. It is absolutely hilarious, but also quite sophisticated and progressive in its message about tolerance. It’s a full package and an early sign of Parker and Matt’s evident skills at mixing great humor and social commentary.

The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka has a repetitive and somewhat boring Jimbo subplot, but the one with Jesus is so good. It has some of the best and funniest scenes of the season and it is a further proof how great and shamefully underutilized this character has been.

City on the Edge of Forever is without any doubt one of the worst ever episodes in the show’s history! It basically reduces itself to pointless flashbacks and it is just a dull, plain old filler.

Summer Sucks has all solid subplots, but the one with Mr. Garrison is the best as his relationship with Mr. Hat produced many laughs during these earlier seasons.

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Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls finds Chef at his most amusing, but is otherwise a boring and expectedly mediocre episode starring that hideous piece of poop Mr. Hankey.

Chickenpox is so much fun. The boys try to get back at their parents for getting them chickenpox and it of course leads to many funny moments and the McCormick storyline is also really good.

Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods has a great brainwashing story and Cartman here is so funny and I liked how he inadvertently saved the say. However, I still do not know why this episode’s title includes Roger Ebert when there’s no Ebert to be had here whatsoever.

Clubhouses has a terrific Marsh part, but the highlight is the girl kissing part and some of those scenes were just so funny with Cartman once again being the standout.

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Cow Days is again a great showcase for Cartman, but it also succeeds in presenting the South Park residents as rednecks to the outsiders and I really liked the shenanigans part of the story too.

Chef Aid has such a heartwarming and also amusing Chef subplot and the one with Garrison being paranoid is just amazing. This episode really explores his twisted psyche with some hysterical results.

Spookyfish is the rare episode where you can see good Erik Cartman fight the bad one and of course it’s amazing. The climax is so phenomenal and it proves how smart Cartman can really be in intense situations.

Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson! is admittedly pretty solid and is a good story, but is ultimately too forgettable.

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Gnomes is a somewhat boring episode that is a good showcase of Tweek and his crazy parents, but again, those characters aren’t the most memorable ones and it shows here.

Prehistoric Ice Man finds a man being refrozen and is out of time, but it’s funny as it has only been one year and the episode presents it as it if has been a hundred years. That is so amusing and some moments here are laugh out loud funny leading to one of the best parts of the season.

The second season of South Park is a slight improvement upon the original with the higher amount of classic episodes, mostly good jokes, improved animation, some of the more original concepts and the high amount of 18 episodes is a big plus, but it is still a beginning here with not a single standout character, some weak episodes and little attention to character arks. But it is still a pretty good season with some very interesting storylines, mostly excellent humor and a couple of terrific episodes.

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Worst Episodes: Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus, City on the Edge of Forever, Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls and Gnomes.

Best Episodes: Cartman’s Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut, Ike’s Wee Wee, Conjoined Fetus Lady and Prehistoric Ice Man.

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My Rating – 3.6

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