After three weeks of intense action and diving into the mythology of the show, South Park ends their 14th season by doing what they do best, taking something popular and showing how ridiculous it really is.
The growing popularity of the Food Network finds itself in the show's crosshairs and for the most part this episode works. Other than showing how dumb it is to watch other people cook food that you most likely wouldn’t even want to eat, Crème Fraiche makes fun of the ever ridiculed shake weight. For those of you not familiar with the shake weight just Google it, and yes I assure you it is a real product. While it is true that the shake weight portion does go on too long, the first time it was hilarious, second funny, and went down from there, it fails to ruin the episode. It also wasn’t helped by focusing on Sharon, a character we rarely see and have no strong opinion of.
Another thing the episode has going for it is Randy. Over the past couple of seasons Randy has become my favorite character and Randy episodes always serve as a mirror to society. He always finds himself caught up in something popular at the moment and through his exaggerated reactions Trey and Matt show how they feel on the issue. It could be World of Warcraft, medical marijuana, or the Food Network, Randy will be forced to confront it.
Now I will admit that I am a fan of the Food Network, but even the most dire hard fan has to suspend some disbelief. If you take a step back and really think about what the channel is showing you will realize how dumb it is. The episode does a great job at showing the personalities that dominate their programming and while they were a little tame on their character assassinations (poor Giada) the jokes comes off well and the show exaggerates their quirks perfectly.
The kids really have nothing to do in this episode and while usually that could be a complaint after the superhero trilogy it is a nice change. Randy is more than capable of taking over the role of main character and aside from a few conversations in the cafeteria he does a great job. Side note, I believe this maybe the first time we have been shown that area of the cafeteria since they killed chef.
The Randy storyline is great, but as I said earlier, Sharon and the shake weight comes off as awkward and flat at times. The spraying after a workout was hilarious and seeing it the first time might be the best part of the episode. In the end the shake weight severed its purpose and Randy was finally cured of his cooking infatuations with an "old fashioned".
It’s sad to see the season end, but after three episode that fluctuated in quality, they ended the season with a very funny episode that we maybe quoting until next season. Crème Fraiiiiche!
