Beamer
DOOP Secretary
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EPISODE 902: Die, Hippies, DieThe second episode of Season 9, and yet another episode that starts off by getting straight into the action (although it does move somewhat slow in comparrison to the fast-paced Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina). Starting with a fairly humourous scene in which Cartman is the hippie-eradicating equivelant of an insect exterminator, and is investigating a hippie infestation in an old lady's house. Right away, you can tell this episode isn't going to be serious, but you really don't care. As the storyline progresses, Cartman believes the hippies are gathering for a music festival, but is imprisoned for kidnapping hippies and holding them in his basement. However, the music festival goes ahead and spirals out of control, causing South Park to become hippie capital of the world - and Stan, Kyle and Kenny are in the hippies' clutches. The town has no choice but to ask Cartman for help, and so Cartman, Randy Marsh, Linda Stotch and Chef set out on a mission to drive the hippies away, and rescue the 3 boys. Yes, it's a fairly dumb plot, but then again, most plots sound fucking stupid when they're put on paper anyway. The episode DOES make quite a few good points about hippies and hippie music festivals, but it doesn't focus on these points too much or take these points too seriously. Instead, the episode just focuses on being entertaining, and it is - there wasn't one moment where I was bored or wasn't enjoying myself watching it. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to me like it will have as much replay value as it could have had... The storyline is flawed at times, and there are some lost opportunities for jokes (as well as some predictable, formuleric jokes that weren't too good), but there's still something about this episode that makes it fun to watch. Perhaps it's the fact that it seems to take itself really seriously at some points, constantly jumping into "disaster movie" style - and given the nature of the storyline, most of the humour just comes from the situations. The episode is FULL of movie parodies. Die, Hippies, Die is full of movie parodies - namely Armageddon, The Core and The Day After Tomorrow. Normally, I'm not one for movie parodies, but it's the fact that the episode doesn't call too much attention to these parodies that makes it so great. The episode itself is well structured and moves along at a decent pace. Unlike other shows such as The Simpsons and Futurama, South Park has a reputation for diving straight into storylines right at the start of an episode. Depending on just how complex the storyline is, episodes will sometimes seem either fairly rushed or very slow, but Die, Hippies Die gets it just right. One thing I particularly liked about the episode is the fact that for the most part, it doesn't seem rushed. South Park episodes are usually made in 4 or 5 days, but you wouldn't know it from watching this episode, which had some rather professional moments in it that impressed me quite a bit (the sheer size of the hippie music festival is great and very realistic, and the smoke from all the marijuana over the crowd is a nice little touch too). One thing I noticed about this episode was the return of many old characters, including the mayor, Officer Barbrady, Jimbo, Chef, and a few others. This felt somewhat Season 7-esque to me (Season 7 had quite a few episodes that brought back some old, forgotten characters) and is definitely a nice touch. However, the problem is that very few of these characters are utilised well - none of them have any stand-out hilarious moments, and some just seem as if they're there for the sake of being there. Still, it was nice to see some of them back, and they really made the episode feel like a classic. Hopefully these characters will return again in later episodes, I'm looking forward to that. On a side note - ARARHGHHHH!!! Mr. Garrison's still a woman! Overall, Die, Hippies, Die is a good, fun episode which you can just sit back and laugh at without thinking too hard. As great as Seasons 6, 7 and 8 were, they occassionally got so caught up in the satire that anyone who didn't understand the issues would be left totally confused, while everyone else would be in hysterics - and it's good to see that after taking on a more serious formula these past few years, South Park hasn't lost touch with its good old mindless fun episodes. I can honestly say I wouldn't mind if Season 9 continued to go into this direction, and I also wouldn't mind if it went back to the satirical style that made the past few seasons so great. South Park is great no matter what, and this episode proves that point well, even if it does lack a little. SCORE: 8.5/10"These are what we call the, uh, 'giggling stoners' - pretty common form of hippie, usually found in the attics."
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bender+fry
Professor
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How many episodes this season? 15?
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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Wow, that is a lot more than usual.
SP has one more series/season to go right?
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Nasty Pasty
DOOP Secretary
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I dunno, when is South Park's contract with Comedy Central over?
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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Just watched Die Hippies Die and I loved it, It was great seeing the classic characters again though I'm trying to adjust to the new tone on the Mayors Voice.
The ending was hilarious too, Cartman is such an evil little bastard.
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~FazeShift~
Moderator
DOOP Ubersecretary
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Originally posted by newhook_1: Have a personal favourite?
Aw geez... Ehhhmmmmmmmm, number 7! *runs* No real favourites, no.
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Y_L_B
Professor
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« Reply #651 on: 03-21-2005 19:06 »
« Last Edit on: 03-21-2005 19:06 »
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Wh00! A preview of the next episode: EDIT: Oh, forget it. It's at South Park Studios"As talent agents, Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny can bank 10% of their client’s earnings. After they pool all their resources to impress their one and only client, another agency steals him away. Desperate to earn their money back, they take on another client with plans to launch her on a new reality show."I can't play the video, but the episode sounds like it'll be cool.
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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Just had another look at the DHD Promo Image, they changed Cartman's overalls colour from a light grey to that prison orange.
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bender+fry
Professor
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"Stupid Malaysians!"
I, too, love that City Wok Guy (CWG?). Can't wait for the new episode! Matt and Trey started this season with two great stories, so I have little doubt that they won't be able to do a third.
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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The CWG is indeed awesome, one of my all time favourite minor characters.
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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Hey, he could be saying that in the next episode.
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Beamer
DOOP Secretary
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I doubt it, I think Ms. Claridge was a one-off character only...
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bender+fry
Professor
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Malaysians, Mongolians, Tomato, Tomato...
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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'God damn Mayasian's stowp eahting my shitty award!'
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newhook_1
Urban Legend
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« Reply #667 on: 03-24-2005 00:15 »
« Last Edit on: 03-24-2005 00:15 »
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WingOk, it was sorta a William Hung spoof, but the ripping was more done on talent agents than reality TV. The story was told really well in this one, not jumping into the action right away as South Park usually does(not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just nice for a change of pace every now and then) and the ending reminded me of the Jeffersons in the way they didn't end on a joke(once again, nothing wrong with that, but this was a nice change of pace), but with all the conflicts resolved. The plot was well laid out and had a natural flow to it. Though I'm sure I'm probably wrong, it seems almost like they were working on this one for awhile. This episode was also a change of pace because it focused on the City Wok guy a little ("NO! Not the shitty shrimp!" ), which is also good. Also, Stalone and his translators was great. I'm not quite sure yet if Matt and Trey's intention was to make fun of Wing or to help her promote her music, any publicity is good publicity I suppose. Not the funniest episode ever, but once again, very well written, with a lot of the humor coming from the story and situations themselves rather than shock value. 8.5/10
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Nurdbot
DOOP Secretary
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Beamer: Arrrrgh! Mr Garrison is still a woman!
Hehe.
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Nasty Pasty
DOOP Secretary
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Meh, this episode was below average.
C-
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Beamer
DOOP Secretary
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I disagree, I think Season 9's been great so far. Although I haven't seen Wing yet, so I can't comment on that, but I can safely say that no line could save The Passion of the Jew. That episode was doomed from the start...
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