Nothing could demonstrate the soaring ambition behind the silliness better than this staggering episode, which ransacks Greek tragedy for a classic revenge plot.
Cartman gets picked on by bully Scott Tenorman, and after a series of humiliating defeats finally devises a truly chilling revenge. The humor is superb, never losing focus on the dark horror of Cartman's soul.
A few pop culture facts: Cartman repeatedly drops into a Cockney accent, talking about a "brilliant little scheme" and sounding very much like teen psychopath Alex in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. Both Alex and Cartman are originals -- bad men to cross, good men to have as friends.
The idea of training an animal to mutilate another person comes from the HANNIBAL movies, where one of the good doctor Lecter's victims tries to train pigs to eat him alive.
Most impressive, the idea of tricking one's enemy into eating his loved ones goes back to ancient Greece. Aeschylus wrote of the ancestors of Agamemnon, and how they seized power when Atreus the patriarch tricked his rival into eating his own children -- thus erasing his own dynasty from the ruling class. The crime later became a family curse, causing Agamemnon to die at the hands of his wife.
SOUTH PARK is a world where anything can happen -- where Greek tragedy mixes with low comedy, where 4th graders avenge their honor and scalp their enemies like Comanche warriors.
17 out of 20 found this helpful