“I put a lot of Arby’s Horsey Sauce on those.” – Cartman
One of the best parts of the South Park documentary, 6 Days to Air, is hearing show creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker recount their experience at the Oscars in 2000. The gist of the story is that the guys decided to wear elaborate evening gowns and drop acid before the ceremony.
I mention this piece of South Park lore because at times “Bass To Mouth” has the distinct vibe of a very strange acid trip. I don’t know if Matt and Trey still like to dabble in the world of hallucinogenic drugs, but the storytelling in “Bass To Mouth” certainly has the appearance of being under the influence.
“Bass To Mouth” begins conventionally enough, as a satirical skewering of celebrity gossip websites and school-yard bullying. Someone in South Park Elementary is running a TMZ-style website called Eavesdropper, which dishes dirt about the student body. When a fourth grader named Pete Melman craps his pants in class, the news spreads through the school like wildfire due to Eavesdropper’s coverage.
Cartman is pulled into Principal Victoria’s office to discuss the situation. He is reminded that a year ago, a student committed suicide after being viciously ridiculed for crapping his pants. Desperate to avoid another student death, Mr. Mackey begs Cartman to go easy on the bullying. “If Pete Melman does not kill himself, we will make it worth your while,” the administrators promise Eric.
Cartman’s plan is to feed the entire school pizza topped with laxatives and Arby’s Horsey Sauce in order to make everyone simultaneously crap their pants. The idea is if everyone does it, it will take the spotlight off of Pete. In exchange for his help, Cartman wants to watch Mr. Mackey and Principal Victoria beat the daylights out of Selena Gomez. A strange request indeed, but a funny one.
The episode takes a bizarre, trippy turn when Stan and Kyle discover that Eavesdropper is not being published by a student, but by a rat with a blond wig named Wikileaks. Wikileaks, as it turns out, is the brother of their former class pet, Lemmiwinks. And only Lemmiwinks can take down Wikileaks and end the Eavesdropper’s reign of terror.
The return of Lemmiwinks also means the return of the weird apparition animals (The Frog King, The Sparrow Prince and Catata Fish) that guide his adventures. The goofy, “minstrel-y” soundtrack that accompanies Lemmiwinks is also back.
The rat versus hamster showdown never completely ties into the bullying storyline, but it doesn’t necessarily need to. Both portions of the episode are funny in their own way.
And who doesn’t love Lemmiwinks?
Some stats and info about South Park, “Bass to Mouth”
TV SHOW – South Park
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 15, Episode 10
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central
GENRE – Comedy, Animated Shows
CREATED BY – Trey Parker, Matt Stone
This review was originally published on TV Geek Army.