Written by Jambareeqi

Posted 21st April, 2019

When Stan begins questioning the purpose of painting eggs at Easter, he ends up uncovering the truth that his father is part of an underground following, a cult who believe Saint Peter was a rabbit. Stan is invited to this cult, only for the Pope to kidnap and cage the followers, so it’s up to Stan to rescue his dad with help from Kyle and Jesus.

With South Park already having satirised Christmas many times, Easter seemed like the next step, and this plot is exactly what I’d expect from the show when it started doing it’s “Secret Conspiracy” story formula. I think this maybe one of my favourites for this type of episode, because the story is really strong, as you can tell that Trey & Matt thought hard about an Easter conspiracy.

I can’t argue that maybe some Christians believe Saint Peter was a rabbit, so while this theory is made up, it’s actually easy to take in, being far less far fetched than other conspiracy episodes, and I think that realism is what engages me in the story. I mean, if this cult did exist, I’d totally buy that they’d be an enemy of the Catholic church, considering that they are denouncing the integrity of the pope, so it makes narrative sense to make him the antagonist.

While this is one of the more grounded conspiracy theory episodes, it still has a sense of humour, it is South Park after all, jokes are a plenty here. Seeing the cult dressed as bunnies, while taking their beliefs very seriously, is a gag that manages to last the whole episode, maybe because rabbit ears are inherently funny. As always, it’s also funny seeing Stan being caught up in adult pettiness, while he simply wants answers to questions, because he’s a growing boy who wants to better understand the world.

South Park is renowned for it’s attacks on corrupt authorities, this episode is no exception, taking a huge bite out of hypocrisy within Religious communities, mainly targeting the Catholic church (who have been often accused of hiding dirty secrets, while preaching for people to be good). In this episode, even though the Catholic church are open Christians, they go to violent and sadistic lengths to keep power, bending the rules to justify their crimes, even when Jesus himself steps in to defend the cult’s claims.

Speaking of Jesus, he was an awesome addition to this episode, being soft voiced and kind, but also not afraid to make sacrifices and look like a badass. It’s also really funny, when he asks Kyle to kill him to trigger his resurrection power, so that they can escape a prison cell, the way that the scene exaggerates Jesus’ death to guilt Kyle is laugh out loud black comedy.

Before he faded from relevance in “South Park”, Jesus was one of the only adults who actually made sense, he also had a super hero appeal to his character, plus his plot lines often developed him into a relatable self reflective character. It’s a shame that Matt and Trey forgot about him as time passed on, but I guess Satan took over his role in newer seasons, which I can’t complain about as I love Satan’s character.

To Conclude, the title of this episode really fits, it IS a fantastic Easter special, a must watch for South Park fans on this Easter Sunday, I really recommend it. While you’re here, feel free to subscribe to my website to be informed about all my new text reviews and blogs! Jambareeqi.com contains lots of reviews in the writing tab above.