"Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut" concludes what has been a surprisingly strong first season of South Park, given how first seasons of these shows can often be. A two parter with season two's "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut", this episode explores Cartman and his father complex and shows off some surprising heart for a famously and characteristically crude television series. While the drama is surprisingly organic, I find the episode somewhat lacking as far as the humour is concerned.
The episode pretty much opens with Cartman hosting a tea party by himself! The scene is the perfect embodiment of everything I was hoping for in this episode. There's excellent character work, surprising amount of drama and emotion and it never fails to be absolutely hilarious. I immediately realized this episode would be about Cartman and the exploration of a father complex and for the most part, these scenes are done very well.
Eric's mother recollecting her 'wild days' doesn't quite strike me as particularly funny or enjoyable and it's a pity because it bogs down the momentum of the episode to that point. Kenny, Kyle and Stan exploiting Cartman's crisis with a tape of his tea party is a simple but great side story that complements the episode's emotional arc.
Co-creator Tray Parker really does shine with the vocal performance of Eric Cartman in this episode. The opening tea party is perfectly voiced, each inflection is pure gold. It really is a credit to Parker's ability that he immediately brings out the audience's emotional investment to a character who has mostly been either a fat joke or a selfish crude character or both. The conflict is very real and it does lend itself to some nice humour though it never quite struck me as being as funny as previous episodes.
A very good episode but one that I find a little undercooked.
The episode pretty much opens with Cartman hosting a tea party by himself! The scene is the perfect embodiment of everything I was hoping for in this episode. There's excellent character work, surprising amount of drama and emotion and it never fails to be absolutely hilarious. I immediately realized this episode would be about Cartman and the exploration of a father complex and for the most part, these scenes are done very well.
Eric's mother recollecting her 'wild days' doesn't quite strike me as particularly funny or enjoyable and it's a pity because it bogs down the momentum of the episode to that point. Kenny, Kyle and Stan exploiting Cartman's crisis with a tape of his tea party is a simple but great side story that complements the episode's emotional arc.
Co-creator Tray Parker really does shine with the vocal performance of Eric Cartman in this episode. The opening tea party is perfectly voiced, each inflection is pure gold. It really is a credit to Parker's ability that he immediately brings out the audience's emotional investment to a character who has mostly been either a fat joke or a selfish crude character or both. The conflict is very real and it does lend itself to some nice humour though it never quite struck me as being as funny as previous episodes.
A very good episode but one that I find a little undercooked.