LogFAQs > #969953743

#57: Cartmanland
https://i.imgur.com/y3dhAfo.jpg

Show: South Park
Original airdate: July 25, 2001

"But it's okay, Stan, because I finally figured it out. You see, if someone like Cartman can get a million dollars and his own theme park, then there is no God. There's no God, dude."

Airing right on the heels of Scott Tenorman Must Die (two weeks later, in fact), is this classic South Park episode in which Cartman inherits his own theme park, causing Kyle to lose his faith in God and develop a dangerous infected hemorrhoid. This episode is not only ludicrously funny, but also touches on philosophy through the concept of theodicy and the "just world" hypothesis, blending deep philosophical questions with the series' trademark toilet humor. The result is a brilliant series of increasingly funny scenes in which Cartman realizes just how difficult it is to run a theme park (anyone who's played Roller Coaster Tycoon will feel Cartman's pain), while Kyle continues to deteriorate after seeing how successful the park becomes thanks to Cartman's "you can't come" strategy. After seeing the depths of Cartman's evil played out in the Scott Tenorman episode, it's so satisfying seeing him get his just desserts here, topped off in a well-deserved humiliation conga line at the end of the episode, which sees Kyle's faith restored and Cartman booted from his own theme park. Episodes like Cartmanland prove that South Park can tell a morality tale with the very best of them, even disguised under layers of vulgarity and grossout humor, and I love rewatching this classic any time it comes on.