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Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Boy in the Iceberg (2005)
The Boy in the Iceberg
"The Boy in the Iceberg" is the first part in a two part introduction to Avatar: The Last Airbender. The first episode delves directly into who we are dealing with, what the plot is, and why we should care. The beginning scene sums everything up extraordinarily well so I don't want to concentrate on the story as much for this part. In the beginning sequence, we learn that the world was in peace and that the Avatar's job is to maintain peace between the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation, and Air Nomads. We also learn that the Fire Nation declared war on the world and it threw the world out of balance. The Avatar is the only person who is able to bend the elements of Water, Earth, Fire, and Air. Unfortunately, the Avatar disappears when the Fire Nation begins their assault. Fast-forwarding to the current state of the fictional world we learn that one hundred years have passed and that the Fire Nation is nearing victory in the war. This beginning sequence is not even ninety seconds long and it already gives us a great understanding about the main plot and who our antagonists and protagonists are.
This episode does a great job at establishing the main plot and our main characters, protagonist and antagonist alike. This episode did a very good job at giving our characters personalities and hooked it hooked me in this first episode. This episode warrants an 8.5 out of 10 (Round to 9 for the IMDb scale.) for establishing the plot early, giving out characters individual personalities, and the amazing intro scene at the beginning of the episode.
South Park: Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride (1997)
Season One Gets Better!
"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", the fourth episode in the season, takes on homosexuality. One of my favorite things about South Park is that there is no sacred cows and this episode is the start of taking on very taboo topics. I was extremely young when this episode came out so I can't say how controversial it was back then, but I can relate it to today's issues regarding Gay Marriage but I digress. "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" was interesting, funny, and just nice to watch.
The plot centers around Stan and his dog, Sparky. This episode begins with Stan presenting to Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman his new dog Sparky (George Clooney). Stan boasts that Sparky is the toughest dog on the mountain because of what breed Sparky is, but Cartman contests and says Sylvester, a homeless, wild dog is tougher. We discover Sparky's sexual orientation when the boys antagonize the dogs to fight. Sparky literally "kicks ass" and that lays the groundwork for the episode. In the meantime Stan is also tasked with defeating an arch-rival, Middle Park Elementary in a football game that has them losing to a +70 point spread. Cue Jimbo and Ned to help add more heat to the fire as they boast about how good Stan is and end up placing huge bets that South Park will beat the +70 spread, hilariously, everyone else places high bets that South Park will beat the spread; this prompts Jimbo and Ned to find a back-up plan that involves the Middle Park mascot, a bomb, Richard Stamos, and "Loving You". Meanwhile we get Stan trying to figure out what is wrong with his dog. Considering Sharon, Stan's mom hasn't been introduced into the show yet, Stan can't go to her, but instead goes to the next best thing, his teach, Mr. Garrison. Stan asks Mr. Garrison about homosexuality and Mr. Garrison's response was absolutely hilarious. Mr. Garrison tells Stan that gay people are evil and starts listing off absolutely horrendous attributes of gay people. Stan is increasingly taking his mind off of the football game and now tries to ask Jesus about homosexuality and when Jesus tries to answer he gets cut off right before his answer. After this Stan starts getting depressed as he doesn't want a gay dog; sadly, Sparky, is outside listening to Kyle and Stan talk and decides to run away and ends up at Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary. Stan discovers his dog ran away and decides he won't attend the football game but goes to find his dog. Stan stumbles upon the Animal Sanctuary and finds Sparky but still doesn't understand that being gay isn't a choice so Big Gay Al shows Stan the history of gay people and eventually comes to terms that he can't change his dog and accepts Sparky for who he is. Better yet, he returns to the football game, beats the spread, and leads everyone to find their long-lost pets. Hilariously, Richard Stamos kills a horse at the end after hitting a High-F that he couldn't hit before.
Overall, this episode was a great beginning to the South Park "soapbox" that handles political, social, and civil issues. I found this episode fun, intelligent, and still hilarious with some dialogue like "That dog is a gay homosexual." Overall, this episode earns a solid 9 out of 10.
New Characters Introduced: Big Gay Al, Jesus, Pip, Sparky Times Kenny Died: 1 Total Times Kenny Died in Series So Far: 4
South Park: Volcano (1997)
"It's Coming Right For Us!"
"Volcano" the Third (or Second?) episode of Season One continues to show gradual improvements to animation and dialogue as everything is starting to fall into place. This episode centers on one plot line regarding the volcano with sub-plots regarding Stan and Kenny with Stan's Uncle Jimbo.
A brief summary of this episode: The boys go camping on the outskirts of South Park. Their hunting trip brings up problems for Stan as Kenny outshines Stan in methods of killing animals and drinking. Stan becomes jealous and wants to prove himself. Meanwhile, the town of South Park has a looming volcano threat that would destroy the town along with the boys as well as Jimbo and Ned. Randy saves the town through a canyon that diverts the lava to Denver and Skuzzle-butt rescues the boys as well as Jimbo and Ned.
This episode is really quite a simple one and just is there to continue introducing ourselves to the townspeople and learning more about the boys. Compared to "Weight Gain 4000" and "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" this episode felt a little flat to me, but still was a great episode. I enjoyed the one-liners and Cartman's Vietnam dialogue. Overall, I would give this episode a 7.5 (Rounding to 8 for scale). This is another good episode for anyone who wants to re-watch South Park or those who want to delve into South Park for the first time.
Major Characters Introduced: Ned and Randy Minor Characters Introduced: Skuzzle-Butt
How Many Times Kenny Died: 1 How Many Times Kenny Died So Far in the Series: 3
South Park: Weight Gain 4000 (1997)
"Intelligent and Friendly on Rye Bread with some Mayonnaise"
"Weight Gain 4000" is the second (or Third?) episode of Season One and it is another solid episode that improves upon animation, dialogue, and plot. We get some hilarious dialogue with the boys discussing rainbows and then the intelligence of dolphins. I really got a kick out of Cartman's witty comebacks to Stan and might be the highlight of the episode for me. We get two main plots: Cartman ("BEEFCAKE, BEEFCAKE!") and Mr. Garrison/Mr. Hat over Kathie Lee Gifford.
I'm going to try to keep the spoilers to a minimum here so just to summarize: There was an environmental essay contest and the class is shocked that Eric Cartman, the ignorant, loud-mouthed, racist won the essay contest. Wendy spends the entirety (Pretty much all of the episode) trying to prove Cartman cheated. Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison is dumb-founded when he reads the award will be presented by Kathie Lee Gifford who upstaged him and Mr. Hat during Mr. Garrison's childhood. Mayor McDaniels hears of Kathy Lee Gifford coming to South Park and tries to fix the town up before Kathy Lee Gifford arrives in order to benefit herself (Politicians, right?). The mayor tasks Mr. Garrison to put on a play regarding the history of South Park and you could say it didn't go well as Mr. Garrison blatantly says "To Hell with Kathie Lee Gifford" shocking the residents of the town. He goes back and conspires with Mr. Hat to kill Kathy Lee Gifford. As the episode goes on Cartman gets on Weight Gain 4000 ("BEEFCAKE!") and truly shows that he upgraded from fat to mega fat ass towards the end of the show. In the end, Mr. Garrison buys a gun and tries to assassinate Kathy Lee Gifford(Shooting Kenny instead...). Officer Barbrady comes over to arrest Mr. Hat and gets subsequently thrown in a mental institution. Cartman, by the end of the episode, ends up on Geraldo's TV show regarding Obesity and hilariously Cartman doesn't have a problem with it as he says he achieved his dreams.
In the end, watching this episode today in 2016 was great nostalgia as a simpler, more innocent South Park reigned supreme. I highly recommend anyone who has watched the show or hasn't watched it to sit down and watch Season 1 and enjoy the hilarity that is South Park. Overall, this episode gets an 8 out of 10.
One more thing, every episode I want to try to keep tabs on new characters introduced into the show as well as the number of times Kenny has died so I hope you find some fun in this as much as me.
New characters introduced: Mayor McDaniels, Kathy Lee Gifford, Geraldo, Jimbo, Bebe Number of Times Kenny died: 1 Total Times Kenny died in Series so far: 2
South Park: Cartman Gets an Anal Probe (1997)
Solid Start
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"... well, what can I say about this episode that hasn't been said already. This episode is the start of one of the greatest TV series of all time. From the boys, Wendy, Mr. Garrison, Chef, Officer Barbrady, and Ike we get the first simple look into the fictional town of South Park.
This episode isn't my favorite but I appreciate this episode for its nostalgia and when you look back on it 20 years later you can't help but be amazed at how the show's creators worked pretty much all on their own to create the first episode of a series that I enjoy so much. I enjoy the simplicity of this episode and the characters as they interact with one another such as Stan and Ms. Crabtree and of course Kyle and Cartman. My only dislike with this episode is the delivery of some of the jokes such as when Cartman starts singing, but other than that this episode is a solid start to a great series and I can't thank Trey Parker and Matt Stone enough for this show. This episode gets an 8.5 (Rounded to a 9 for the scale).
I hope you found this review helpful or nice. I will be going through every episode of South Park and I'm sure these reviews will get better as the series progresses.