November 2, 2006 - Sometimes South Park is so absurd you can't help but laugh hysterically. "Go, God. Go!, Part 2" is full of just that kind of absurdity. With a crazy premise and some great social satire, we can clearly see why South Park is heralded as one of the smartest comedies on television… even when it is being completely disgusting. And disgusting it is! There were a couple moments in this episode that had the whole IGN viewing audience shocked, appalled, and at the same time laughing at the awkwardness.

The episode featured two main storylines, one following Mrs. Garrison and the other following Cartman. Mrs. Garrison is having a problem at school and that is that she needs to teach the theory of evolution that she doesn't believe in. But through a crazy set of events we find that she turns into an atheist and works for the end of religion and creationism. At the same time we are watching as Eric Cartman is dealing with anxiety due to an obsession with the new Nintendo system: the Nintendo Wii. Deciding he can't go on without the Wii, Cartman does the only sane thing to do in this situation, which is freeze yourself so that you can be woken up on the system's launch date. The only problem is that Cartman is completely frozen, and is woken up in the year 2546, well past the release date of the Wii. In the future we find out that they don't play videogames and that religion has been eradicated, leaving way for rivaling atheistic organizations.

Cartman sucessfully froze himself... only now he can't play the Wii.

This absurd and humorous plot had us all cracking up, but it also had us scratching our heads at the end. With a 'to be continued' ending, we aren't really sure if they are going to pick up with this storyline next week, or if it is just a throwaway bit; as the episode is entitled "Part 2" when there has been no Part 1. Hopefully we will be graced with a finale to this story, as we want to see if Cartman finally gets to play the Wii, and see how the non-religious wars are wrapped up - will the giant sea otters rule? Or will the Unified Atheist Alliance be able to protect Cartman from the Allied Atheist Allegiance (giant sea otters)?

As we mentioned above, this episode was dirty. The whole love story between Mrs. Garrison and Richard Dawkins (a prominent evolutionary theorist) was presented in the creepiest manner possible. South Park has tackled transsexuals and gay issues on many occasions, and even though these areas are often used as joke material, they will often make a point and show the alternative lifestyles in a positive light. In this episode however, it was downright offensive and disturbing watching Dawkins and Garrison have sex (graphically). Yet, still we were laughing… which you can probably account to the awkwardness and graphic nature of the whole situation.

Even though the Garrison/Dawkins loves scenes were uncomfortable, the satire related to the evolution/creationism debate was done perfectly. Playing both sides of the field, as South Park does so well, we saw that the writers obviously believe in evolution, but they don't think that evolution answers everything. By having Mr. Mackey plainly explain to Garrison that evolution has been proven, we saw that the idea of creationism isn't thought of as a viable alternative. But the episode made the case for those that believe in God, stating that evolution may be the answer to how and not the answer to why - which leads to Garrison putting a dunce cap (stating: I Have Faith) on Stan. With Mrs. Garrison pestering Stan, we were showed the absurdity of the hatred that a small sect of atheists have for those that follow religious practices. This type of satire is funny on the base level of obnoxious fun, while at the same time making a statement about people's beliefs.

Cartman can't wait to play the Nintendo Wii.

As funny as Mrs. Garrison's storyline was we were rolling on the floor laughing out loud at Cartman's obsession with the Nintendo Wii. Being that IGN is known for being a videogames authority, most of us here on the staff have been able to play the system, and we are eagerly anticipating playing the Wii more in depth. Knowing what we know about the system and our fans we can totally relate with Eric's need to play the system. We get tons of mail everyday to our Wii staff explaining how much our fans love the system already without playing it - so seeing the same blind faith in Nintendo from Cartman had our staff rolling on the floor. Anytime South Park makes reference to videogames (PSP - "Best Friends Forever"; etc.) it has been very funny for us videogame geeks, and this episode was no different. Just the sheer mention of the Wii being on South Park this week had our office TiVo running it on a loop.

Between the shocking Mrs. Garrison story and the hilarious Wii promotion by Cartman, we totally recommend watching this episode. But once again, we ask what is going to happen next week? Will we see Part 1? Or will we see Part 3? Or will they ditch the whole idea and pretend that there was no Halo 2-like 'to be continued' ending (videogame geeks - you know what I am talking about), and just go back to normal pretending like nothing ever happened? Only time will tell, but I for one am hoping that we get a continuation to this grandiose story.