Fantastic Easter Special

"Fantastic Easter Special"

"Fantastic Easter Special" is episode 1105 (#158) of the animated series South Park. It parodies the movie The Da Vinci Code, based on the novel of the same name by Dan Brown. It was first broadcast on April 4, 2007.

Plot

As the Marsh family colors eggs for Easter, Stan questions what it has to do with Jesus Christ. Not satisfied by his father's vague responses, Stan storms off and later makes the same inquiries to a mall Easter Bunny. The mall bunny tells Stan that it's "just Easter", and to "just go with it", then makes a mysterious phone call.

Stan soon finds himself being chased by men in bunny suits. When he gets home, he finds that his father is part of the plot. Randy calls the men off, and tells Stan he's in a society called "The Hare Club for Men", who have guarded the secret of Easter for generations. Randy takes Stan to the headquarters of the Hare Club, where he is to be initiated into the group, which reveres a rabbit named Snowball. Just as he is about to learn the secret of Easter, Stan's initiation is interrupted as the club is ambushed by ninjas. The Hare Club members rush to protect Snowball, and Randy gives the rabbit to Stan, telling him to run. He escapes with Snowball, and witnesses the ninjas and their leader, Bill Donohue, interrogating, kidnapping and shooting one of the Hare Club members. Stan runs off to his best friend, Kyle's house and tries to extract any knowledge Kyle has of Easter. Kyle, who is Jewish, doesn't know anything about Easter and was busy finger painting does not want to be bothered but Stan persuades him to help him.

Stan and Kyle manage to track down a man named Professor Teabag, who supposedly knows the secret of the Hare Club. Teabag lets them in his mansion and explains that Leonardo da Vinci was actually a member of the Hare Club and that St. Peter was not a man but a rabbit (Peter Rabbit), and that laser imaging shows that da Vinci originally portrayed St. Peter as a rabbit instead of as a man in his painting of the Last Supper. Teabag explains that Jesus knew that no human could speak for all Christianity without being corrupted, but that rabbits were pure and incorruptible. This is why the Pope's hat is shaped to accommodate a rabbit's ears. He further explains that Snowball is actually a direct descendant from St. Peter, and that Stan's father has been kidnapped by the Vatican, who wish to cover up this secret. Once again the ninjas attack, but Teabag helps the two boys escape by putting marshmallow Peeps in the microwave, creating an explosion that destroys the mansion and kills Teabag and the ninjas.

Stan and Kyle go to the Vatican where Stan turns the rabbit over to the Catholic Church, on the condition that the Hare Club members are all set free. However, Bill Donohue reveals he had actually promised on a double cross and plans to make an example of the Hare Club. Fortunately, Jesus miraculously arrives to intervene, and tells them that he did, in fact, plan for the popes to be rabbits, citing the current corruption. Benedict is willing to listen and agree with Jesus, but Donohue refuses to listen and seizes the Pope's mitre, and orders his ninjas to capture all of them, including Benedict and Jesus, and declares himself the new Pope. He orders the ninjas to lock up Kyle and Jesus, the "two Jews" and the Pope and deal with them later, then he leads Stan and Randy to the block where the gigantic pot for Snowball's execution is.

File:1105 marsh family easter.jpg

The Marsh family color easter eggs

Jesus tells Kyle that his "superpowers" only work when he is dead, and the only way to escape is for Kyle to kill him so he can return to life outside the cell. Kyle is naturally reluctant to kill Jesus, but eventually agrees, saying that "Eric Cartman can never know about this.", and does so. As Pope Donohue is about to execute Snowball in front of Stan, Randy and the Hare Club members, Jesus appears in the crowd after being killed by Kyle, and kills Donohue. Snowball is elected Pope, and as he is a rabbit and cannot speak, he cannot tell people how they should lead their lives, just as "Jesus intended". Stan reveals that he has learned his lesson through all of his adventures: to not ask questions, and Randy becomes proud of him.

Continuity in South Park

• Although this episode claims St. Peter was a rabbit ("Peter Rabbit"), a human St. Peter was previously seen in his traditional role as Heaven's gatekeeper in "Best Friends Forever."
• This episode marks the first physical appearance of Jesus in South Park for four and a half years (Excluding the cameo in I'm a Little Bit Country ). His absence is acknowledged when Benedict's assistant's comments on Jesus' apparent death in "Red Sleigh Down."
• When Kyle is about to kill Jesus, he says "Eric Cartman can never know about this." This is in line with a long-running joke about Cartman's antisemitism and claims that the Jews were responsible for Christ's death (first mentioned in "It's Christmas in Canada", but shown in detail on "The Passion of the Jew").
• Though Jesus states he only has special powers when dead, he previously had the power of master carpentry and was able to fly ("Super Best Friends"), as well as the power of prophecy ("Death").
• Randy Marsh, though a long-time keeper of the Hare Club secret, has previously been an atheist in "Red Hot Catholic Love" and a Mormon in "All About Mormons".
• The ongoing joke of Grandpa Marsh referring to Stan as "Billy" was used once again in this episode.

Cultural references

• The episode parodies elements of the book The Da Vinci Code and by extension its film version:
  • The Hare Club for Men is a parody of the cabal Priory of Sion as portrayed in the book and film, as well as a play on words on "The Hair Club For Men."
  • Peter being really a rabbit is similar to the Code's assertion that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene.
  • Professor Teabag is a parody of Sir Leigh Teabing, and the way he introduces the conspiracy of St. Peter is very similar to the way the The Last Supper is presented in both the book and the film
• The song chanted by the members of the Hare Club for Men is based on "Peter Cottontail", written by Steve Nelson (singer) and Walter E. "Jack" Rollins in 1949. Sung in Latin, the chant combines lyrics from the eponymous song and traditional Catholic hymns. During the Vatican scene at the end of the episode, the last line is changed to "in the name of God." The lyric "hippitus hoppitus" is a Dog Latin "translation" of the lines "hippity hoppity".
• In the meeting room of the Hare Club For Men, the letter H can be seen on the wall. This is a reference to Freemasonry, which has the letter G on the wall in their lodge rooms.
• The entire Hare Club For Men lodge scene (prior to the ambush) is an almost shot-for-shot reenactment of the lodge scene from the 1986 high school comedy Peggy Sue Got Married.
• William A. Donohue, head of the American Catholic League, is parodied as a ruthless, extremist executioner leading a band of black ninjas, and who sees himself as more holy than the Pope or Jesus. Donohue has been a vocal critic of South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, particularly over the episode "Bloody Mary." Some of his lines seem to parody controversies about him:
  • After the two-part "Cartoon Wars" episode, Donohue commented that Stone and Parker were "little whores" for being against the censorship of Muhammad but still being willing to make money by mocking Jesus. In this episode Donohue calls Stan and Kyle "whores."
  • In the episode, Donohue also orders the ninjas "Lock up those two Jews, we'll deal with them later." This could be a reference to allegations of antisemitism after the 8 December, 2004 episode of Scarborough Country in which Donohue said, "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? And I'm not afraid to say it. That's why they hate this movie. It's about Jesus Christ, and it's about truth. It's about the Messiah."
• The weapon that Jesus uses to spectacularly dispatch William Donohue at the episode's conclusion is the Glaive: the bejewelled ninja star from the 1983 fantasy film Krull. After Donohue is killed, the weapon returns, boomerang-like, to Jesus. As he catches it, he adopts a dynamic posture and coolly puts on sunglasses, a clear reference to the character of Blade the vampire hunter in the popular movie trilogy of the same name. Blade also uses a Glaive on several occasions to slay vampires.
• The scene where Professor Teabag puts the Peeps into the microwave and they explode is a direct reference to The X-Files movie.

Goofs

• In the scene where Stan is being chased by men in bunny costumes, when he is in his house you can see a picture of the hill where Joseph Smith dug for the gold plates, when you first see this, however, the portrait appears in the middle of the wall, when you see it a second time, it appears closer to the toilet door. Also, the second time you see it, a table appears before you reach the portrait, but the first time you see it, there is not.
• In the scene where Bill Donohue captures all the members at the Hare Club for Men Headquarters, he asks Randy Marsh who he gave the rabbit to, in which Randy replies by spitting in his face. Donohue then continues by saying "search the area, the boy couldn't have gotten far".

External links

• "Fantastic Easter Special" at South Park Studios
• "Fantastic Easter Special" at IMDb
• Fantastic Easter Special at TV.com