[WARNING: This item contains spoilers from last night's season premiere of South Park, ''The Return of Chef!'']
I wish Kyle’s eloquent eulogy for Chef (”We shouldn’t be mad at Chef for leaving us. We should be mad at that fruity little club for scrambling his brains.”) could be the final word on the matter, but unfortunately, the episode left us with some burning questions.
First, is Chef really dead, or did his apparent post-funeral seduction by the dark side and transformation into a Darth Vader-esque figure mean he’ll be back as a villain with a different voice? Was the use of previously recorded clips of Isaac Hayes voice a clever way to get around his absence or a churlish slap at the actor for quitting as he did?
Did calling Chef’s brainwashers the ”Super Adventure Club” provide enough allegorical cover to keep Trey Parker and Matt Stone from feeling the legal wrath of the Church of Scientology? Did equating Scientologists with child molesters (besides being grossly unfair and mean-spirited) tarnish the memory of a beloved mentor character?
Finally, I’m really starting to worry about Hayes; are Parker and Stone really suggesting he’s been brainwashed? Is this their way of confirming rumors (here and here) that an ailing Hayes didn’t want to quit but was pressured, and that the statement attributed to him blasting the show’s religious bigotry was written against his wishes?
I wasn’t kidding yesterday when I said I hoped this was all just a big publicity ploy to drum up viewers for last night’s premiere, but the gruesome send-off makes me fear that there’s more ugliness to come.
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“Did equating Scientologists with child molesters (besides being grossly unfair and mean-spirited) tarnish the memory of a beloved mentor character?”
Oh come on! This is south park. Complaining about them being “unfair and mean-spirited”?!? Did you think they would call them doo-doo heads or meanies or something?!
I thought the whole episode was brilliantly done, a perfectly expressed their feelings. They already ripped Scientology a new one in “Trapped in the Closet”. This was a clever new way to bring them down a peg.
And bring on Darth Chef. I think it’s perfect and hilarious. Let’s face it Chef WAS Hayes. So he declared war on South Park and Stone and Hayes (check out their quote about “war”)with his recent betrayal. They are acting accordingly in their normal fashion and brashly ripping Chef as a means to get to Hayes.
This is all so crazy. It would be really sad if Hayes is ill and didn’t even issue the statement that he’s quitting. It does seem really weird that he would quit SO LONG after the episode aired and SO SOON before the new season. Either it’s a crazy publicity ploy or the Church of Scientology is *way* scarier than I ever imagined.
Scientology is not a religion, it is a cult, and they brainwash the members, no matter how much PR cover they get from seducing a few celebrities.
Was it me – or did Death Chef sound exactly like James Earl Jones – tried to check the credits, but they went by too fast. That would be way cool. This episode was wonderful. It had me laughing from beginning to almost the end ( was sad to see Chef die though). Kyle’s speech was a nice touch – even if it was bashing Scientology – that made it even better. Great Episode – bring on the rest of the season.
This was an awesome episode.. I laughed so much.. I think it was kind of Bittersweet what with that great Eulogy.. but when they killed him off, I think, it showed just how much they are hurt by him leaving.. nonetheless I loved the whole falling down the ravine, then getting impaled on a stick, then getting attacked by a mountain lion, then a bear it was soo funny I think the Isaac Hayes Chef is dead but Bring on Darth Chef!!
South Park loves to Parody, so Chef as Darth Vader was perfect. I also dug how they poked fun of the old Scientology episode and gave cults a better bashing than before.
The eulogy was perfect and true. Isaac Hayes is right to express himself and be who he wants to be so I am not mad at him. But it does irk me to see an EVIL CULT get free publicity over a non-issue. (In case there what any confusion, by “evil cult” I mean “Scientology”)
I’d like to think that the Darth Chef thing is Trey and Matt’s way of saying that they hope for a “Return of the Jedi” reconciliation one day.
Use the ladel Kyle, use the ladel! Chef is going to be missed. Too bad Hayes had to suck his thumb about the Scientology parody. Some people need to have a back bone.
Stone and Parker weren’t equating Scientologists to child molestors! They were just using that as an allegory for how how crazy the so-called “Church”’s beliefs are. And as far as I’m concerned, there’s no way Scientology could actually pull off a lawsuit concerning that episode. If Wal-Mart can’t sue for Wall-Mart, Scientology can’t sue for the Super Adventure Club.
Personally, I thought last night’s episode was genius. Chef’s death scene was a little much, but Kyle’s eulogy made up for that. I, for one, will try to remember Chef as we know and love him. As for Darth Chef, I think that was more of a parody than anything. I doubt they’ll actually use him in coming episodes.
As for the “Gay Little Club,” you know, I honestly wouldn’t be too surprised if Scientology forced Hayes to resign. It would explain why he was A-okay with “Trapped in the Closet” back when it originally aired, and then turned against the show so suddenly.
The voice dubbing and using past clips from chef was a perfect touch!! A great episode…
maaaaaake looooooove! to the children.
I’m sorry, but how damn funny was that strip club scene??!!
That was a great episode, and I can’t believe Gary Susman is being such a wet blanket about it. Good Lord, man, haven’t you ever seen this show before?
Loved it. I laughed, I cried (almost), it became a part of me. As for it being a publicity stunt, I doubt it. What I do think, is that they timed the release of Hayes’ statement so it would give maximum attention to the new season. Who knows, all that stuff might have gone down months ago.
I am not the biggest fan of South Park but I just had to see what all the fuss was about after this scientology stuff. Trapped in the Closet is brilliant! Tom Cruise and the rest of the lame celebs who endorse this cult have NO sense of humour! SP is known for making fun EQUALLY of everyone and everything so get over yourselves.
I laughed for 15 minutes straight after seeing Chef die the way that he did. I think Darth Chef was simply an homage/parody, and not to be taken too seriously. I would love to see Chef come back in his former glory, but the show will live on without the character.
PS, Scientology IS freaky, and I am starting to finally give on on celebs like Tom Cruise that support such nonsense.
Trey and Matt, I’ve always loved how you deal with all forms of religion, you put it in its place where it belongs, and this episode was no different, Well done once again fellas, LOVE IT!!
Scientology should be ripped into! Bravo to South Park for being EOB (equal opportunity bashers).
As Howard Stern has always said (losely quoted) “…you know that all religions are ‘made up’ but you really gotta know that this Scientology stuff is made up because it’s not a belief dating back thousands of years, it was made up about 20 years ago!” So true!
Great episode! Still hoping to catch the “Tom in the Closet” one. And how about an episode where the Scientology aliens (Theftans?) come and attack earth? Maybe w/ Darth-Chef’s help?
Was the criticism of the cult of Scientology mean-spirited and grossly unfair? Of course it was – this is “South Park,” not some PC all-inclusive-multicultural hugfest. Did you really expect the guys behind this masterpiece to adopt a conciliatory tone toward this cult? Come on, get off the politically correct bandwagon and revel in the glory that was Chef’s big send-off.
I think it was pretty clear from the conversation they had with Chef when he arrived in town that Trey and Matt read the amazing Rolling Stone article on Scientology. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about this disturbing “religion”. When a group makes it impossible for members to belong and have friends outside the group, there is clearly some cult issues going on.
I thought the episode was brilliant, and you could really feel how hurt they were by Hayes departure. They might have lashed out a little strongly with the child molesting metaphor, but that’s not unlike they tone of the show. I really loved it and applaud Comedy Central for letting it go off.
I would comment on this brillent episode (I both laughed and cried), but doing it now would be redundant since I’m Commenter # 21 or something. I just want to know if anyone has a link to the episode somewhere on the internet, since i did not get to see the beginning. Thanks in advance.
The show was simply brilliant! Scientology deserves every bit of criticism it is getting; they are no different than any other “religion” and they need to take some crap just like everyone else.
Matt and Trey, you both rule!
The Darth Vader ending was the icing on this cake. Bravo, Matt & Trey!! You still got it in you. Don’t let the “fruity little club” get you down.
“I’m gonna make love to…the children.”
Brilliant!!!