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Major Boobage -- Outstanding Character Development, Continuity & Execution

South Park recently entered its 12th season, and I was slightly discouraged after seeing the episode about Britney Spears. Although they defended Britney, it was still somewhat melancholy and made be walk away thinking one of my favorite shows was going down the toilet as ER has done after a long run. However, Major Boobage anchored me in to tuning in Wednesday night again.

One great element about South Park over the last 11 years is it has built on previous episodes and seasons to enrich characters and make them more likable. A perfect example was Stan telling the leader of Alcoholics Anonymous "Look, I once was the leader of a cult" (eluding to the infamous "Tom Cruise is in the Closet" episode) and Cartman once telling a Bart Simpson character "Oh yeah, that's like this one time I didn't like someone and I ground up his parents into chili and fed them to him" (eluding back to "Scott Tenorman Must Die).

Anyway, I was particularly impressed with the roles of the characters in this episode. Most surprising and impressive, Cartman was the anti-hero, salvaging and boarding the neighborhood cats in an Anne Frank-esque manner in the attic. Usually, Cartman is the typical antagonist, only caring about himself or his advancement. In this episode, he secretly hid the cats to protect his beloved "Kitty." He showed his gruff exterior with Animal Control to shoo them out the door in usual manor. "Yeah yeah, I had a cat, but I put him down last week because he pissed me off!"

That would have sounded like typical Cartman, but I knew he was hiding something. Lo and behold, he was actually nice to his little pet, coming a long way from farting fire and calling him a dildo in the first episode. Cartman even kindly took in an old lady's cat and his kitty's friends. His speech at the end was hillarious about not punishing living beings for human faults, and Kyle interjected "Don't you think this has gone on in the past?" Of course, Cartman said no, but not out of stupidity.

This episode taught me Cartman has a very small world with what he cares about. It's not that he knows this and is awful; he naively overlooks things unless they affect him. Cartman is very intelligent, almost to a fault. Cartman also has a heart, no matter how cruel he may be. This episode was a nice saving grace to make him enjoyable for the rest of the season, being our fat kid we love to hate.

Next up, Butters had a mild role in this episode, but this season has defined his place in the ensemble. He is a dimwit out of naiveness, but someone has to be nice in the group. He tended to his hungover friend in this episode and defined the moral in the Britney Spears episode, citing that we should not capitalize on others' agony. Of course, we wouldn't have an episode if he was a stronger person and interjected.

Over the past, there have been many side characters who are picked on by the group. Poor Pip was a proper European and endured so much abuse. Tweak was looked at like a freak and was quite a nuisance. Token was the only black kid in town and it seemed almost wrong to bash him. Butters seemed to be heading in the direction of eternal pick-ons, but he is the only friend in the group who is kind to everyone, including Cartman! I am glad the writers are using him more as a prominent role.

Not surprisingly, Kenny was the one character getting addicted to the cheese! It isn't surprising because he is the poor kid in town; Kenny is beyond his years with the group. He is the one who educates the boys about trouble (and usually gets the boys into it), so it wasn't a surprise he was elected as the cheeser! We all knew a Kenny growing up who got us into sex, drugs and other issues, which is why he is such a crackup!

Kyle never fails as the intellectual one, theorizing the moral of episodes. He was the one who noticed Kenny's behavior, and even hid the cats! How funny is it that Kyle's insane parents always try to start movements, yet their own son has more ration than they do in their best of intent.

Gerald Broflovski is an interesting combination of blind knowledge, slick maneuvers and hypocricy. Every time he is used as a major plot force, he is trying to push an issue to excert his supposed knowledge, yet he makes the issue worse by trying to make a stand. By outlawing cats in SP, he created the whole issue for the episode -- which isn't bad, because it was damn hillarious! While it seemed he created that bill to protect his son, he in fact was trying to rid himself of temptation. I guess if you had an overbearing wife, you'd be secretive too! Overall, not bad...

Other honorable mentions include Randy's little quip about the cheese fantasy and of course, Mr. Mackey's dimwitted dropping the ball with drug education. That was a nice nod to the "Drugs are Bad" episode. Overall, this episode was the epitamy of why I love South Park -- it is a parody of society! They took a heavy issue such as kids and drugs and turned it into a laughable farce! I was on the floor laughing when the Broflovskis confronted Kyle with a "bag of cheese" as the cat meowed, showing how stupid the adults were. If they watched the show, they would know Kyle has more common sense than they do! This episode also had some nice nods to our world's history as Cartman resurrected the Diary of Anne Frank by hiding the cats.

So far, season 12 could be on a role. Let's hope they don't repeat the mistakes of last season by starting out with a bang and ending with a pathetic whimper.