Towelie (South Park)

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"Towelie (South Park)"
When Towelie actually get some character development.
Series: South Park Part of Season: 5 Episode Number: 8 (73th overral) Air Date: August 8, 2001 Previous episode: Proper Condom Use Next episode: Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants

Towelie is the eighth episode of Season Five, and the 73rd overall episode of South Park. It aired on August 8, 2001.

Plot

When the government steals their new Gamesphere, the boys will stop at nothing to get it back.

Why Towelie Gets Character Development In This Epiosde

1. The plot of the episode, even by South Park standards, is very focused on and is original, since it's about the four boys that had to save their console from an army base, and they will stop at nothing.
   • Not only that, but along with Scott Tenorman Must Die, the episode is one of the darkest episodes of the season, since there's a lot of dramatic moments, such as when the boys almost fall in the lava where Kenny died because he fell in it or when the army is trying to take down Towelie.
2. Despite being a dark tone episode, there are still some funny moments, as usual with South Park, although not as much as before due to focusing on the story. One of the best examples would be when Cartman says to Towelie, "You're the worst character ever," after the latter forgets the pass code.
3. The pacing, as usual with the show, is amazing since it's known when it must be slow-paced or when it needs to be fast-paced, not to mention that you will never get bored by this episode due to how great the pacing and the story are.
   • Not only that, but it's also helpful that the episode is action-packed, and the action is surprisingly fast.
4. The Gamesphere is a really well-made reference to the Nintendo Gamecube, and the name would be reused in Drake & Josh.
5. The animation is a step up from the other episodes, since the characters do a lot more developed movements than usual, and the color palette is even better than before; in fact, it might be the best-looking episode from season 5.
6. The voice acting as always is also amazing, especially the French dub.
7. Amazing plot twist at the end of the episode: when we thought that it's the army that stole their gamesphere, but it's actually the government that stole it, while it sounds basic on paper, it's done in an amazing way.
8. The characters are likable, especially the main boys and Towelie, since no one really insults any of them except when some of the boys insult Towelie at the beginning of the episode.
9. The episode is action-packed, even when compared to some previous episodes that we've seen, but they're not as good as how this did action-packed moments, which makes it an awesome episode.
10. Decent ending: The boys founded the console, and all of them except Kenny didn't get hurt by the army or the fact that they almost fell in the lava. They also went home after founding the console.
11. Towelie actually gets some character development in this episode, unlike Pip in his own episode, which was bad compared to this.

Annoying Qualities

1. Despite how great the dark tone of the episode is, it still had some extremely disturbing moments, such as when Kenny falls in the lava and dies, which shows a skull head of Kenny when he falls in it, which is incredibly creepy even by show standards.
2. Towelie is a bit annoying at times, such as when he lost the code or the way to go to the base that the boys got to find.

Reception

Towelie got extremely positive reviews by critics and audiences, as it's got a 8.3/10 on IMDb.

Most peoples praised the incredibly fast pace of the episode, the story and the introduction of Towelie, it's also considered to be one of the best episode witb Towelie, if not the best.

Trivia

• On the South Park The Hits: Volume 1 DVD, Trey Parker and Matt Stone explain that the origin for Towelie began on a boat trip they took with several writers and friends, where people were constantly telling each other "don't forget to bring a towel" and the phrase eventually morphed into "Towelie says to bring a towel." Matt and Trey have asserted (in the VH1 special and elsewhere) that they were becoming increasingly aware as to how heavily merchandised and exploited their creations were becoming. Towelie was their way of poking fun at themselves. They designed Towelie as a shallow, two-dimensional (both literally and figuratively) character who has no real purpose except to spout catch phrases and merchandise the hell out of. This is why they threw in the fake commercial during the show, and also why Cartman calls him the "worst character ever."
• During the development of the show, in the original script, the game console was a PlayStation 2. This was later changed to the Okama Gamesphere when Matt and Trey could not get Sony's permission. Other video game systems in the show have been referred to directly by name, including the Sega's Dreamcast, Microsoft's Xbox, Xbox 360, and Xbox One, Sony's PSP, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo's Wii have a strong plot point of various later episodes.
• The Okama Gamesphere is a parody of the Nintendo Gamecube, so the English name would be, the Gay (Homosexual) Gamesphere.
• The original version of this episode has Comedy Central's actual phone number (1-800-4-COMEDY) at the end of the Towelie fake commercial. In all reruns and on the DVD version, it is changed to a fake number (1-800-555-TOWL).
• Cartman breaks the 4th wall at the end by saying "You're the worst character ever Towelie."
• When the boys and Towelie climb the fence at Tynacorp, Kenny can be seen doing a backflip.
• When the bus pulls up, Veronica Crabtree is not scowling as usual.
• This is the last episode to air before the events of 9/11.
• This is the only Season Five episode in which Butters does not appear.

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