Gluten Free Ebola

"Gluten Free Ebola" is the second episode of the eighteenth season and the 249th overall episode of the animated television series South Park. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on October 1, 2014. The episode lampoons the trend of the gluten-free diet lifestyle and the constant changes recommended to the Western pattern diet and the current food guide.

Plot

Following the events of "Go Fund Yourself", Stan, Cartman, Kyle, and Kenny return to school, only to find themselves ostracized and ridiculed after their recent events, with Wendy being mad at Stan because of his alleged break up with her over the startup company and with Butters not allowed to return after burning down the school's gymnasium before dissolving the group. While at a meeting to discuss what to do with Butters, Mr. Mackey comes in and gloats about his newfound gluten-free diet, greatly annoying most of the rest of the group, especially Mr. Garrison.

In order to gain back their popularity, Eric decides to throw a party for a "cause", choosing Scott Malkinson's diabetes, and announce it over the local radio station, with Principal Victoria, who had earlier been converted into gluten-free by Mr. Mackey, asking whether it has gluten-free foods, for which the boys have no response.

Later at the community center, a scientist from the United States Department of Agriculture tries to explain that the rumors about gluten being bad are false by extracting gluten from a piece of dough made of wheat. Mr. Mackey pressures him to drink the gluten sample in order to back the scientist's claims; he complies, and at first it seems to have no effect. Soon afterwards, the scientist abruptly starts melting and sparking, with his penis flying off (the latter of which was one of the rumors about gluten for the show), sending the entire town into anarchy. The Marshes run home and, in a state of panic, they throw away all of their food because it contains gluten. Cartman panics about this and calls Kyle, because of the town burning all of the foods with gluten in them, including the cake and pizza needed for their party. The town later watches the burning of the wheat crops at the local farm, much to the dismay of the farmer.

The USDA, under the leadership of Tom Vilsack, reviews the food guide pyramid and modifications to create the current food guide. Cartman has become delirious with no hope of a party, Kyle and Stan come to see him, with Kyle unsuccessfully trying to cheer him up by saying that they still have Lorde, as Randy seemingly knows Lorde's uncle, but Stan quickly leaves after realizing that he has not asked his father yet.

At the Marsh residence, two USDA agents enter and find a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the garbage, which Randy sees no problem with. Unknown to him, beer contains wheat, which ends up getting him quarantined at a Papa John's restaurant with Mr. Garrison and one of the Papa John's employees. They panic saying there is no food, and the government agents tell them, "Don't worry, there are plenty of toppings" which do not supposedly contain gluten. Stan comes to the restaurant and attempts to ask his father about knowing Lorde's unlce, but his father ignores him and says typical "I'm-away-from-my-family-in-an-unsafe-place" things, and then is carried off by a soldier. In the next scene, Cartman then has a dream of Aunt Jemima (a parody reference to Mother Abigail), who tells him the pyramids are upside-down, and Cartman has no idea what she is talking about. As the gluten-free toppings at the Papa John's run out, the unnamed resident eats the pizza dough containing gluten. The resident originally has no reaction, but his penis flies off shortly afterwards, and then he dies.

At the radio station, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny announced that they have cancelled the party to focus their efforts on addressing the public about the dangers of gluten. Then, Wendy calls the station where she calls out Stan, who breaks and reveals that they never got Lorde and did not know what food to serve because of the gluten crisis. Cartman then calls Kyle again, exclaiming that he knows how to solve the crisis. Cartman subsequently calls the USDA and tells them that the food pyramid is upside down, so the scientists turn the food pyramid upside down, thus putting fats and oils at the top and grains at the bottom. Much to their surprise, the new dietary system works. The boys then throw their party with Scott as their waiter and regaining their popularity. Cartman sees Aunt Jemima off in the distance and waves to her. The kids are disappointed by Lorde (who is really Randy) saying that she is not that good in person, while Stan and Wendy reconcile, with Wendy asking Stan whether he wants to dance.

Reception

The episode received a C from The A.V. Club's Josh Mordell. Mordell found the gluten-free panic "reasonably funny", but felt the episode lacked a B-story.^[1]

Similarly, IGN's contributor Max Nicholson gave the episode a 7 out of 10, praising the panic caused by gluten products, but was also disappointed with the storyline following the boys' party, noting that "the radio show segments were among the least funny South Park moments in recent memory".^[2]

Spin magazine's Brennan Carley criticized the Lorde parody, asking: "has Lorde ever really done anything all that worthy of drawing the cartoon creators' ire?" ^[3] South Park responded by a subplot in the following week's episode "The Cissy", featuring a Spin reporter named "Brandon Carlile" investigating the concert and stating: "It would be a shame if someone was…having fun at her expense."^[4]

References

External links

• Press release from South Park Studios