Fantastic Easter Special

Infobox Television episode
Title = Fantastic Easter Special
Series = South Park


Caption = William A. Donohue has Jesus and Pope Benedict XVI arrested.
Season = 11
Episode = 158
Airdate = April 4, 2007
Production = 1105
Writer = Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Director = Trey Parker
Guests =
Episode list = List of "South Park" episodes
Season list = Infobox South Park season 11 episode list
Prev =
Next =

"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 makes the same inquiries to a mall Easter Bunny, who has previously received death threats from a falsely cheery Cartman. 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 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 and doesn't know anything about Easter and was busy finger painting does not want to be involved in something so dangerous, but Stan persuades him to help.

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 any acts of corruption, and that rabbits were pure, tolerant, and incorruptible. This is why the Pope's crown is shaped to accommodate a rabbit's ears. He also explained that the Catholic Church had thought of the secret of Easter as blasphemy, deciding to bury it and put a man in charge, and the Hare Club members came with the concept of decorating eggs for generations to keep the secret in da Vinci's painting alive. He further explains that Snowball is actually a direct descendant from St. Peter, and that Stan's father and the members of the Hare Club have been kidnapped by the Vatican, who wish to cover up this secret, still thinking of it as blasphemy. Once again the ninjas attack and kill Teabag's butler, but Teabag helps the two boys escape by putting marshmallow Peeps in the microwave, creating an explosion that destroys the mansion and kills both 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 and that Snowball remains unharmed. However, Bill Donohue reveals he had actually made the promise on two separate crucifixes, a "double cross", and plans to make an example of the Hare Club. Fortunately, Jesus miraculously arrives to intervene after resurrecting from his death in the episode Red Sleigh Down, answering the prayer of one of the Hare Club members, and tells them that he did, in fact, plan for the popes to be rabbits, citing the current corruption of man. Pope Benedict is willing to listen and agree with Jesus, but Donohue refuses to listen and orders Benedict to execute Jesus for going against the Church. Benedict refuses, saying that killing Jesus is not "very Christian." Donohue, angered by this, seizes the Pope's mitre, and orders his ninjas to capture all of them, including Benedict and Jesus, and declares himself 'Pope Bill Donohue'. He orders the ninjas to lock up Kyle and Jesus, the "two Jews", and Benedict to deal with later, then he leads Stan and Randy and the surviving Hare Club members to the block where the gigantic pot for Snowball's execution is.

At the cell, Benedict apologizes to Jesus for his actions, pleading for forgiveness. 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 resurrecting, and kills Donohue, even putting on sunglasses to add effect. Eveyone cheers for Jesus (including Stan), and 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: do not ask questions; just dye the eggs and keep his mouth shut, and Randy becomes proud of him.

Cultural references

* The song chanted by the members of the Hare Club for Men is based on "Peter Cottontail", written by Steve Nelson 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".::The chant goes thus:cquote|"Sanctum Piter oteum, Deus ore uneum.""Hippitus hoppitus reus homine." "In suspiratoreum, lepus in re sanctum." "Hippitus hoppitus Deus Domine."
* In the meeting room of the Hare Club For Men, the letter H can be seen on the wall. This is likely 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".
* 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, he then puts on some black sunglasses. The manner in which he catches the glaive and the sunglasses he puts on are both similar to the superhero Blade (who also wields a glaive-like weapon).

The Da Vinci Code

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 "The Da Vinci Code", as well as a play on words on "The Hair Club for Men."
* The ninja attack scene on the Hare Club for Men is very similar to the scene from "The Last Samurai" where the ninjas attack the natives homeland during their festivities.
* St. 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.

William A. Donahue

William A. Donohue, head of the Catholic League, is parodied as a ruthless, extremist executioner leading a band of black-clad ninjas, and who sees himself as more holy than Pope Benedict XVI 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 "Fantastic Easter Special" episode Donohue calls Stan and Kyle "whores". [ [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12303873/ ‘South Park’ takes on own network over ban] , "MSNBC.com", April 18, 2006]
* Donohue has made disparaging remarks towards Jewish people. For instance, regarding "The Passion of the Christ", he stated "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." [8 December 2004 episode of "Scarborough Country"] The character Donohue orders the ninjas to " [L] ock up those two Jews (Jesus Christ and Kyle), we'll deal with them later."

References

External links

* [http://www.southparkstudios.com/show/display_episode.php?season=11&id1=1105&id2=162 "Fantastic Easter Special" at South Park Studios]
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* [http://www.tv.com/south-park/fantastic-easter-special/episode/1000652/summary.html "Fantastic Easter Special"] at TV.com