'South Park' Season 16, Episode 1 Recap - 'Reverse Cowgirl'

"South Park" is back! I hate their odd and seemingly erratic schedule, but the one positive aspect to it is that I'm always surprised when the show starts back up again. "Reverse Cowgirl" kicked off season 16, and brought us more of that trademark "South Park" blend of political and social commentary with poop jokes that we know and love.

It all starts with Clyde, whose mother continually berates him over leaving the toilet seat up. Her scoldings increase in desperation, much to Cartman's amusement, until the day it finally happens: she falls into the toilet. This, of course, ends up killing her, because the flush has created suction and turning off the plumbing will create a change in pressure that will tear her internal organs out. It's kinda like that scene in "Signs," only with a toilet instead of a pickup truck.

Clyde's mother's death sparks a wave of changes: the TSA (that's the Toilet Safety Administration) goes to every home to install safety belts on the toilets. Randy gets a ticket for not wearing his. Cartman fears that the bathroom, the "last bastion of American freedom," is in danger.

Things escalate until the TSA has begun doing checkpoints at every public and private restroom, requiring metal detectors and a lot of "checkin' yo ayasshole." Cartman manages to come up with a solution to bolt down the seats, but then men would have to pee sitting down so as to avoid splashing on the seat, so that's out. The solution? A sue-ance!

Oh, right, a lawyer is scamming Clyde out of his life insurance money by promising a sue-ance to summon the ghost of John Harrington, inventor of the toilet, and sue him. Eventually it actually works, but only after everything has turned into a class action suit and Harrington's ghost shows up to tell everyone they've been using the toilet wrong: you're supposed to sit on it facing the back, so you can put your stuff on the little shelf and you don't have to turn around to flush.

All in all, another thoroughly ridiculous episode that manages to get some good laughs. It's just great that Butters doesn't know how to use the toilet right (of course he doesn't) but later it turns out that he was the only one who was doing it correctly (of course he was).

As for the security guy who watches all the camera feeds... creepiest "South Park" character ever? Possibly. At least the creepiest use of sound effects ever. Gross.

What they're trying to tell us: Grow up, take responsibility for your own actions, and the TSA sucks.

Notes & Quotes:

- "My grandma's from Virginia!"

- "...and the blood is on his penis."

- The joke about logging. My god.

- "Security breeeeeeeach."

- "Why do you think I designed toilet rooms with a laundry hole?"