'South Park' Season 16, Episode 2 Recap - 'Cash for Gold'

Most "South Park" fans will remember the ending to "Scott Tenorman Must Die," which may be the most disturbing ending even in a "South Park" episode. But last night's episode gave that one a run for its money with a quietly horrifying ending that unceremoniously lead right into the credits.

It all starts when Stan's grandpa buys Stan a bolo necklace from the J&G Shopping Network (like QVC or the Home Shopping Network) for $6,000. Stan isn't too happy to have it, so he attempts to go to a couple of Cash for Gold places to sell it off. His offers are as follows: $14, $8, and a Triple Layer Burrito (the third place is a Taco Bell that also buys gold).

With that, Stan starts trying to get to the bottom of the scam. He starts by calling the J&G guy and telling him very seriously to kill himself, then attempts to take down the Cash for Gold stores, because as we all know, whoever smelt it dealt it. But the smelters (get it?) tell him that whoever denied it supplied it, and the sign spinners tell him that whoever made the rhyme did the crime.

That leads Stan to India, where the jewelry is made, and we're treated to the life cycle of one of these crappy pieces of jewelry. It's created in India, shipped to the US, sold on the shopping network to an old person who gifts it to someone who then takes it to a Cash for Gold shop, who melts it down and ships it back to India, where it's made into another crappy piece of jewelry. This is, of course, all set to a pretty fantastic a capella traveling song.

Ultimately, Stan fixes things by getting his grandpa a picture of his old border collie, whom he misses very much. Plus, the J&G Shopping Network guy finally kills himself, splattering the spinning display with blood and creating one of the most disturbing endings ever.

What really made this episode, though, were the delicious silences and comedic pauses while the callers were talking to the J&G guy. The voice performances for the old people were particularly funny, especially when they stopped being sad and started being about telling the guy to kill himself. Great stuff.

What they're trying to tell us: Cash for Gold is a total scam, and so is QVC.