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"#HappyHolograms" is the tenth and final episode of the eighteenth season of the animated television series South Park. The episode premiered on Comedy Central on December 10, 2014. It is the second part of the two-part season finale which began with the previous episode, #REHASH. The episode makes multiple references of earlier episodes over the season as well as previous seasons while mainly lampooning the trend of culture constantly making trending topics with no actual relevance. It also lampoons news events of the death of Eric Garner, the shooting of Michael Brown, the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby, and the use of celebrity holograms. YouTube celebrity PewDiePie appeared as himself continuing his story line from the previous episode.

Plot

Kyle opens the episode with a voice-over poem commenting that it is the holiday season, but people are still absorbed in trending topics, as the younger generation is solely commenting on other people's commentary, especially with video game commentary videos on YouTube, and how the living room is dying because people do not sit around and watch television as a family any more. Kyle takes to Twitter to send out a message encouraging people to support his trending topic, #savethelivingroom, to help people with family values come together. Sheila Broflovski tells Kyle that Bill Cosby is here to see him. Cosby announces his plan to host a holiday television special, which Kyle agrees to be a part of, but as Cosby leaves he is revealed to be a hologram. Randy and Sharon Marsh report to the police about Randy being pursued because his producer wants to replace all celebrities with holograms, and he is wanted because Randy is actually Lorde. Meanwhile, another policeman announces that they have captured a black man in the old Jefferson estate, and that they have also choked him and shot him, but it is the hologram of Michael Jackson, and the police are upset that he is not actually black.

Kyle tells Stan that his topic has been picked up for the television special. A commercial subsequently airs to advertise the special featuring various celebrities, holograms of other celebrities, a feature of Michael Jackson's hologram as Peter Pan, and running commentary by Cartman's new online persona, CartmanBrah. Kyle is upset that his idea has been turned into a social media project while Stan is upset because Lorde (aka Randy) is performing. The CartmanBrah window joins a meeting with the producers of the television special, who are led by Randy's former producer who promises to give CartmanBrah all the power he needs in order to be able to reach the younger generation. While the police try to figure out what color the Michael Jackson hologram is, Randy finds out about the holiday special and it being directed toward children. Randy is upset about social media and entertainment coming together in a holiday special, and Randy and the Michael Jackson hologram agree to work together to stop it. Kyle and Stan attempt to get Ike and his friends to stop watching commentary videos, including one being hosted by PewDiePie, but the younger kids call them grandpas and laugh them to scorn. Back at the police station, the hologram of Tupac Shakur arrives, as the Michael Jackson hologram escapes with Randy and Sharon, while the police fail at trying to choke and shoot the Tupac hologram.

Kyle and Stan attempt to stop Cartman in his room, but Cartman's door is securely locked as he is getting ready for the holiday special. Stan finally reveals to Cartman and Kyle that his father is Lorde. Randy, Sharon, and the Michael Jackson hologram try to figure out a way to spread the word about the dangers of the holiday special, but Randy realizes that he needs to first tell his daughter Shelly that he is Lorde, and he must do it one step at a time, so he does very quickly. As the holiday special begins, Stan and Kyle meet Randy's manager who kidnaps them and makes a threatening phone call to Randy. Randy attempts to leave but is intercepted by the Tupac hologram and the police who do not know what to do since they cannot choke it or shoot it. The holiday special continues, but the producers realize the show is not tending, but what is trending is #ihatecartmanbrah. Randy's producer tells Stan and Kyle that he recently became a grandfather, but when he asked his grandson about his favorite entertainer, the grandson answered "PewDiePie", and that led him to make the holiday special to merge the younger generation together with his older generation. Kyle calls the producer a grandpa.

The holiday special continues with the Bill Cosby hologram singing a rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Taylor Swift while attempting to slip her a drink. The CartmanBrah window appears in a family's living room, so they call customer service, as CartmanBrah's trending is only making him more powerful. The police are discussing the situation with the Tupac hologram and the Michael Jackson hologram, thinking it is a setup to a racial joke, but the CartmanBrah window continues to pop up and interrupt every scene. CartmanBrah is now trending so much that he has nearly reached "trend-scendence" and apparently cannot be shut down. CartmanBrah appears on screens in Times Square and announces that he is now "trends-gender" so people will be forced to give him his own bathroom. In all the confusion, Randy's producer realizes that everybody is watching everything at the same time, and Kyle uses this to speak to Ike through the Internet and apologize, while the Michael Jackson hologram shoots and kills the producer. Ike's friends accept the apology and agree to help since it is the holiday season, as they realize that if they believe in someone, he can come and make all things well again. They quickly start the trending topic #webelieveinyou, as Kyle speaks directly through the fourth wall to the home audience to do the same. This causes PewDiePie's window to appear and his commentary is so powerful that CartmanBrah is eliminated. Back in South Park, Kyle says that his family has agreed to use the living room together for one hour each night, while Stan is still confused over the events of the day. Kyle agrees that while it was confusing, it is also good since people are making themselves popular on their own as opposed to having culture force trends upon them. The episode ends with Kyle and Stan both begrudgingly admitting that this is a great idea, as PewDiePie's window is watching over them, and PewDiePie thanks South Park for being on his show.

Continuity

The episode contains numerous references to previous episodes in the series mostly in connection to Randy Marsh's double life as Lorde. Customer service employee "Steve" returns from Grounded Vindaloop and the Washington Redskins from Go Fund Yourself.

Current affairs references

The episode makes numerous references to the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown as well as the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby,

Reception

The episode received a B rating from The A. V. Club's Dan Caffrey, though he stated that "It was rushed, it was messy, and it may have been just a bit too much story for South Park, even for a two-parter."

Max Nicholson of IGN gave it a 6.8 out of 10, who stated "the climax of the entire episode (and arguably the season)...didn't tie everything together in the way that it could (and should) have."

Chris Longo from Den of Geek gave the episode 4 out of 5 stars, stating the episode "was incoherent, hilarious madness - its own artform." Longo's article also noted that, in real life, the topic #IHateCartmanBrah became the top trending topic worldwide on Twitter.<ref name="Den of Geek Review">

References

1. ^ Nicholson, Max (December 10, 2014). "South Park: '#HappyHolograms' Review". IGN. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
2. Longo, Matt (December 11, 2014). "South Park: #HolidayHolograms Review". Den of Geek. Retrieved December 11, 2014.
3. Caffrey, Dan (December 11, 2014). "Review: South Park: '#HappyHolograms'". The A. V. Club. Retrieved December 11, 2014.

External links

• Press release from South Park Studios
• #HappyHolograms - Full Episode - Season 18 Ep 10 | South Park Studios

• South Park (season 18) episodes
• 2014 television episodes