Death of the guinea pigs

Savvier pop culture analysts will have to explain what Trey Parker and Matt Stone were getting at with all those giant guinea pigs (and guinea rabbits, guinea rats and 'killer' bees that were really guinea pigs dressed up in bumblebee costumes a la the Mexican bumblebee guy on 'The Simpsons' ...)

Or maybe we're overthinking "South Park," the perfect antidote of silliness for all the election commercials and infomercials that have overtaken our channels.

What are we supposed to make of the two-episode tale that was "Pandemic 2 - The Startling"?
So maybe the Peruvian pan flute bands were not a metaphorical stand-in for Muslims. (I admit it, that was a reach.) But what was the point of taking Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman to Peru? Another jab at the over-the-top plot from this summer's Indiana Jones movie, which we know the South Park creators did not like.

At least we were not subjected to another scene of George Lucas and Steven Spielberg violating a "Star Wars" storm trooper or performing their own homage to "Deliverance" on Indiana Jones. It was wrong to
laugh at those disturbing scenes from the season opener, right? That's what my wife keeps telling me.

Maybe we're just supposed to follow the skeptical lead of Craig Tucker, the bitter classmate who saves the world from the guinea pigs (don't ask) but who has no sympathy for Kyle and Stan's explanation that random adventures always seem to mar their day.

"Stuff just happens ... You just wind up being set up by the government to take down the city of Lima, only to wind up in 'Land of the Giants, Lost World,'" Craig notes with skepticism. "You know what 'stuff' happens to most kids? They fall off bikes. They get in fights with their parents. They get swindled out of their birthday checks."

Good point, Craig, but who wants to watch something as boring as that?