It's about time someone took on the Peruvian pan flute bands

Part of the guilty pleasure in watching "South Park" is following the meandering path of whatever metaphor is chosen by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone to poke fun at the religious, political or pop cultural target of the week.

At least that's what I tell my wife, who stomps out of the room in disgust every time she catches me watching the foul-mouthed cartoon.

Wednesday night kicked off another bloated two-parter, so we'll have to wait until next week to confirm whether the dreaded Peruvian pan flute bands that Homeland Security has begun herding to Guantanamo Bay are South Park stand-ins for American Muslims and their mistreatment. It's just a working theory, and I have no explanation for where the giant guinea pigs wreaking havoc across the country fit into the metaphor.

But Stan Marsh's dad's obsession with his new video camera and his jittery documentation of the guinea pigs seem to be a mocking reference to "Cloverfield." The hand-held camera work earlier this year in that JJ Abrams monster movie only served to give theatergoers a hardcore case of motion-sickness.