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Recap / South Park S 26 E 3 Japanese Toilets

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Original air date: 3/1/2023

Trouble arises when Randy replaces one of the Marsh family's toilets with one from Japan and begins extolling the virtues of these models.

Tropes

  • The Bad Guy Wins: Randy decides not to take on the toilet paper corporations and retracts his advocacy of Japanese toilets.
  • Break the Haughty: Randy immediately stops acting like a jerk and stops pushing everyone to get a Japanese toilet after getting shot.
  • Broken Aesop: Played for laughs. Way back in "Cartoon Wars" and "201", Kyle espoused that you shouldn't let violent threats stop you from speaking out (those episodes having been pulled due to violent threats). Here, Randy's stance on how to keep one's ass clean spun on a dime because the toilet paper companies tried to kill him in broad daylight.
  • Capitalism Is Bad: The opponents of Japanese toilets are all shown to be complicit in keeping Americans reliant on toilet paper purely so they can have a steady stream of wealth. Not income, wealth. Randy points out that his hemorrhoids have cleared up since he switched to Japanese toilets, which infuriates his proctologist solely because it means the latter would have to cut back on luxuries. Jimmy tells Stan that the production of toilet paper has serious environmental consequences. Both Randy and Jimmy are bullied into silence out of fear of being murdered for trying to fight big business.
  • Conspicuous Consumption: Randy spends $10,000 on a fancy toilet after the salesman at Home Depot plays on his desire not to look poor, reasoning that as a Weed Farmer, The Marshes have become "the Kennedys of South Park." He then goes onto rub it everyone's faces.
  • Fancy Toilet Awe: Randy ends up buying a Japanese toilet from Home Depot and is enamored with its features and luxury, constantly bragging about it to the rest of the people of South Park and trying to get them into buying one themselves. However, in doing so, he angers his proctologist and also the toilet paper industry and nearly gets assassinated for it.
  • First-World Problems: Randy's proctologist loathes Japanese toilets because having a friction-free method of cleaning one's ass means his job won't pay enough for him to go on luxurious vacations.
  • It's All About Me: Randy's proctologist yells at Randy and tries breaking his new toilet when he finds out that because the Japanese Toilet is helping him with his hemorrhoid problem, ranting about how he can't afford his vacation. Since he was only leaving in a few days, it's implied that Randy pays him exorbitant rates for his services. Realizing just how much his doctor has been profiting off of his medical problems, Randy is understandably unsympathetic.
  • Jerkass: Randy gets a big head from how great his Japanese toilet is and acts like a smug elitist jerk, regressing into old bad habits. Not long after his purchase, he plans to return to weed farming because he likes getting more money, talks smugly to his former neighbors after inviting them to brunch, and keeps pushing them to try his new toilet. Soon Randy starts advocating for everyone to get a Japanese toilet, but unlike before, it isn't just because he's a prick and believes everyone would be better off if they did. After getting shot, however, Randy decides to knock it off.
  • Karma Houdini: The toilet corporations suffer no punishment for nearly killing Randy and coercing him into abandon his efforts to get the American people to switch over to Japanese toilets. Nor for nearly doing the same to Jimmy two years prior, or having Randy's proctologist kill himself when forced into a standoff thanks to their actions.
  • Karmic Misfire: When Randy brags about his new toilet to everyone in South Park, everyone at his school treats Stan as though he's a Spoiled Brat rich kid flaunting his wealth when he doesn't actually say anything.
  • Know When to Fold 'Em: After Randy recovers from getting shot, he abandons his mission to make Japanese toilets the standard in America as he doesn't consider it something worth getting killed over.
  • Milkman Conspiracy: Apparently, toilet paper manufacturers are out to undermine any attempts at the American public switching to a more eco-friendly alternative to their product and are willing to intimidate or assassinate anyone that they see as a threat to their bottom-line.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Randy may have been an elitist jerk about it, but his campaign toward getting everyone to switch to Japanese toilets was well-intentioned. The corporations that produce toilet paper were outraged by his activism and nearly killed him to intimidate the populace. Jimmy recounts a similar punishment being meted out to him.
  • Not So Above It All: Sharon is initially furious Randy spent so much on the Japanese toilet. Then she tries it out for herself and enjoys it just as much as he does.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Previous episodes have shown Jimmy to be a big proponent of freedom of the press. So the audience knows that the toilet paper corporations must be dangerous if they were even able to silence him after he wrote an exposé about toilets for the school newspaper two years prior.
  • Shot in the Ass: The proctologist kills himself by literally shooting his ass.
  • Shout-Out:
    • At school, the other kids mockingly call Stan "Richie Rich".
    • Randy mentions choosing between Gryffindor and Slytherin while playing Hogwarts Legacy.
    • Stan and Jimmy walking through a park parodies a similar scene in JFK where Jim Garrison talks to Mr. X about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
  • Status Quo Is God: Americans continue to use toilet paper not just because the alternatives are outside their price range, but because the people in charge will bully or attempt to kill anyone that would challenge them. Randy even returns his Japanese toilet and puts the old one back, the thought of replacing it with another American toilet never occurring to him.
  • Take That!: Jimmy spends the episode lecturing Stan about how the toilet paper industry is responsible for deforestation and the subsequent rise in C02 levels. He follows this up by pointing out several real-life toilet paper companies, whose corporate headquarters and logos are shown in full display.
  • The Unreveal: It’s never shown who the toilet paper companies hired to try and assassinate Randy, and whoever they are, gets away scot-free while Randy's proctologist takes all the heat.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: While Randy is a bit of a smug jerk when advocating for Japanese toilets, he honestly believes everyone would be better off making the switch.
  • Would Hurt a Child: The Toilet Paper companies are revealed to have tried to have Jimmy offed when he nearly exposed them.

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