Review: Superjail! ‘Superjail Inquisitor’

Spoilers Below

The episode starts out with Jacknife hunting for Big Foot to claim a reward. But after he falls down a cliff and gets muddy, he ends up looking like Big Foot himself and is captured by a bunch of hunters. Jailbot comes to the rescue, kills the hunters, and gets his picture taken for capturing Big Foot.

Back at Superjail, Warden is constructing a large water wheel. He becomes distracted by the Superjail Inquisitor, a tabloid newspaper that is run by several inmates. Warden reads an article about a monster being seen at Superjail and his first thought is that it must be Manglefang, the monster that his father warned would eat him as a boy if he didn’t obey. It turns out that Warden actually had fond dreams of befriending Manglefang and he immediately calls off the construction of the water wheel and has everyone in Superjail looking for any of sign of Manglefang.

Jared, Alice, and the Doctor try to explain to the crazed Warden that the Superjail Inquisitor is entirely made up and that Manglefang isn’t real. Warden has them all taken away for mocking him. Warden turns the Superjail into a cult and punishes anyone who doesn’t believe in Manglefang. Jared, Alice, and the Doctor are tortured on the water wheel for blasphemy.

Meanwhile, the Twins send up a copy of the Superjail Inquisitor to the mothership. The aliens onboard read a headline saying, “Lame Horny Aliens Wanna Probe Yer Butt!” After remarking that their horns are not lame, they can’t seem to imagine a backwards world where people don’t appreciate a good probing. They land the mothership at Superjail and pick up another copy of the Superjail Inquisitor. Disgusted by the lies that are written about aliens,  they unleash their wrath upon Superjail by making all of the fake stories printed in the Superjail Inquisitor come true.

What ensues is the classic mass death segment, involving unicorns, a dominatrix, mermen, Peedee the puppet turning into a robotic killing machine, Jean giving birth to a bunch of little Jeans and Pauls, alien hillbillies, Jared’s mustache turning into rapid ferrets, vampire tomatoes, and many other assorted atrocities.

Of course Manglefang becomes real and the Warden is super excited about that. But his joy doesn’t last long because the apocalypse has begun. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse ride towards them. Then the episode ends.

I love how Superjail continues to find creative ways to kill people. The mythical creatures  and other strange side effects added some nice variety to the chaos. I wonder if the Merman was a nod to Cabin in the Woods, which had a similar scene. I like how in most episodes, the first scene with Jacknife mirrors what is going to happen at Superjail. In this case, his search for Big Foot is a small hint at the Warden’s search for Manglefang.

This episode had some religious undertones and made a statement about how crazy people can become when their beliefs are challenged. Warden was so sure that Manglefang was real that he was willing to torture his friends because they didn’t believe what it says in the Superjail Inquisitor. Were the creators trying to make a statement about religion? Either way, it made for some good entertainment.

The episode ending with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse riding towards them was obviously another religious reference. But the episode ended right when things were about to get interesting. This show may be known for having sudden endings, but they may be overdoing it. An episode featuring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse would be badass.

Where the heck is the opening theme song? Did the animators get tired of drawing the opening animations? Or are they trying to make time for more plot? I know I can’t be the only one who wants it back. Nonetheless, Superjail continues to impress with its animation style and creativity.