So in defense of Ginger Cow.
I know people's big grip with this episode is Cartman's behavior, and I get it... To an extent.
We know Cartman likes fighting with Kyle because Kyle is usually the only person who is going to give Cartman the kind of reaction he seeks to be given.
But I think it's also important to remember that Cartman is a little sadistic bastard. Cartman doesn't enjoy ripping on Butters instead of Kyle because Butters just happily agrees with him. Cartman doesn't enjoy ripping on Kyle about basketball once the coach rejects him because Kyle genuinely agrees with what the coach has told him.
But in Passion of the Jew Cartman does enjoy hearing Kyle agree with him after watching the movie. Because in that moment Cartman feels as tho he won a round of their little game. He beat Kyle and he gets to enjoy the fact that he is the cause of his beat down attitude.
Because what Cartman really enjoys the most about his interactions with Kyle, is that Kyle puts up a fight. So the only time Cartman can enjoy a lack of "resistance" from Kyle is when he feels like he has personally beaten Kyle in a round of the game that is their rivalry.
He doesn't want Kyle to happily agree with him (Like Butters does) . But he also doesn't want Kyle to give up (like he does when the coach tells him he can't play basketball). Because that would mean that he hasn't won, because what is winning if Kyle isn't acting like he lost?
He wants to fight with Kyle, and he wants to beat Kyle in those fights of theirs. The same way Kyle wants to beat him. So it's not crazy to think that he would act this way after finally having "beaten Kyle". As long as he beat a Kyle who put up a fight and not one that didn't, and as long as that Kyle is actually acting like he lost. I think it's safe to say that he would get pretty bored of this farts thing relatively quickly and they would go back to "playing another round" of their game/rivalry.
Viewing their entire dynamic like a game where Player 1 and Player 2 compete in an endless amount of rounds feels pretty accurate to me. Because as much as either of them like that moment of triumph that comes with having won a round, they still want to go back to playing the next one.
I think the only place where this episode does mess up a bit is in the way it's plot requires Kyle to not say anything in protest to Cartman. So it's not unreasonable for people to see this as mischaracterization of Cartman, and his dynamic with Kyle at first. Because you can't tell immediately that the thing Cartman is relishing in is the fact that his "victory" is immensely pissing Kyle off. But If you look deeper into, and reframe your view it really does make sense for Cartman to act his way.
TL;DR: Kyle doesn't verbally push back on the things Cartman does and says in this episode. But it's not really out of Cartman's character to enjoy the type of dynamic him and Kyle have in this episode, because Kyle is very clearly not ok or happy with what is happening. And that in itself is another part of their dynamic that Cartman, as evident in many episodes (see tags for another reference too), finds amusement in. Cartman does want Kyle to talk back to him, fight him on his statements, but Cartman also wants to beat Kyle, and have Kyle be humiliated by that loss. Cartman is one sadistic person. And I have seen a lot of people say that him enjoying Kyle's "submissive attitude" in this episode is out of character for him. And I say that's wrong, because what he is finding amusement in isn't that attitude. Because the kind of "submissive attitude" Kyle presents in this episode is not the one Cartman hates and has shown to hate. He hates Butters' submissive attitude in Smug Alert. The one with a cadence of facing ridicule and insults with acceptance and positive attitude and little to no negative reaction or emotion. What Cartman finds amusement in here is that he knows Kyle hates what is happening. Even tho Kyle has to behave as tho he is happy with eating his farts. Cartman knows that's not really the case. They're fundamentally different.
