The sun rises on television's preeminent Colorado town once more! South Park returns with a new set of expositions, targeting the silly, stupid, serious, and superfluous of (post) modern day America.
Since 2013, each new season starts in early autumn and wraps up by the end of the year. Ten entries from South Park Studios are strewn across this time frame, with premieres still occurring on Comedy Central. Co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker come out of the gate swinging with “Dead Kids.” South Park Elementary becomes a haven for repeated shootings. So much so, that Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and other notables from the inexorable fourth grade class don’t flinch when a SWAT team breaches and secures the room. The Marsh parents of Sharon and fan favorite Randy encapsulate the galvanized stances on these horrendous displays of heartbreaking violence. Randy, like most of the town inhabitants, is no longer “triggered” by these repeated events because of their regularity and exhaustive media coverage. As a counterpoint, Sharon is not only vehemently concerned with the well being of Stan and the rest of his classmates, but is taken aback by the apathetic nature of her compatriots. And as the usual outlandish regular Joe, Randy theorizes Sharon’s sensitivity is due to her “cycle.” Right from the start, we’re re-introduced to what has retained a viewer base and time slot for over two decades: unapologetic lampooning of U.S. talking points, whether they be of critical impact or trivial nature.
On that track, “The Problem with a Poo” follows along. Famed holiday excrement Mr. Hankey is in high gear planning the yearly Christmas pageant. After a meeting with city council with which he is told funding has to be reduced, he starts taking Ambien to help him sleep. Apparently while in altered states of semi-consciousness, he fires off several unscrupulous Tweets about the populous. An accorded firestorm of outrage sees him answering for his behavior at a courthouse hearing, resulting in dismissal from his position and exile from The Park. Mr. Hankey’s simultaneous idolization of Roseanne Barr and Brett Kavanaugh again showcases the satirizing lifeblood of the series. Even the episode title is a homophone for The Problem with Apu, a 2017 documentary written by Hari Kondabolu that looks at the eponymous Simpson’s character as a questionable portrayal of Indian subcontinent culture in popular media. My favorite stanza from 22 is “The Scoots.” As Halloween approaches, South Park becomes the latest place to be invaded by mobile app based e-scooter rentals. Most see them as a convenient new way to commute and the kids strategize how to increase their trick-or-treating footprint. Dissenting opposition comes in the form of school counselor Mr. Mackey, frustrated by riders’ diminished road awareness, and Kenny, who’s lack of a cell phone renders him unable to partake in the apocalyptic swarm of candy hoarding lunatics!
While the first half focused on single episode story lines, the second features a pair of two-part arcs. “Time to Get Cereal” and “Nobody Got Cereal?” call to a season 10 throwback. ManBearPig is the obvious culprit for a series of grisly murders. But many in the town, including law enforcement, refuse to acknowledge blatant sightings and evidence. The boys decide to petition the help of MBP expert, Al Gore. After insisting they admit being wrong about the monster not existing and making amends for their accompanying ridicule, the former VP agrees to help. And by help, he summons Satan to aid in the vanquishing of the town terror! The real world issue of climate change hasn’t, well, changed much since An Inconvenient Truth, and threats to the global environment still provide fine fodder for the SP writing staff. “Unfulfilled”/”Bike Parade” round out the set by visiting Amazon. A new distribution center for the online consumer giant offers opportunities for employment. Stephen Stotch, father of beloved series regular Butters, becomes a floor manager at the plant. Butters takes advantage of the family’s free Prime subscription and orders several items to trick out is ride for the upcoming bicycle parade. An accident on the factory floor written off as human error prompts a strike by the facility boxers, delaying orders across Colorado. Company CEO Jeff Bezos, with the appearance and telekinetic powers of a Talosian, arrives to put a stop to the insurrection. Concerned with their delayed bike part deliveries, the gang visit the mall to find the workers have turned into reclusive zombies from a lack of patrons. Opportunistic as ever, they concoct a deal with Bezos to have the zombies cross the picket line if they get their packages first. This sets defined sides in a battle for the town’s integrity. Many references to various tidbits from the season are used in the finale, creating a considerate conclusion to the year’s run.
Per usual, the Blu-ray release is anchored by the niceties of special features like deleted scenes and commentary from Stone and Parker. The best of the offerings is still #SocialCommentary, where the show is accompanied by informative trivia along the lower third of the screen. In the era of over-the-top and streaming, these extras are now the primary reason to purchase a physical copy. As always, the presentation of full 1080p resolution with Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Digital Stereo soundtracks look and sound awesome! This show seems to be entering a different entertainment territory. Despite the “cancelSouthPark” moniker of the season, groans of it going past its prime are now largely absent. Comedy Central doesn’t appear to be overtly concerned with the series’ inability to increase viewership. There exists a core of fans that have been watching since the start and will continue as long as the creators stick to their guns of what makes it work. Comedy Central understands the boon South Park was for its contribution in establishing the channel as a “must have” in expanded basic cable and satellite tiers. Perhaps the network executives have granted an indefinite seat at the table as just rewards.
