South Park Season 23 (2019)
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South Park Season 23 Review
The twenty third season of South Park is a glorious return to form for the show. It is by far the best one since the sixteenth season.
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“Anybody who would betray their ideals,
just to make money in China,
isn’t worth a lick of spit“
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Mexican Joker is one of the weakest episodes of the season. This parody of ‘Joker’ has its fine moments and the jokes surrounding the detention center are quite solid, but overall Randy’s part here isn’t the greatest, and the whole episode is forgettable.
Band in China is a classic in the best South Park fashion possible. Everything here works. Randy is actually very funny, the subplot with the boys and their band really worked, and of course the movie industry commentary is terrific. They finally had the courage to call out Hollywood for giving in to China in order to make a profit in their market. Mickey here is absolutely hilarious.
Shots!!! is at its best when dealing with Cartman and his mom. This is probably the greatest episode she’s ever gotten as we see just how difficult her job as Eric’s mother is, and how terrible their relationship has become. The pig scenes are so funny.
Let Them Eat Goo is absolutely fantastic as this not only incredibly intelligent commentary on the America’s obsession with junk food and this whole industry, but also a genuinely entertaining, constantly funny episode which finally does Cartman right. The end twist is so unexpected and quite clever.
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Tegridy Farms Halloween Special is a very weak episode that has some great moments with Shelly and Randy, but the whole subplot with Butters and the Mummy is very odd and pointless. Season Finale is also messy. They somewhat ended Randy’s arc here which was actually very good throughout this season, unexpectedly so, but the whole Garrison inclusion was boring and typical. The Whites had some great moments, though.
Board Girls is not the best tackling of this trans women in sports issue at all. Some of their internal transphobia again got on the surface by showing this trans woman as basically a macho dude. That was problematic, but it was still funny. It also features a great ending which favors nuance in this conversation which I appreciated, and PC Principal and Strong Woman got terrific development here.
But the whole subplot with Cartman and the girls is absolutely hilarious, it showcases just how different boys and girls truly are in one hilarious fashion. Turd Burglars is another hilarious installment which deals with a classically ridiculous SP storyline, and a whole lot of craziness that springs from it. The ‘Dune’ references cracked me up.
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Basic Cable gives Scott Malkinson a moment to shine for better and for worse. It led to a different, more authentic South Park episode, but the one which is also not all that funny as this guy is quite boring, but some moments are great, and the message behind it is sound. As for the finale, Christmas Show, it’s the worst episode of the bunch. Yes, that ending with Santa and Jesus getting high was funny for sure, but everything before that dragged, and it wasn’t all that fun.
In the end, I really liked this season of South Park. It has its weaker episodes, but Cartman is finally back and Randy is surprisingly good himself with his arc being really well handled. There are quite a lot of classic, amazing episodes here which offer sophisticated social commentary, but most importantly phenomenal humor as well.
Worst Episodes: Mexican Joker and Christmas Show.
Best Episodes: Band in China, Let Them Eat Goo and Turd Burglars.
