SOUTH PARK PANDEMIC SPECIAL:
HOUR-LONG SOUTH PARK EPISODE IS JUST WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS IN THIS DARK TIME!
By Nico Beland
Episode Review: *** ½ out of 4
COMEDY CENTRAL (VIACOM/CBS)
Matt Stone and Trey Parker knock it out of the “Park” again (Pun intended) in the hour-long South Park Pandemic Special which aired on Comedy Central as well as MTV and MTV2 on September 30, 2020 and satirizes the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in glorious South Park fashion. Ever since the pandemic started back in March, I was anticipating an episode of South Park that would depict it in a smart and funny way, and give people a good laugh during this unpleasant time, very much like what they did in the season 5 episode, Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants which premiered after 9/11 happened.
The fact that South Park has been on TV since 1997 and continues to stay relevant without ever getting stale is quite a testament to the power and importance of this show. With other animated shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy desperately trying to catch up but never quite hitting the mark the same way South Park does, I haven’t watched new Simpsons and Family Guy episodes since probably high school but will always tune in to the latest South Park season.
Given South Park’s ability to stay current for all these years, it was only a matter of time before the COVID-19 pandemic would show its ugly face in this quiet little mountain town. That’s where the South Park Pandemic Special comes in, a self-contained, hour-long special (A first for South Park) satirizing the pandemic among a few other current events and it’s just what we need right now.
The special very accurately depicts how people reacted to the pandemic and everyone has responded to it differently, some are able to follow the safety guidelines and practice social distancing no problem while others have difficulties coping with isolation and the inability to go outside and do the things you love. It doesn’t matter who you are as a person, chances are you can relate to at least one of the characters in this special.
It gives you the opportunity to look at this unpleasant time in our history from a comedic perspective and get some good laughs out of the whole situation, lift some spirits if necessary, and give hope for the future. I mean, it certainly beats watching a laughably bad debate on par with a Tommy Wiseau movie that’s for sure.
The episode follows the townspeople of South Park, Colorado trying their hardest to survive the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with very mixed results. Butters is extremely bummed out about not being allowed to go to Build-A-Bear despite its reopening, his father Stephen is constantly going on rants about people wearing their face masks like “chin diapers”, Stan really wants his life to go back to normal, Kyle is Kyle, Kenny I don’t think has any speaking lines throughout the entire special, Stan’s dad Randy announces a Pandemic Special on his Tegridy Farms marijuana, and Cartman…is having the time of his life with no school and no annoying friends around him.
However, when news breaks out that school is starting again despite the pandemic, Cartman gets very upset (He even compares it to slavery) and does everything he can to prevent himself from going back to school, which is now being taught by the South Park Police Department (You can probably guess how well that goes!). Meanwhile, Randy realizes that maybe during that time he was in China with Mickey Mouse, he might have accidentally brought the coronavirus with him back to America after f*cking a bat and/or Pangolin and tries to cover up the evidence while also finding a cure for the virus…while Mr. President (Mr. Garrison, the former South Park Elementary teacher who was once a gay man, turned woman, turned lesbian, turned man again, turned President Trump) actively does nothing to stop the pandemic.
Overall, the South Park Pandemic Special showcases more of Parker and Stone’s talents and abilities to take these timely and relevant themes and make something funny out of it and give people a good laugh in these rough times while also making them think about the points they’re trying to get across. It’s a South Park episode that hits too close to home but in all the right ways and while I’m not sure if it’ll make as big an impact as the 9/11 episode, it should at least lift your spirits and put a smile on your face, it did for me.
I can literally sum up how I acted in the beginning of the pandemic with one word…Butters! Back in March, I had a very difficult time trying to accept the fact that I couldn’t do the things I love, but instead of Build-A-Bear it’s going to movie theaters, conventions, and hanging out with my friends.
There were times where I actually got so fed up with the isolation, new movies getting postponed, and upcoming conventions being cancelled that I was worried I was going to turn into a literal psychopath (and I don’t mean the movie watching kind!). So, seeing Butters in a similar phase not only did I find it hilarious but was also quite possibly the most therapeutic South Park episode I had ever watched, it really makes me want to write a fan letter to Parker and Stone saying how much the Pandemic Special really helped me during this time and it felt so satisfying to see exactly what I was initially going through in the beginning flawlessly being represented in the episode.
I don’t know what else to say, the South Park Pandemic Special gives exactly what it advertises, a hilarious look at the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with a lot of laughs and goofy situations that only South Park can deliver without sugar-coating the dramatic and emotional moments. South Park fans are watching it and I’m sure plenty of non-South Park fans are watching it to see how they tackle this truly dreadful pandemic.
It’s something the world needs right now that only Matt Stone and Trey Parker could give us because in dark times like this it’s important to remember that sometimes we just need to laugh and that’s exactly what the South Park Pandemic Special reminds us to do.
As I wrap this review up, I just want to say thank you to everyone who reads this and follows my blog in general, it’s been a long eight months with little to no movie theaters open and hardly any major theatrical releases (Aside from New Mutants and Tenet). I hope my reviews of streaming-service movies on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, etc. and digital rental services are still providing you all some informative and entertaining reviews.
You guys are the best and I hope you’re all staying safe and your spirits are fighting strong during these hard times. Fight on!
From the blog www.moviewatchinpsychopath.blogspot.com
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