Editor’s Note: This review contains spoilers.
The hour-long “South Park Pandemic Special” aired on Sept. 30, marking the unofficial start of the show’s 24th season. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have never allowed societal norms to hold them back from satirizing every aspect of society, which is why the show gained popularity to begin with. It was only a matter of time before they used their vulgar and obscene creativity to address our current circumstances.
The episode opens in an abandoned and eerie South Park clearly affected by COVID-19. Viewers see young Butters with his face mask, brooding over not being able to go to Build-a-Bear because his father refuses to go to non-essential businesses. Randy Marsh, who runs the weed company Tegridy Farms, introduces a “Pandemic Special” which gives customers 10% off his marijuana. The show cuts to a musical number by Eric Cartman, who is thriving in isolation as he lives in pajamas and avoids Zoom classes. The only certainty is that no one knows what normal looks like anymore.
When South Park Elementary announces the return to in-person classes, everyone panics. Scientists trace the source of the virus to a pangolin, and Randy realizes he transmitted the virus to South Park after having intercourse with the pangolin during a hazy trip to China with Mickey Mouse. The only cure for the pandemic is to smoke marijuana laced with Randy’s semen, adding both dark humor and unrestrained idiocy to the show’s take on how the pandemic started.
For me, one of the best moments is when the school counselor Mr. Mackey introduces the teachers’ replacements. After he acknowledges that “these are people who have recently lost their jobs due to recent events and are desperate for work,” the scene cuts to the recently defunded South Park police force.
Stone and Parker packed current events into the hour-long special, which both highlighted the realities of 2020 and made for a cramped and heavy storyline. The most brutally honest parts of the show come from the kids, who are struggling in an irrevocably harsh manner. Butters reminisces, “It was March 16. That’s how long it’s been…[since] they shut it all down.” April, May and finally October passes, and Butters angrily exclaims, “Why doesn’t anyone tell me the truth? I’m never going [anywhere] ever again!”
During a tense standoff between the newly-armed police force and the kids inside a Build-a-Bear, Stan Marsh crumbles and gives a raw and relatable speech. Expressing his fear, anxiety and frustration, he says: “I wanted to see that I could go out in the world and do things that I used to do, but I can’t…I just want my life back.”
The episode ends with half of Colorado on fire, Mr. Garrison’s President Trump destroying the only chance at a vaccine with a flamethrower and the South Park residents under complete lockdown.
While there was not anything especially eye-opening or revelatory about this episode like previous ones, the “Pandemic Special” nonetheless allows an escape, a distraction and a break from reality. And really, what more could you expect from television during these times? The relevancy of the episode continues into everyday life—Stone and Parker don’t have the answer to solving the world’s problems, so no one can expect the episode to tell them otherwise. Instead of bringing a fresh perspective to the issues, the “Pandemic Special” bathes our worries in blatant comedy, and it was nothing less than effective.
