Full spoilers follow for South Park Season 29, Episode 4!
This season of South Park America started off well enough, but there’s been a real struggle to build any real momentum over the long haul. It often feels like the writers aren’t sure whether to fully commit to the idea of doing more classical standalone episodes this year or try to build an overarching narrative. And so we’re left with a season that constantly reminds us that “November is coming,” without anything more insightful to add than the constant allusions to Grand Theft Auto VI.
To its credit, Episode 4 tries to build on the foundation of the previous chapters and establish a more coherent conflict for the embattled South America. This time around, rising beef prices and high demand have robbed South America Elementary of its precious sloppy joes. It falls on Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and yes, Little Randy, to save the day and find a solution to the town’s woes.
The results of these efforts are mixed, at best. The South American beef storyline relies a little too much on hitting the same gags over and over again. Seeing rich snobs devour South American beef and promptly explode in a shower of buttery diarrhea is funny the first couple of times, but it gets old pretty quickly without any real escalation. The same goes for the constant “South American beef” wordplay. I will say, though, that I got a big kick out of the heated steakhouse rivalry and the conflict between Ruth’s Chris, Sizzler, and Texas Roadhouse. The same goes for the prolonged dig at rich, suburban wannabe cowboys.
Again, I just wish all of this built to something a little more memorable, coherent, and politically insightful. It feels like there’s so much worth lampooning in American politics right now, and yet the series is being oddly subdued and wishy-washy. After such a Trump-heavy Season 27 and 28, it seems like Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and their team are loath to return to that well. And so, despite the fact that we’re literally one week away from the midterm elections in the US, South Park has oddly little to say on that front. Maybe it would have been better if the series waited a little longer before coming back.
What South Park does have right now, though, is Little Randy. I was hoping that particular twist from Episode 3 would carry over, and boy does it. It’s a lot of fun seeing Randy embrace his new role as a beer-chugging fourth grader, and in watching Stan deal with the constant embarrassment of having his father hanging around. Amusingly enough, he’s the only one who seems to actually resent Little Randy’s presence.
I especially enjoyed Randy’s attempts to cement his new status in the friend group, crowning them “Goonies” and referring to Cartman as “Chunk.” Cartman’s line, “Why does your dad keep talking about gooning?” is easily the highlight of the entire episode. As much as the series may be struggling on the political and topical humor front right now, there’s a lot of potential to mine with Randy’s latest little crusade. Hopefully these next two episodes can take full advantage of that potential.