South Park

[LumRanmaYasha]

There were several candidates during the Canadian elections. One of them was this brash asshole who just spoke his mind. He didn't really offer any solutions, he just said outrageous things. we... thought it was funny. Nobody really thought he'd ever be President. It was a joke! But we just let the joke go on for too long. He kept gaining momentum, and by the time we were all ready to say "Okay, let's get serious now. Who should really be President?" he was already being sworn into office. We weren't paying attention. We weren't paying attention!

And Matt Stone and Trey Parker were worried "Where My Country Gone?" was going to age badly.

[Daikun]

Welp, time for four more years of offensive Trump jokes.

[Dr. Insomniac]

So is Mr. Garrison gonna be President in the show now?

[Daxdiv]

So is Mr. Garrison gonna be President in the show now?

Maybe. It does feel like they were banking on Clinton winning the presidency. That and I think the episode itself is titled "The Very First Gentleman" last time I checked. Tonight's episode is gonna be interesting.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Yeah, it seemed like they thought Clinton was going to win. So it'll be interesting to see how they handle this, whether they'll need to backtrack in later episodes or if they somehow predicted the outcome at the last minute and made adjustments to the episode.

[Dr. Insomniac]

Fucking polls.

[LumRanmaYasha]

It seems they might've called it after all.

The episode title has also been changed to "Oh, Jeez."

[LumRanmaYasha]

Last night's episode was a mess. It's clear they had to change a lot of things at the last minute to reflect the outcome of the election, and the result was a bunch of scattered scenes and ideas that didn't really come together or relate to each other in a satisfying way, nor did it provide the kind of cathartic commentary or insight that I think a lot of people were hoping for with this particular post-election episode.

That said, I am curious to see how a bunch of these plot threads are going to tie back into each other, and I really find myself invested in Cartman's efforts to stay together with Heidi. It's really interesting to see him go to such lengths to stay together with her and how scared and vulnerable he feels about the prospect of her leaving him. It's a side of Cartman we've really never seen before, and I'm really hoping it leaves an impact on his character even after this season is over, whether he's still together with Heidi or not.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I just kept noticing how frantic Trey sounded as Randy. You could tell how angry he was they had to make a new episode within a few hours.

[LumRanmaYasha]

So the Denmark leader turns out to be a troll himself. Can't believe I didn't see that one coming. They've been pretty good with the twists in this season. Though with one episode left, and so many plot threads still hanging, I'm curious to see just how they'll wrap everything up. And surprisingly, the plot thread I'm most invested in is whether Cartman and Heidi will stay together or not. It looks like Cartman's insecurities are going to lead him to mistrust and break up with her and revert to his old ways, but man, I really do think it would be more interesting if he stayed in the relationship while still being his ignorant and abrasive self, with Heidi being pretty much the only person he genuinely respects.

Also, while I was glad to see Mr. Slave again, was I the only one who thought that it would have been more clever for them to use Mr. Hat? I feel that Garrison would be more inclined to listen to him more than Slave. Then again, it's always been up in the air whether Mr. Hat is actually sentient or just a persona of Garrison's and I guess they didn't want to waste time going back down that hole again.

[Nel_Annette]

I liked last season a lot and still thought the last two episodes of S19 were pretty clumsy. I don't see this mess ending in a satisfying way in twenty-two minutes. The twist with the Danish president sucks. Worked better as a well-intentioned extremist. The member berries weren't even in this episode, and they're supposed to be the other main antagonist of this season.

And what was the point of Kyle and Ike running away as the cliffhanger in the episode before when they just started this episode back at the house, only to end in pretty much the same way?

It's a shame, really. Season 19 was great and this one started so strong. If Hillary winning was such an important plot point, then they should have just said "fuck reality" and had her win in the show, and ignored Trump's presidency completely. Perhaps it's time to go back to the single-episode format, or maybe like season 18 where the episodes are connected, but not to the point that they depend on each other.

[Daxdiv]

Yeah, I will admit that current hang up with this season is how they were banking on a Clinton presidency being a sure thing. Episode 7/Oh Jeez/The Very First Gentleman felted like a rushed mess. It reminds me of that kid that rushed through his assignment on the very last day it was due and it does show in places, even in a bit in the other 2 episodes. Unless the Member berries are going to be the cliffhanger for next season like how they were committed with Garrison being the Trump stand-in, I can't see how they're gonna resolve their plot line, cause I thought the way they handled the Whole Foods last season was just rushed.


I will say that I do like how this season is a bit of an anti-thesis to last season.

[Peanutbutter]

Aside from a little wonkiness, I think this season has been good. I don't think Hillary losing affected it that crucially other than Garrison's storyline. They seemed to put things in place for her to be the last villain or at least become a threat down the road. I still like Gerald and Cartman's storylines, as long as both reach a good outcome I'll consider this another win.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I think their approach to doing this season as one continuous serialized narrative as opposed to an arc comprised of individual episodes that built to a finale like the previous two seasons wasn't the best choice in retrospect, specifically because so much of this season revolved around the election and stuff they couldn't predict and had to change course on as a consequence. I think returning to the format of season 18, where it was a bunch of individual episodes with episode-specific topics that still had continuity with each other and were all thematically related and building to a finale where everything tied together would be a better approach for the show going forward.

[Nel_Annette]

They actually did manage to tie most of the plotlines together quite well in this last episode. I hope we get something with the member berries next season though. After largely ignoring them these past two episodes, they were at the end montage with Garrison.

Overall, a sloppy season with some enjoyable moments.