Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (August 8, 2022)
When fans open the Blu-ray release entitled South Park: The Complete Twenty-Fourth Season, a potential surprise occurs. The package includes a single disc instead of the usual two.
In addition, Season 24 consists of only two – count ‘em, two! – episodes. Sure, they’re both “extended length”, but this still means a mere 94 minutes of content for S24.
I guess ya take what ya can get. Here’s what S24 provides:
The Pandemic Special (aired September 30, 2020): “Randy comes to terms with his role in the COVID-19 outbreak as the ongoing pandemic presents continued challenges to the citizens of South Park.”
I can’t pinpoint when South Park leaned heavily toward stories about Randy, but the series definitely declined when it followed that trend. With “Pandemic”, Randy follows a pretty predictable arc in many ways, so he becomes a drag on the episode.
Still, other aspects work well. While Cartman’s desperation to continue remote learning seems easy to anticipate, “Pandemic” milks some laughs from that scenario.
As a catchall look at six months of pandemic lifestyle, the episode bites off more than it can chew. Like much South Park material, its political POV mainly just exists to slap anyone it can find, and that scattershot approach feels disjointed and like a cop out.
Nonetheless, “Pandemic” manages a reasonably entertaining view of the topic. I don’t expect a lot from South Park in this era, so this becomes a fairly positive episode despite some missteps.
South ParQ Vaccination Special (aired March 10, 2021: “The citizens of South ParQ are clamoring for the COVID-19 vaccine. A new militant group tries to stop the boys from getting their teacher vaccinated.”
Over the five-plus months between “Pandemic” and “ParQ”, a whole lot changed in the landscape. Trump – here represented by teacher Mr. Garrison – got booted from office, political extremism went even crazier, and COVID vaccines entered the situation.
“ParQ” attempts to cover a lot of that, with an emphasis on the vaccine situation. The political domain becomes important but secondary.
Like “Pandemic”, I can’t claim that “ParQ” fires on all cylinders, but it hits on some entertaining points. It also largely lacks Randy, which I view as a positive.
The end result delivers a good episode, if not a classic. Still, given the lackluster nature of so much Park, I’ll take it.