SERIES REVIEW – Ah Trey Parker, and Matt Stone have once again returned to South Park, now at a time when America was the most divided we needed their interesting point of views. Also, their dumb jokes that ripped on both sides, Republicans and Democrats. However, 2016 may have broken the creators as it seems even their usual preparedness has not been enough. While Season 19 dealt with political correctness, and the mockery of the idea of a Trump presidency. Season 20 was once again being made as the election was in full swing.

 

The great thing about South Park and its humor is that it is always topical, and an episode can be created by the team in six or seven days. The bad thing is that while they try to mock current events, handing out bitch-slaps to both sides of an argument… sometimes they cannot predict everything. This was evident in Season 20 which started strong. It is a great continuation of Season 19. Sadly things fall apart near the middle.

GENDER WARS, and J.J. Abrams

Anonymity and harassment over the internet were one of the main issues in 2016 for the web. Should this be lifted, and should so call Trolls be allowed to run amok on the internet? Trey and Matt also decided to bring up good old nostalgia, and that clinging to the past is not the best way to live for people.

Still, the top of joke chain was the 2016 Presidential Election between Mr. Garrison and Hillary Clinton. This year’s South Park will be the toughest to recommend, as while the creators usual criticize pop-culture, and famous events, the twentieth season will require a lot of knowledge about the American political system, and current issues. Sure this was always required with the series, but now most of the jokes are about broad issues that have been talking points within Universities and college campuses.

The season handled four storylines, and some of them ended rather abruptly, unfortunately. These four are the member berries, the trolling of a certain individual, Garrison being the President or not, and Cartman’s arc. For six episodes the season masterfully balances all four plots, and then as soon as the election results hit it well went down regarding quality. Both Memberberries and the Garrison arc felt cut short.

At least the show brought back a few unused characters from the old days such as Mr. Slave.

Even the creators admitted that they were banking on Hillary to win the election which is why the episode following the election, had so many odd jokes, and scenes that would have made sense if Mrs. Clinton had won. After that episode, the crew tried to steer the show and to accommodate the plotlines given Trump winning, but those episodes felt weak, and half of the plot lines were left unresolved.

They even released a behind the scenes video on how that episode was created in such a short time to accommodate for a Trump victory.

Serialization or death?

The big question remains though if after the season should the creators still cling to the idea of a cohesive season long arc, rather than the disjointed episodes of the old seasons. By no means Season 20 is bad, but the second half shows, that the creators should have a few backup narratives in case the world does not revolve the way they think it will.

-Dante-