Warning: This review contains full spoilers for South Park Season 29, Episode 1!
Part of the fun with each new season of South Park is seeing where the series directs its attention after being off the air for months (sometimes years). It’s not as if there’s any shortage of big news and topical headlines worth lampooning right now. And the show certainly made a strong impression right out of the gate in last year’s Season 27 premiere. That’s why it’s a little surprising to see Season 29 take a very different approach in its premiere episode. Despite a few nods to current events, this is very much a classic-style episode. And honestly, it makes for a nice change of pace.
Obviously, the series has hardly moved on from lampooning the actions of the Trump administration in Season 29. It’s right there in the decision to change the title to “South America.” And it seems safe to assume South America is going to increasingly lean into political humor as we get closer to the November midterms (and the release of GTA VI). But for now, we get an episode that really plays like a throwback to the early seasons of the show. The focus shifts back to Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny. Randy is out there being a solipsistic doofus. The episode even climaxes with Kenny dying for the first time in however many years it’s been. It really is a blast from the past in many ways.
For the most part, that classical approach works well here. I do think the climax of the episode is a little rushed and unsatisfying. But for the most part, it really is a refreshing change of pace to see Stan and the gang in the spotlight again and for the show to pivot away from trying to be as superhumanly timely as possible. Cartman tends to steal the spotlight here, as his sheer glee over the freedom granted by being an obnoxious e-bike rider is pretty hilarious. I also got a big kick out of Cartman’s interview scene, where his secret identity wasn’t particularly well hidden.
This was definitely Cartman and Randy’s week to shine. With Randy, it’s just so nice to finally be rid of the played-out Tegridy Farms shtick and onto something new. It really works seeing Randy suddenly recast as a weed-hating, cycling-obsessed health nut who looks down his nose at the kids and their newfangled e-bikes. And it’s only fitting that this episode takes that new role to its extreme, leading to Randy forming a violent South American biker gang that pays off the police and delivers the heads of their enemies to the mayor. I can only wonder where this strange new journey will take Randy over the course of Season 29.
It’s also worth mentioning that the City Wok owner, Lu Kim, plays a pretty great supporting role here. His business has transformed yet again (though we get a fun nod to Season 27’s Labubu fad on the signage), this time focusing on peddling City E-Bikes and Super City E-Bikes. The premiere’s musical game is also very on-point. Not only does Brad Paisley contribute that catchy little country music ditty that closes out the episode, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone even brought in Primus to re-record the intro song for this new South America era.
On that note, the title change serves to anchor this episode to the current political climate. This is South Park’s way of eviscerating Trump’s habit of unilaterally renaming geopgraphic landmarks and of corporations like Apple and Google simply rolling over and embracing the name changes. As much as I’m concerned this gag is going to grow stale really quickly in Season 29, it is pretty funny to watch the news reporter take the townspeople to task for capitulating. We’ll see how well this joke holds up in the coming weeks.
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