South Park

A special? Now? Did anyone mention it here before? I had no idea it was coming.

Let me guess how it plays out: influencers suck, but simps suck too, everyone is an asshole but everyone has their reasons so in the end nothing is really going to change. I would be glad to be proven wrong but from what I've heard about the "Panderverse" special SP is still stuck in their "Giant Douche vs Turd Sandwich" mindset.

I'm not surprised that they are going to be harsh against social media given that Trey Parker seems to have always been critical of them, just more surprised that they never really cared about directly criticize their owners. I mean, Jeff Bezos was depicted as a callous alien overlord, but Musk essentially played himself and the worst they said about Zuckerberg was that he's a dorky dweeb who speaks like a poorly-dubbed kung-fu movie. Inside Out was much more vicious in satirizing them. Also Andrew Tate being randomly shoehorned in as a side character Alonzo whatever.

You can just watch it, you know. Don't worry, we won't judge you.

It’s better to actually watch it than it is to just endlessly complain about it.

Granted, Elon Musk playing himself is enough of a joke in and of itself, because a joke is exactly what he is.

Really? I would have expected Parker or Stone to make a funny voice. How did they get a hold of Musk?

What, really? Well, maybe I'm not that surprised, but still.

So the episode has some great moments, especially all the talk surrounding Cred, but the conclusion is just not that clear to me. Clyde's stepmom Janice was supposedly the instigator of the whole plot in an attempt to bond with Clyde, but she was banning him from drinking it which gave him an inferiority complex over not having Cred at school. Maybe it was trying to say she was the one who hired the assassin for Logan... I don't know but the chain of events feel sloppy and maybe I need a second viewing.

Now the last two specials have featured Kyle, Stan and Kenny in increasingly small parts. This isn't unheard of for the show, but usually it's a one off and they back to being main characters the next episode.

I'm chalking that up to reverse psychology.

It's funny that the season that kind of praised Musk (back when he was... less openly Like That) also shat on Twitter.

So, my understanding was she was actually attempting to be a good parent by denying him Cred, as it's unhealthy bullshit. Cred wasn't being forced on any of the kids, rather the reverse was the situation. Because the kids liked Cred, everyone else was using its presence to attract the kids' attention. She was trying to get Craig to the underlying, generally positive message the influencer was peddling, which was basically just standard self-help, plus 'Cred is awesome'.

I think.

It's SO WEIRD no one is talking about this special. The Panderverse was EVERYWHERE but this one is almost like a dream. The only person who talked about this on social media was Cartman's Voice actress for the Latin American dub. No one else cared lol.

maybe the novelty of the specials isn't as strong this time

Or maybe it didnt attack "the wokes" as much as the fanbase wanted.

EDIT: I do not agree with that fandom.

Edited by AegisP on Dec 24th 2023 at 9:54:32 AM

I mean the goal is to make 14 specials,interest will have peaked and then wane at some point

Since Stan and Kyle are getting more Out of Focus recently, does Cartman even hang out with them anymore?

he probably hangs out with them whether they want him to or not.

Energy drinks and Onlyfans aren't exactly unique to 2023, so I'm guessing the traction that came with multiversal gimmicks and the streaming bubble just wasn't at the forefront of anybody's mind.

Most likely it just showed up with no advertising traction.

I haven't been able to see it ye5 but I'm baffled Logan Paul was relevant in a special in 2023. So I wouldn't be surprised if this was a retooled older idea.

Dang, I felt bad for not knowing anything about the stuff they were even satirizing. I thought I was keeping up with current events. I'm glad we didn't explicitly see Sharon do anything. I'd never even heard of Only Fans. Nathan's a great villain.

It was a great special, it struck a good balance between topicality and character fun.

Alongside the other three kids getting increasingly phased out, it also feels like they want to make Cartman a straight heroic protagonist now. That Kanye episode was basically a renunciation of his worst nazi tendencies, and now he's basically a good guy with some insensitive comments at worst.

Does this mean Cartman could be making steps to avoid the terrible future of being a homeless and poor hobo from the COVID special?

Possibly. The creators seem less and less interested in Cartman being a horrible little shit these days.

I do wonder how differently certain episodes would go if Cartman never became the sociopathic brat we all are familiar with and just remained…. a Spoiled Brat.

Edited by MisterZygarde64 on Jan 1st 2024 at 1:20:06 AM