South Park picks on "The Poor Kid"

     Comedy Central's South Park caps off season fifteen with "The Poor Kid." A meth lab is discovered behind Kenny's (Matt Stone) house, so his parents are arrested, and Kenny and his siblings are taken to foster care. With Kenny out of the school, Cartman (Trey Parker) eagerly searches for who is now the poorest kid, so he can pick on them. Too bad for Cartman, it's himself. Angry at his mom for the humiliation, Cartman gets himself sent to foster care, and despite thinking he can get sent to Hawaii if he asks, winds up in the home with Kenny. Luckily, Mysterion arrives to expose the bad Agnostic foster parents, and Kenny and Cartman get to go home.

     Cartman picks on everyone. That's his thing. If Kenny wasn't poor, Cartman would find some reason to single him out. Because of that, Cartman is bound to end up as the subject of one of his discriminations sooner or later. But "poor" comes as a surprise. While Cartman's mom (April Stewart) doesn't buy Cartman everything he wants, he seems to live pretty comfortably. Perhaps she still has some savings from her wild days, when she made pornos and things. Considering that Cartman's criteria for poor is based solely on current income, and setting aside that there is no way for him to easily find those figures, her savings could be excluded. Maybe the house is even paid off, taking some of the burden away. Though, Mrs. Cartman does say she is working two jobs, which still makes it seem like she shouldn't be the lowest earner in the entire school.

     The title "The Poor Kid" could also refer to poor Eric Cartman, forced to suffer through the humiliation of being the most economically disadvantaged kid in school. Never mind that he has a mother who loves him and takes good care of him. The selfish child is worried only about his own image, and assumes that everyone is as mean as he is. Most kids aren't, of course, and so Cartman is left making fun of himself. It seems he just can't shake the habit of making poor jokes.

     Kenny is the South Park character that deserves sympathy. Repeatedly killed, and forced to live in a shabby, rundown dwelling, he keeps his dignity. He is also likely Mysterion, or so it appears in "The Poor Kid," comforting his scared little sister, Karen. If anyone deserves bad things to happen to him, it's not Kenny. Hasn't he suffered enough? Though, still funny when a giant turkey eats him at the end of the episode.

     South Park tries to fairly go after every religion and group, so as not to be discriminatory. It's finally the Agnostics' turn this week. The foster parents Kenny and Cartman are sent to are very strict Agnostics, that force their foster children to say "I don't know" to any question of belief. It's funny to see a group that typically doesn't take a hard stand be so full of conviction on their position. Thus, South Park has probably gotten around to every religion now, the set satisfyingly complete.

     South Park has just been renewed through 2016, so fans will get at least five more years of the series. It will return with new episodes next spring.

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South Park has a "Broadway Bro Down"

     In this week's episode of Comedy Central's South Park, "Broadway Bro Down," Randy (Trey Parker) discovers that Broadway shows have subliminal messages that cause women to want to give their men blow jobs. Thus, he begins taking Sharon (April Stewart) to many of these performances. Annoyed at the inconvenience, he begins writing his own show, with the subtext more overt. This angers Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Elton John, all legendary Broadway giants, who come to South Park to challenge Randy. In the end, they all become friends, and help Randy with his show.

     Going after Broadway is timely and predictable, considering that Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, have a Tony-award winning show, Book of Mormon, on the Great White Way right now. This does not detract from the enjoyment, of course, as obviously the duo have some serious skill in addressing the musical world. Robert Lopez, who worked with the boys on Book of Mormon, guest co-wrote this episode, too. But the guys don't shove their own thing down viewers' faces. In fact, other than an extremely brief advertisement for Book of Mormon just before the opening credits, their show is absent from reference in the episode.

     Plenty of other shows get the focus, most notable Wicked. The songs portrayed in the South Park version of Wicked are similar to those in the actual musical, but have some different lyrics, including the word "blowjob" inserted in many places. The same thing happens when other Broadway shows are glimpsed. Are the guys onto something? Does Broadway really make girls blowjob-crazy, despite the notable absence in reality of the subtext glimpsed in "Broadway Bro Down?" Well, that depends, of course. If the woman a man takes really likes the man and the show, the reward may be offered. But that's likely more a show of gratitude and affection, rather than anything in the actual material.

     The portrayal of the Broadway legends as beer drinking, "normal," manly men is the oddest part of "Broadway Bro Down." After all, these people have well-known personalities that do not match at all their South Park versions. But if they even see this episode, a possible, but far from guaranteed, occurrence, it probably won't be an issue. This is a well known recurring gag from the series, South Park always wanting to be unpredictable and force new perspectives. Thus, it comes across as light-hearted, funny, and not mean-spirited at all.

     Things do take a turn for the dark when Randy's daughter, Shelley (also Stewart) goes on a date to see Wicked with a vegan boy, whose last name happens to be Feegan, whom she has bonded with. Randy panics, and must tell Sharon the secret of Broadway, as they rush to stop their young daughter from giving oral sex. This is a bit disturbing, made even more so when Randy meets an older gentleman and his very young granddaughter in the audience. Thankfully, South Park does not actually address kids giving hummers, but instead, with a dig at the failure of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, disrupts the show. Shelley's guy's death is unfortunate, as it takes away possible character development, but not out of the realm for how South Park ties up loose ends.

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"You're Getting Old" South Park

     Last night's mid-season finale of Comedy Central's South Park is a potential game changer. The episode begins as Stan (Trey Parker) turns ten. Soon after, he starts to see the things he likes as crappy. Literally. But a strange thing happens when, instead of his tastes maturing, Stan finds everything crappy. This drives away his friends, who get tired to his diagnosed cynicism. Stan's father, Randy (also Parker), resisting getting old, pretends he likes the things the young kids do, even though they sound crappy to him. His wife, Sharon (April Stewart), says she isn't happy with Randy, and hasn't been in some time. He agrees. They divorce and sell their house. As of the end of the episode, Stan moves into an apartment with his mother, and Kyle (Matt Stone), Stan's life-long closest pal, is now best friends with Cartman (Parker).

 

      Will South Park continue on from the events of "You're Getting Older," or go back to its standard formula when season fifteen resumes in the fall? Tongue in cheek references to Randy and Sharon being tired of reverting every week after big fights may point to a dramatic switch up. It is not new for South Park to experiment with change. Examples include promoting the main cast from third grade to fourth grade in season four, leaving Kenny (Stone) dead for awhile, letting Mr. Garrison (Parker) have a sex change, only to eventually switch back years later, and permanently killing off major characters. But this may be the biggest shift yet, with Stan's personality taking a dark turn, and a married couple dissolving their union.

     The fact that Randy and Sharon are done is not all that surprising. Randy gets more plot than any other adult on the series, and he frequently acts ridiculous, often to seem cool to the kids. They are rarely a satisfied couple, and it is about time they split up. While this is very sad for Stan, and likely a major cause of his cynicism, as he feels things falling apart between his parents, divorce is a part of life, and not one given attention on South Park before.

     What may be more confounding is Kyle and Cartman growing closer. Except, it's not all that unrealistic. They share the same social circle. Two episodes prior to "You're Getting Old," in "Crack Baby Athletic Association," Kyle allows Cartman to involve him one of his immoral schemes. Stan does little to talk Kyle out of it, though Kyle feels judged and guilty. Yet, this plants the seeds for a shift in the main group dynamic. Cartman does not like Kyle for many years, often making him the butt of Jewish slurs. But near the end of the finale episode, as the two smile at each other and play video games, there's a clear connection there. Cartman needs a friend, and is likely  jealous of Stan and Kyle's bond. Now it's his turn. How this may change Cartman is anyone's guess. Or Kyle, for that matter.

     It is worth applauding South Park for the bold move, fifteen years into the series. Should they stick with it, and chances are good they will, it will reinvigorate once more an aging show.
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Article first published as TV Review: South Park - "You're Getting Old" on Blogcritics.