South Park Season 24 review – Prepare to be offended

SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE TWENTY-FOURTH SEASON includes the Pandemic episode, which was the highest rated and most-watched cable comedy telecast of 2020, followed by the Vaccination episode, which was the highest rated original cable comedy telecast of 2021.  In the latest must-own season, Randy comes to terms with his role in the COVID-19 outbreak as the on-going pandemic presents continued challenges to the citizens of South Park. The kids happily head back to school, but nothing resembles the normal that they once knew; not their teachers, not their homeroom, not even Eric Cartman.

Two episodes, One season

South Park: Season 24 features two feature length episodes, The Pandemic Special and Post Covid: The Return of Covid. 

South Park has never been a series to shy away from current subject matters and it’s always guaranteed that the series will poke fun at whatever is going on in the world today. Series 24 dives head first into the Covid territory with its no holds barred approach. 

Other subject matters dealt with were rioting and police brutality, something that is becoming a common occurrence in the society we live in. South Park is the only show that could throw this mixture of events together and paint a hilarious picture without offending, but also making viewers aware of the situations at hand. 

Heading in a new direction?

South Park has slowly been drifting from the usual day to day lives of Cartman, Kyle, Kenny and Stan and now opts to utilise other characters to tell some of their stories that involve world occurrences’. Though this approach delivers some great storylines it can also be quite hit or miss, season 23 wasn’t a relatively strong season. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been writing the series for 25 Seasons now so it’s only natural that somewhere along the line they had to update and evolve the characters to make these stories. We would all rather have a world with South Park in it though. 

The Pandemic episode focuses on the character of Randy and feels more like a spin-off episode than a South Park episode which usually focuses on the four boys, Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny. It is a fun episode and Randy never fails to deliver the laughs but the episode lacked the magic that made the earlier episodes classic and memorable. 

The Post Covid: Return of Covid episode introduced us to the gang all grown up and this idea would would make for a fun spin-off or limited series.

Verdict

While season 24 may not be as strong as some of the other entries, it was still great to get a South Park fix in some form and these two episodes were much needed in a time when the world came to a stand still. 

Season 24 is full of laughs and controversy, something we expect when entering a South Park episode but there is also a message throughout which each and every person will interrupt in their own way. 

Check it out!