So, Season 20 of South Park is finally over, and there isn’t
a shower hot enough to wash off my disappointment. I can’t blame the
writers-not totally anyway. I hyped myself up remembering how great season 19
was. I assumed, probably after eating too many member berries that season 20
would surpass all my expectations. The world has a way of punishing such
optimism.
It’s probably those damn member berries talking, but season
20 wasn’t a bad season. Well, at least not compared to everything else on comedy
central these days. The ratings were good so I guess the execs have nothing to
complain about. But that doesn’t excuse the missteps. The election of Trump
surprised the writers and left them flat footed. Less forgivable, the member
berry subplot was left unresolved. But “not bad”, is not the same as “good”. Compared
to last season several errors were made.
Season 19, for those who don’t remember or have stopped
caring, explored the nature of political correctness. It was also the first
time South Park successfully tied an entire season into a single narrative.
They tried to do this in season 18 but I wouldn’t describe their attempt as
“successful”. Season 19 was-and I’m gushing here-brilliant. Hardly any episode
could be described as a misstep, and some of them are among my favorite
episodes of all time. Perhaps more
importantly, most of the episodes can stand on their own. They cover a variety
of issues, from safe spaces, to Trump, to gentrification, yet the last few
episodes tied all these issues together. It was good comedy and it was good
story telling.
South Park should be praised for still taking risks after
twenty seasons, but the thing about risks is they’re risky. I would only call one
out of the last three seasons good. Only a few of season 18’s episodes were
above par. The episodes of season 20 hardly feel like episodes, they all kind
of blur together. It started out pretty good, tackling a number of issues ripe
for social commentary like trolls, gender wars, and our cultural nostalgia, but
the story dragged on and on. The half-hour segments left me unsatisfied. Once
or twice they skipped airing for a week and that left me frustrated. The feeling was like watching a drama that
dragged on and on. There were some funny moments, some interesting twists, but
it got old fast. It became all about the plot. I’m going out on a limb and
saying “plot” is not South Park’s strong suit.
So what should we make of the new, plot heavy South Park?
Let’s face it, in recent years the show has become way too preachy for its own
good. That it’s still watchable at this point is a credit to the writers. Hell,
it’s even funny more often than not. Despite this, the show is on a precipice. A
simple mistake and it turns into unfunny preaching. I would say the last minute
or so of Season 20 fits into that category.
The “I learned something today” bit of the early seasons was tolerable
precisely because the rest of the show was ridiculous. When the social
commentary is overt spelling it out at the end of the episode only makes you sound pretentious.
It has been argued that South Park has matured over the years, but sometimes
mature isn’t that funny. Give me a
talking piece of poop with your social commentary and then you have something.
It might be immature but you won’t get bogged down in your message.
And so Season 20 came in like a lion and went out with a
whimper. It’s sad it a way that the season failed to live up to its
predecessor. Hopefully South Park will be a bit more on par next season. Until
then I’ll be eating sweet member berries of seasons past.
-Gedaemon
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