Active shooters have become a daily event in South Park, and Ambien is to blame for some un-PC tweeting by Mr. Hankey. When the vaping epidemic becomes too much, Randy Marsh has enough, and South Park might never be the same. Leaving the town and starting Tegridy Farm, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Stan could face the toughest challenge to their friendship. The return of Man-Bear-Pig, the arrival of electric scooters, and an Amazon strike could be too much for the little mountain town.
South Park—Season 22 aired on Comedy Central from September 26, 2018 to December 12, 2018. The series continued to receive positive reviews.
South Park’s change to season stories is both a gift and a curse. If you don’t like the main themes of the season or how they are handled, it means you’re stuck with it the whole season. I like the Tegridy Farm stuff in general, but the joke affected the direction of the show for too long.
South Park continues to be a biting show. The look at the normalization of school shootings, cancel culture, and the rise of Amazon sometimes seem contradictory, but at the same time, it feels like it is meant to foster conversations. The series still doesn’t pull punches, but in always charging headlong into social issues, it sometimes feels like it doesn’t look before it leaps (which leads to the whole cancel culture idea).
Watching South Park a couple seasons behind, feels oddly appropriate. The Man-Bear-Pig episodes on global warming could easily echo the COVID-19 fight of 2020 (half of the population of South Park doesn’t believe there could be a Man-Bear-Pig despite the evidence while the other half shakes their head in disbelief). It is both a sign of how things repeat, and where much of the United States is right now (and has been for the last few years in particular).
As mentioned, the Tegridy joke goes on too long. The rise of weed farms and the profit that they can bring people has it feeling like a natural target for South Park. With it continuing into Season 23 and becoming an even larger focus, it feels like too much if you binge the series instead of watching it upon release.
The last couple episodes of the season were interesting in that it was very reflective of the whole South Park series. The kids lament that they no longer have adventures, and the cancel culture idea spawned the hashtag #cancelsouthpark which was promoted as a joke by the show. Having listened to commentaries when they provided them, you sometimes wonder if Parker and Stone would be ok with it despite the lucrative nature (and platform) the show provides.
South Park—Season 22 isn’t my favorite season, but like many seasons of South Park it does have some great moments. The series still is worth watching if you turned away from it and the short run time and short season make it an easy, quick viewing. South Park has become a classic which is weird to think about if you think about the first few seasons of the show.
South Park—Season 22 Complete Episode Guide:
22.1 Dead Kids Airdate: 09/26/18
An active shootings at the school has Stan’s mother Sharon demanding change, but Randy thinks it is a woman’s personal problem. Cartman questions why he failed a test after copying off Token and suspects it is because he didn’t like Black Panther.
22.2 A Boy and a Priest Airdate: 10/03/18
The church sex scandal has become a laughing point for the people of South Park, and Butters decides to include Father Maxi. Unfortunately, hanging out with a priest doesn’t always go over well and the Catholic Church has to cover-up.
22.3 The Problem with Poo Airdate: 10/10/18
Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo learns that his budget for the Christmas special has been cut, and when Mr. Hankey begins to tweet about it, Ambien may be to blamed. An ill-advised relationship between P.C. Principal and Strong Woman leads to an unexpected pregnancy and quintuplets…and they cannot allow anyone to know.
22.4 Tegridy Farms Airdate: 10/17/18
When Shelly is caught sending explicit photos trying to get a vap-pen at school, Randy decides he’s had enough of South Park and sets out on his dream to be a farmer…of weed. Kyle finds the vaping epidemic in South Park has gone crazy when he learns Ike and the other kindergartners are addicted but learns who is behind the crisis.
22.5 The Scoots Airdate: 10/31/18
Electric scooters have come to South Park much to Mr. Mackey’s dismay. Kenny learns that scooters means he can’t trick-or-treat with his friends since he doesn’t have a phone, and the town discovers that the scooter takeover could mean another deadly problem on Halloween.
22.6 Time to Get Cereal Airdate: 11/07/18
The town of South Park is being hunted by Man-Bear-Pig. While police suspect the murders are occurring due to school shooters, Cartman and Kenny become the prime suspects…the town’s only hope could be Al Gore.
22.7 Nobody Got Cereal? Airdate: 11/14/18
Pulled away from Red Dead Redemption II, stopping Man-Bear-Pig has become the only way Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, and Stan can clear their names, but getting everyone to believe in Man-Bear-Pig could be harder than they imaged. With Satan on their side, the kids are taking the fight to Man-Bear-Pig…but Stan learns an ancient deal might be the reason for the attacks.
22.8 Buddha Box Airdate: 11/28/18
Cartman decides he’s suffering from anxiety due to everyone interrupting his phone time, and the answer could be the isolation chamber of the Buddha Box. PC Principal and Strong Woman continue to hide their affair and the PC Babies. When the PC Babies are able to get out of the house, the secret might be out.
22.9 Unfulfilled Airdate: 12/05/18
Butters is hoping to finally win the bike parade while his father deals with his growing resentment of working for the South Park Amazon fulfillment center. When Josh Carter is accidentally boxed in a workplace accident, the workers at Amazon go on strike, and Jeff Bezos is having none of it. Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny decide to join the bike parade, but learn that their winning is contingent on getting their Amazon shipment and their only hope could be…the Mall!!!
22.10 Bike Parade Airdate: 12/12/18
Kyle, Stan, and Cartman’s plans for the big bike parade are in jeopardy when Kenny decides to support the strikers. Randy’s quest to make Tegridy Farms a household name is struggling until he realizes a new source of income. With Christmas coming and no presents from Amazon, South Park is in need of a miracle!
Preceded By:
South Park—Season 21 Review and Complete Episode Guide
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