South Park has delivered one of its most unique seasons in a while that stepped outside of the show’s normal story-of-the-week style and into a serialized plot that analyzed and called out the overly political correct nature of the world. The show introduced its newest character, PC Principal, who easily became my favorite character of 2015 with his politically correct fraternity bro style that had him attempting to save South Park’s school as well as doing things like making sure his PC bros had signed consent forms handed in before having sex. On top of all of the PC plots, South Park also turned the season’s main story on its head by incorporating advertisements and how they influence consumers with the loads of sponsored content around now. Last night, the show’s 19th season came to a close with “PC Principal Final Justice,” which did not disappoint.
Last week, we saw that Leslie was an advertisement aiding in the attempt for a Terminator– or Matrix-like takeover of the world. Jimmy, one of the few pure journalists left, can seemingly determine which people are ads. The advertisements have been preying on the humans’ new overly PC attitude and infiltrating cities through gentrification. This starts when South Park gets its new Whole Foods, which launches a new gentrification campaign all around town, and, as we discover, all around the world. The people think they are supporting a good cause, but really they are just being manipulated into different campaigns and projects by the advertisements. Something that was initially a good cause is being used for the wrong reasons.
One of the things that I’ve really loved about this season of South Park is its multiple references to dystopian movies. It started out with classics like Terminator and Blade Runner, and moved onto the more recent Ex Machina last week, which was a brilliant surprise. This week, things seemed to move back to the classics with references to The Matrix. Jimmy’s frenemy from camp, Nathan, is working with the advertisements and plays the show’s Cypher, ready to aid the ads for safety, money, and power in the new world. The scenes in Nathan’s penthouse with Classi (with an I and a little dick that hangs off the C and f***s the L out of the a**) are amazing just because of how obscure it is compared to everything else going on. Nathan is one of those solid South Park side characters who is a joy to have on the show whenever he is involved to stir up some trouble.
At the core of “PC Principal Final Justice,” though, was the topic of gun control. For everything unusual that South Park has done this season, I am happy that the writers have stuck to their guns (no pun intended) and not been afraid to cover touchy subjects. Gun control is something that has come up a lot within the past five years, especially in the past couple of weeks in the wake of recent attacks, and people continue to debate whether these weapons should or shouldn’t be so easily accessible. With everyone in the show nervous about the growing threat, they all go buy guns. This was amazing because two reasons: first, because of how easy it is for anyone (children or adults) to get a gun, and second, that the guns actually help people talk about their feelings when threatening one another. I love that South Park mimicked the Westminster Dog Show theme to display the town’s enthusiasm about their new found gun interest, especially seeing Stephen Stotch trot around to show his off. The guns were a great addition to cover in the show, especially because nobody really ever ends up using theirs to harm one another. Either way, this offered a funny stance on the issue that is different from what everyone is usually preaching about.
In the end, South Park saves itself before the ads can fully takeover. The Whole Foods blasts off into space, and PC Principal puts his fist through Leslie’s alien/robot face, unleashing the blue goo insides of it. In the final moments of “PC Principal Final Justice,” PCP himself mentions that he’s been asked to stay on as principal of the school. While this is exactly what I wanted, I hope that Parker and Stone stay true to their word. I don’t need the character to be overused, but I think he brings much more to the table than principal Victoria ever did and would be a better background character who can be the focus of an episode when it works. I really loved this season of South Park and didn’t mind the serialization of it one bit. I’m curious if the show will continue to do seasonal arcs like this moving forward, because it seemed to foreshadow at some Garrison/Jenner 2016 topics for next season, which will kick off just a couple of months before the actual presidential election. Regardless, South Park has once again outdone itself with another successful season.
Other Moments:
- One thing that I didn’t get into was how brilliant it was that Kyle was so easily influenced by Leslie. Her building up his ego and winning him over by telling him she heard he was good at spreading messages was a really great touch to the episode.
- The PC Principal in Russia opening was amazing. I feel like nothing is set in stone with South Park, but I really hope he is coming back like they implied.
- “Now remember, the safety’s on, you’re good as gone!”
- “Oh, hell no, yo down syndrome a** just slapped me! I’mma break your dick off!” This line had me cracking up, and I was surprised they went that far, but that’s South Park for ya.
- The “You’re expelled” line from PC principal just before he punches through Leslie’s face was fantastic.
- The Caitlyn Jenner joke never gets old.
[Photo via Comedy Central]
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Kyle needed a friend, he was being alienated by all of his usual friends at school so Leslie was able to trick him very easily, that part makes sense to me. very solid episode although SP tends to run a bit shorter than I like it was still great.