South ParQ Vaccination Special Review

 "Old people suck."

-Stephen Stotch

The pandemic is really wearing on Kenny as he feels he and his friends have been drifting apart.  To cheer him up, Cartman plays a mean prank on their teacher, Mrs. Nelson, which causes her to leave.  Their new teacher ends up being Mr. Garrison, who is trying to move on from being President of the United States, even if the rest of the town is not so willing to do that.

Stan and Kyle are lumped in with Kenny and Cartman and are all hated for the prank.  They decide to get Mrs. Nelson to come back and teach them, but she will only do that if she can get the Covid vaccination.  The boys manage to steal a bunch of vaccines from Walgreens.  Everyone quickly finds out they have some and the boys have to flee from the desperate mob begging for a vaccine.

Cartman starts getting large offers of money in exchange for the vaccine.  Kyle wants to make things right with Mrs. Nelson and give the vaccines to the teachers.  Stan wants to take the vaccines themselves so they can enjoy life again.  Kyle's Dad tries to guilt Kyle into giving him and Kyle's Mom the vaccines and it nearly works, but Stan catches Kyle in the act and stops him.

Bob White and his family, who are supporters of Garrison and QAnon, decide to become private tutors to the children of South Park and get a bunch of QAnon supporters to do the same, so they can spread their beliefs.  Most of Mr. Garrison's students are pulled from his class and taught by the QAnon private tutors instead and all quickly fall in line with their beliefs; that the wealthy elite in politics and Hollywood are kidnapping children, killing them, and drinking their blood to stay powerful.  The kids form a group called "Lil' QTies."

Mr. Garrison, furious at losing his students, goes after the private tutors and makes his way to Bob White, who tells him his insane beliefs and Mr. Garrison starts to buy into it, but the Hoolywood elite transport Mr. White, Mr. Garrison, and his bodyguard, Mr. Service, to a frozen wasteland to stop them.  They even start to hilariously change Mr. White's form to discredit his beliefs.  Mr. Garrison decides to team up with the elite to get his life back.  They agree and change Mr. Service into Mr. Hat.

The Lil' QTies block the boys from delivering the vaccines to the school and it turns into a big fight.  The rest of the town shows up to try and get the vaccine and the boys have to retreat.  The stress forces them to admit that their friendship has fallen apart and they decide they each get to spend a third of their time with Kenny, while never hanging out with each other.

The boys prepare to fight their way into the school to deliver the vaccines, but Mr. Garrison arrives with enough vaccines for all of the adults, thanks to the elite, which makes the townsfolk like Garrison again.  The boys deliver the vaccine, but it's too late for Mrs. Nelson, who dies from Covid.  Mr. Garrison takes over her job permanently.

What Works:

The funniest parts of the episode come from the elderly residents of South Park, who have all gotten their vaccines and are out partying.  It's hilarious watching them rub it in everyone else's face and hearing Mr. Stotch shout "Old people suck" made my day.

Another highlight is the running feud between the news reporter, Chris, and the anchorman, Tom.  Chris is awesome as he tries to get his vaccine and spends most of the episode ripping on Tom.  Their banter is hilarious.

This episode deals with QAnon and how stupid their beliefs are.  Even though at the end of the episode, in the universe of South Park, the wealthy elite are controlling everything, that doesn't stop the show from ridiculing how idiotic the stuff they are saying is.  Cartman has an amazing line, "You guys have a right to say and believe whatever you want, but what you believe is really stupid."  I'm always up to watch South Park ridicule the stupid.

Gerald Broflovski is a real one-scene-wonder in this special as he tries to guilt Kyle into giving him and Sheila the vaccine.  He's got some awesome lines, especially when he tells Kyle not to kill his mother.

The reveal that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are part of the wealthy elite conspiracy is fantastic and it gets better as they try to stop Mr. White from ruining their plans.  Transporting him and Mr. Garrison to the arctic is hilarious and it just gets more absurd as they change his shape.  Anytime Parker and Stone get to rip on themselves is a good time.

Finally, the death of Mrs. Nelson is brutally hilarious.  It had to happen in order for us to get Mr. Garrison back in the classroom, but it still manages to sting a little bit somewhere amongst the laughter.  Mrs. Nelson was arguably the most level-headed character on the show and for her to be the show's big victim of Covid is really dark...but still hilarious.

What Sucks:

The special has a few moments where it feels like some of the adult characters are about to start a musical about shots.  I'm not sure if this is a reference to something, but I didn't really get it and those moments were the weakest of the episode.

Finally, the story about the boys' friendship breaking up is an intriguing one, but I don't think the show explored it enough.  Maybe if this is a setup for future stories with the boys on their own, I will change my tune.  It had some funny moments, but I think it could have been funnier and more impactful.

Verdict:

Though not as good as the Pandemic Special, the Vaccination Special is a solid piece of work and a welcome return.  It has plenty of hilarious moments and I appreciate its willingness to get dark, even if not all of the subplots work.  This special has still got it going on.

 8/10: Really Good