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South Park "The End of Serialization As We Know It" Review

"Showed him my d*ck, and called him a f*g"- Dave Beckett, 2016


Man this finale was controversial. It took me a little while to properly formulate my response to this episode, and what I actually felt about it. On first watch, I have to say I very much enjoyed. Most of the jokes landed, and that's really what counts for a series like this. Upon further reflection, I realized just how much was left out, and how little was actually progressed. That being said, this wasn't a bad episode, and this wasn't a bad season. I think the biggest problem with this season is the ten-episode format. There just isn't enough time to let the stories breath and fill their own role, which makes the serialized season practically impossible.

This is less of a review of the actual content, and more so my thoughts on the episode. The overall sentiment of this episode, at least how I interpreted it, was that the internet is the most foul, disgusting thing on the planet, and deserves to be destroyed with fire and the Royal Rumble 2015. That's not the worst stance Matt and Trey could take on it: the only problem is that they set up this finale as a world-ending event, when it didn't come anywhere close. The ending of the episode seemed to be treated as a factory reset, and that's not the worst idea for this show. Other shows can do serialized storytelling, but I just don't think South Park is one of them.

Again, though, the jokes landed. Kyle's parachute jump was absolutely bad-ass, Cartman's Mars joke mines was deliciously twisted, and the closing line was delivered perfectly. The actual content behind these jokes may not have been fantastic, but at least they were good.

For this entire season, my reviews have been centered around the story involved in each episode, and less about the actual content itself. That's the effect of serialized storytelling; each iteration of the show continues the build towards the eventual payoff, but is less important in it's own way. I feel like I'm repeating myself at this point, as this is very similar to what I said last year. Despite that, I was willing to give the show another chance to win me over, and it failed. I like serialized storytelling, but not when the payoff isn't there. I hate to say it, but I'm ready for a return to classic South Park, and that's very depressing to say.

7/10

I've ignored the Member Berries and Kenny about as much as Matt and Trey, for realism's sake. Hope you enjoyed.

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