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Faster than expected, South Park has returned with the conclusion to last month’s special. While the previous part had some laughs, it didn’t quite hit the heights that South Park is known for. Thankfully, Part 2 is even funnier than the first, hitting all the right notes and lambasting everything in sight.
After what happened in the first half of The Streaming Wars, South Park is facing a brutal drought. The special opens with a fantastic courtroom scene that has the boys in court, answering for their part in the streaming wars. From Kyle’s impatience to Butters speaking far too close to the mic, everyone’s characters are perfectly displayed in this first scene. A harsh cut to Cartman and his enormous fake breasts in the courtroom tells you that this special will be a wild ride.
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These are only the first of many excellent bits throughout Part 2, which ties up the loose ends of the previous special while making fun of everything from streaming services and their brutal business model to the viral culture surrounding “Karens.” Butters’ constant need to stare at Cartman’s boobs was comedic and certainly in character, as was the waterpark having to run solely on urine. The way that Matt and Trey portrayed crypto-supporting celebrities as people who love drinking and swimming in urine through in-show commercials for Pi-Pi was constantly entertaining, and this is assumedly the only series that can say it showed Matt Damon literally taking a golden shower.
My favorite part of The Streaming Wars Part 2 has to be Randy’s arc. He goes from a Hulk-like Karen back to his prominent Tegridy-focused character, only to reminisce on how different his character was in the early seasons of South Park. He watches home videos of the early seasons, when he didn’t have eyebrows and warned everyone about the volcano, and decides to return to being a geologist. It’s a pleasant and somewhat nostalgic throwback to the early days of the series, and the song that accompanies his transformation montage is suitably melodramatic.
Of course, by the end, he’s forced into becoming the weed-growing Tegridy Randy again in a way that makes sense with the special’s narrative. Still, seeing Randy himself acknowledge fan complaints, become his old self, and then laugh at the fans that thought this would be permanent is classic South Park lampooning. Plus, we get that goofy Doctor Strange sequence of Randy smoking weed again, which was nothing short of great. I do wish we saw more of Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, but the focus on Token, Cartman, and Butters was a bold choice that made sense in terms of the overarching story.
Things get mostly reset to the status quo by the end of the special, with Cartman (alongside many women with fake breasts) sacrificing their implants to restore water to South Park. ManBearPig and his family return to the wilderness, and though everyone agrees they should find a way to improve global warming, Randy declares it’s too hard and that since they have water again, everyone should just smoke weed. It’s a perfect ending that shows no one really learned anything, meaning the quiet little mountain town will continue on as it always has.
South Park: The Streaming Wars Part 2 is a strong step up from the first part, featuring a mix of both sharp commentary and stupid yet hilarious gags. Randy had a neat arc that old-school fans will appreciate, and no celebrity was spared from South Park‘s hilarious wrath. Whether we get another special or season 26 next, the show is in a good spot, ripe with opportunities for silly stories and topical jabs. Even if you didn’t dig the first part of The Streaming Wars, I recommend checking out Part 2, as it’s a fun burst of classic South Park comedy.
SCORE: 9/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 9 equates to “Excellent.” Entertainment that reaches this level is at the top of its type. The gold standard that every creator aims to reach.
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