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South Park Season 24 Blu-ray Review

‘South Park’ is finding its footing again in Season 24.

In season 24 of the long-running Comedy Central adult animated series, there are two double-length specials titled ‘The Pandemic Special’ and ‘South Parq Vaccination Special.’ In ‘Pandemic,’ the citizens of South Park find themselves under quarantine but school soon reopens…with police officers becoming teachers. Some students don’t want to go back to school like Cartman while others are struggling mentally like Butters and Stan. Elsewhere in the story Randy throws a weed special with his Tegridy Farms business while grappling with the fact that he may be responsible for the pandemic (although he believes he might have discovered a cure). In ‘Vaccination,’ there’s unrest within the community as everyone but the elderly are unable to get the vaccine. Having served as President, Mr. Garrison returns back to school and becomes a sub after a Cartman and Kenny prank leads a teacher to take time off. Two other key subplots involve Kenny, Stan, Kyle and Cartman’s friendship being tested and a QAnon conspiracy.

For the first five seasons or so, ‘South Park’ was a refreshing, original, groundbreaking and hilarious adult animated series comedy that started to become a bit stale after awhile. That’s not to say there weren’t classic episodes over the years, but the early years were the best. Somehow, the series has started to hit its stride again after the big Paramount+ deal which has seen the release of new specials and “movies” like ‘Post COVID’ and ‘Streaming Wars’ (which will hopefully get a home video release in the near future). For whatever reason, the special/movie form just seems to be working wonders for the series. There’s more characterization, bigger stories, and room for everything to breathe. This is especially evident with ‘The Pandemic Special’ and ‘Vaccination’ as well. 

‘The Pandemic Special’ is easily the best of the two. Not only does it poke fun at itself, but it really goes for it in its exploration of life during the pandemic and police violence. That may not sound humorous on paper, but Trey Parker and Matt Stone have a way of finding humor in any topic. Highlights include the Cartman musical number, chian diapers, the ‘They Live’ music cue, and, of course, the Build-A-Bear sequence. Perhaps the most surprising element is that the series also gets dramatic especially with the psychological elements involving Stan and Butters. 

‘South ParQ Vaccination Special’ goes off the rails a bit in the rather trippy fourth wall ending, but there’s a lot to admire here with the character cameos, the portrayal of a divided America, the interpretation of Walgreens being like an exclusive night club, and even ‘Baseketball’ and ‘Hamilton’ references. 

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 1.78:1 1080p. How does it look? ‘South Park’ is not known for its animation quality, but this is certainly the best the show will look.

Audio Track: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 and Dolby Stereo. How do they sound? Nice clear audio options.

No extras have been included.

August 10, 2022 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | Comedy Central, Paramount+, South Park, South Park Season 24 Blu-ray Review, South Park Specials, The Pandemic Special