Last night's mid-season finale of Comedy Central's South Park is a potential game changer. The episode begins as Stan (Trey Parker) turns ten. Soon after, he starts to see the things he likes as crappy. Literally. But a strange thing happens when, instead of his tastes maturing, Stan finds everything crappy. This drives away his friends, who get tired to his diagnosed cynicism. Stan's father, Randy (also Parker), resisting getting old, pretends he likes the things the young kids do, even though they sound crappy to him. His wife, Sharon (April Stewart), says she isn't happy with Randy, and hasn't been in some time. He agrees. They divorce and sell their house. As of the end of the episode, Stan moves into an apartment with his mother, and Kyle (Matt Stone), Stan's life-long closest pal, is now best friends with Cartman (Parker).
Will South Park continue on from the events of "You're Getting Older," or go back to its standard formula when season fifteen resumes in the fall? Tongue in cheek references to Randy and Sharon being tired of reverting every week after big fights may point to a dramatic switch up. It is not new for South Park to experiment with change. Examples include promoting the main cast from third grade to fourth grade in season four, leaving Kenny (Stone) dead for awhile, letting Mr. Garrison (Parker) have a sex change, only to eventually switch back years later, and permanently killing off major characters. But this may be the biggest shift yet, with Stan's personality taking a dark turn, and a married couple dissolving their union.
The fact that Randy and Sharon are done is not all that surprising. Randy gets more plot than any other adult on the series, and he frequently acts ridiculous, often to seem cool to the kids. They are rarely a satisfied couple, and it is about time they split up. While this is very sad for Stan, and likely a major cause of his cynicism, as he feels things falling apart between his parents, divorce is a part of life, and not one given attention on South Park before.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Beau Sylvester
This isn't the first time the show has approached divorce. In fact, Randy and Sharon have gotten divorced once before in "Clubhouses", which I believe was in season four. This however, seems much more serious, and I would like to see Matt & Trey go through with this plot change.
2 - Jumpdog
If they stuck with this plot change, it would completely ruin the show. This episode was incredibly depressing and, though okay to do a couple times, should not turn the whole season into something like this. People watch the show for its obnoxious humor and satirical writing, so I'm not the only one who would stop watching. It's reassuring though that a point the writer chose was serious changes have happened before, only to change back later (like Mr. Garrison to Mrs., back to Mr). I would like to see their next episode with everything back to normal, and an explanation behind it all.
3 - Kurtis.
Still dont know what to make of this episode. I kept waiting for some crazy explanation and a good laugh once the end of the episode came about, not the totally sad note that it left us on...
4 - Smokey
I've been watching South Park a long time and why? Because it was funny. I don't need complicated story lines, i just want to watch it for 30 minutes and turn off the TV with a smile on my face. This episode didn't do that.
5 - Acrimony
I think that's it though Smokey. South Park has taken a lot of crap this season for being shitty (notice the correlation with the episode's only humor point?). The whole speech at the end between Randy and Sharon is basically "Randy" (Matt and Trey) talking to "Sharon" (the fans) about why their relationship is going south. They seem tired of making some big point every week, only for people to, as you say, smile, turn off the TV and not really think of it or do anything (and restart next week looking for a laugh and nothing else). They seem to only be reinforcing certain liberal view points in the fans who already share those view points but take no action or do anything. They've been doing this for 10 years since the shows format changed drastically (from anal probes to social criticisms) and they don't seem to get anywhere. Then the one time they get writers block and have a shitty season, everyone bails because they were only there for a laugh. It's gotta be frustrating. Then they make this episode explaining their view point and everyone blasts them for making a serious episode.
Maybe I'm over analyzing, but I know Trey and Matt are smart. There is no way this episode(like, only semi-serious episode ever) does not have a much deeper meaning behind it.
I know they are writing a comedy show so they should provide laughs, but I think they were trying to aim higher then just a comedy show, and seem to have failed. Their motivation was never just money, they are like the only show creators ever who have stated publicly that you are allowed to pirate their episodes anyway you like and re-distribute them.
It's a personal message to you and everyone else who's enjoyed their show over the years.
This episode makes me very sad, but it's got nothing to do with a divorce or moving out of south park. We, the viewers, are getting older. We think the shows creators are getting crappier. They think the fans are being pretty crappy too. We had a great relationship for a while, but time goes on and it looks like it's coming to an end. Every time they lampoon a group, it's through comedy for us the fans. When they want to talk to the fans, they put the comedy away so we know they are serious. In this respect, I think it's an awesome episode.
6 - uk
They've been doing this for 10 years since the format changed dramatically shows (anal probe social criticism) and do not seem to get anywhere.
7 - Harley
Acrimony, you're on the right track, but I'm sorry to say you're still kind of overlooking the point. I say "sad" to say, because this episode's real intentions are far more depressing than anyone's hit on so far.
Yes, the conversation between randy and sharon is a meta, but it's about the creator's relationship with the /show/ than with it's fans.
To understand the episode's true subtext, you have to look at outside events: Matt and Trey have been at work on this show for a long time, with South Park as their flagship project and primary creative outlet. However, that has changed DRAMATICALLY in recent times since the unveiling of their smash-hit broadway musical and its continual success. They've said before in interviews that what they've always /really/ wanted to do was a musical, and it appears they've done so with all the perfect precision and scathing talent that South Park ever showcased!
I knew this season would suffer in quality, if only because of new demands on their time, which MUST be significant. But I had to brace myself for the fearful scenario wherein this new found creative fulfillment would cause them to lose interest in their OLD vehicle, South Park, altogether...
But can you really blame them? Two such immensely creative, immensely talented individuals are bound to want to challenge themselves in new ways when they feel there are no more challenges to be met with an "old" project...
And so what they're trying want us, the fans, is that THEY are ready to move on. That it is THEY who are unhappy with "South Park"- that in having lost the sense of creative fulfillment from doing the show, they have truly lost the inspiration to continue on with the show.
They want the fans to understand this, accept it and be happy for their having found new, more fulfilling creative opportunities....but giving the tremendous hole the loss of this Bastion of TV will create...should we be?? o.O
8 - Roy
Hi
9 - Jerome Wetzel
Love reading all the debate here. I agree, I think it is commentary on them getting burnt out. They did have less time this run because of the musical. But the show has lagged before and came back again. There are some real gems even in the last year or two. Not every episode can be brilliant. I like the conceit of this one, though I could have done without the grossness.
10 - Tarik
This was a very weird episode, I was waiting for some explanation at the end but was sadly left with a lot of questions.
I see how sharon and randy might have explained the sudden ending of this episode in their last conversation. I hope that this is not the end of south park, I would really like to see a season 16 and more.
11 - Jerome Wetzel
This was only the first half of season 15, so we get at least another 7 episodes in the fall.
12 - Derek Jones
I think the cynicism implied is more like realizing how the standard of almost everything now a days has been greatly reduced, then dressed up to just look the higher quality, not truly be it though. Those who are new to it all (older generations) may see the change for what it is, yet not even truly understanding it. Then those who to which today may be all they know (a younger generation), know nothing more than that itself, believing it's the best like media will always now tell us (because of greed/$$$),and viewing the older world likewise. Stan's outlook was only the truth though, yet very dark, because the truth is dark and life is dark. He is very lucky to realize it though, because as the episode showed, nobody is interested in the truth or negativity, and the masses refuse to accept it. People like cynical Stan exist, and they I think are extremely rare and intelligent. If I had to guess what his life would be like from now on, I'd say he would refuse to lie to himself no matter what, seem like a depressing person to be around, and will live a strong Introvert, which would be a result of something called the hedgehog dilemma.
13 - Roy
Okay sorry that Hi was weird. Just wanted to see if I could comment on here without creating some kind of account. Acrimony and Harley, you both have real strong points and I think its a mixture of both.
Matt and Trey have put their internal struggles with getting older out there for everyone to see. I have been watching south park since I was in the 7th grade, I was only 13 years old. I loved watching it because they cursed and for cartmans punch lines (pie and punch anyone? haha) after re-watching older episodes I realized that south park has always been way more then that, so Acrimony in that sense I feel your wrong. There is a very early episode where cartmans Mom wants to have an abortion. She then reveals the child she wants to abort is 8 years old. This is humorous but it also leaves people to question pro choice vs right to life for themselves. They're are countless examples.
The show has evolved drastically since those times and really has slightly become an animated daily show. The show is topical and is a conversation starter. And I do feel they are frustrated because this show is generally taken as just foul mouth potty humor, which is something they expressed in South Park Bigger longer and uncut. Yes south park is all those things and the creators have always said they have been heavily influenced by Monty Python, hence the Pip episode, Great expectations (which I loved) was kind of a dud, so many people hate that episode.
But its true, I'm 26 years old now and I never thought I would still be watching this show every wednesday in the same time slot! I'm happy for all that its given me, South Park is apart of my life and I quote it constantly, I've seen all episodes multiple times (thank you south park studios). But at this age there are plenty of things that just dont seem the same anymore and really are just crappy. However I can still watch the first season of this show and love it, it brings back such good memories. I think its brilliant that people say the crap jokes were just too much in this episode. THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT! The jokes are "getting old". Everything Matt and Trey do is exactly on purpose. The people that only quote things like "my giny tickles" or just do bad impersonations of cartmans "screw you guys I'm going home", are not true fans of this show. If your just turning this show on to giggle, please go watch family guy. Dont get me wrong, I like family guy and its a good show but it just is completely different from south park. If your turning this show off because it made you feel something more then laughter, then I feel bad for you because your really missing the entire point of this show and life too. Matt and Trey are trying to say okay say we stick with the format and just do one ridiculous mindless thing after another, guess what happens? You become the simpsons and then everyone hates your show and cant believe its still on air. South Park deserves more then this and I do feel the creators are enjoying the critical acclaim for their new hit broadway show, which I hear you cant even get tickets for right now. That medium is allowing them to be accepted more for what they really want to express, instead of people who just want to laugh at animated characters crapping everywhere.
This reminds me of the family guy trilogy episode and how the show ended with jesus crapping all over the U.S. flag. There was a huge uproar from the christian community. Matt and Trey just said well apparently you dont have as much an impact as radical Islams do, seeing how its okay to show jesus crapping all over the U.S. flag but its not okay to show the muslim prophet mohammed drinking ice tea? But once again this was a point everyone failed to see and in the end nothing happened and everything was censored. People probably just laughed because it was jesus pooping on a flag.
I kind of got carried away with this post but I had to get this out there. Smokey, even if the show goes back to just making you laugh, stop watching it because you really are missing the point.
Also anyone noticed that my name is Roy? haha Will he be making a return? Did he ever get down from that tree? Glock! Glock! No more stepdad! Thanks for watching kids, see you next time eatin da puddin!
14 - Jerome Wetzel
Roy - Well said. South Park is often brilliant satire, and that is my favorite part of the series.
15 - =/
"I just want to watch it for 30 minutes and turn off the TV with a smile on my face. This episode didn't do that."
^QFT
16 - Aaron
This season has been very disappointing. Last season was terrible. The show has been going downhill for a number of years. And the reality is that Matt and Trey are probably only concerned with their musical anymore. SouthPark is just a paycheck. Its sad really.
I think this is M&T signalling the end of the show, forever. Whether it be this season or next. but honestly I'll be glad to see it end on their own terms than to progressively get more and more lackluster.
17 - Monika
I don't know why, but this episode just looked like a bunch of crap to me.
18 - Tip
Does anyone get it? This could be or could not be a plot changer but if you didn't see, south park has been doing the same "Shit" for 15 seasons now. There have been many episodes where the kids go through phases and Randy tries join in. Just like they said in the episode, we see something one day and next week it all gets reset and we see the same shit over again
19 - Roy
Once again, the show isn't going downhill, this season is good! It's been pretty much the same formula for awhile now, the ideas are the same brilliance as the ones everyone raved about in the past. But how many times can you make a point? Before certain people just get tired of hearing it. Derek said it best, nobody wants to face the truth or negativity, everything gets old and everything dies. Ghandi said that "whatever you do in life will be insignificant. But it's very important that you do it." I dont think south park is just a paycheck as they have promoted before that they dont care if anyone pirates their material, all the episodes are available for anyones viewing on south park studios at anytime! Maybe they are tired of the process and the stress of having to put an episode together two days before they air, but I dont think its just a "job" to them. The real point is by using Randy and Sharon as vehicles for how everyone feels inside but just are afraid to admit the truth which is that I'm growing tired of you, or this way of life, of this show, your job, your friends, the place you live etc. etc. People just get comfortable doing one thing and block out the voices that tell them things could be different, things could be better. I myself sometimes do what I want but most of the time I do what I have to.
If Matt and Trey want to keep this up, they have to change the show. It cant just reset, nobody likes change, nobody liked it when Bob Dylan went electric but he forged on with it anyways.
20 - sad but true... south park is saying goodbye
i thought the message was pretty clear: parker and stone (or at least one of them) think the show is "getting old" and becoming kind of crappy. they tried to pretended for a while that everything was as great as ever, but they can't ignore that their show has run its course (at least in their minds) and that to force it to continue would result in it becoming a crappy disgrace to its past.
there are dozens of quotes that allude to this sentiment, and the characters of stan and kyle have often been used as proxies for trey and matt. the whole divorce thing and splitting of kyle and stan makes me think parker and stone have perhaps grown apart in a creative sense. at the very least, they've grown apart from the expectations of the fans (who i think randy is meant to vaguely portray in this episode).
in all honesty, the show really has become sort of hit-or-miss in my mind, and the hits are becoming fewer and less spectacular. i thought the previous episode was one of the best in a while, because it used less topical and scat humor and went with more of a character-driven plot (and who doesn't love the city wok guy?). comparatively, most of season 15 has been just spoofing current pop culture and obscenity for obscenity's sake. those things get old quickly, and i'm guessing trey and matt are well aware of that fact but simply are running out of fresh ideas for the characters.
if this is the case, i say good for them for acknowledging that they are getting tired of trying to force new ideas into an old show and are ready to move on to other projects (like "the book of mormon"). south park was never going to last forever, and it's already had a pretty long run (especially if you consider how it all started with just a couple animated shorts in college).
i'd be willing to bet money that either this will be the last season or they will finish whatever contractual obligations they have for production and quit it after that.
21 - Ryan
You hit it right on the head Roy.
Matt and Trey could be the most brilliant artists of our generation. I remember sneaking out of my room to go to the basement and watch South Park as a kid, I was about 8 or 9. I turned it on just to laugh at the lewd humor. But as I got older and became more aware of the things in the world around me, I noticed that South Park was providing brilliant satire to the younger generation.
They expose things for exactly what they are. The episode I always think of in this regard is the "Canada goes on strike" episode. Clearly at the time the big news story was the writers strike. Matt and Trey saw it for what it was, and shoved it in the writers faces. They said that if a group of writers wanted to be compensated for extra revenue brought to their employers by way of online media, then so should all of the youtube celebrities. Absolutely brilliant.
Them choosing to use Randy, Sharon, and Stan to deliver a message to their audience was brilliant as well. I have said over and over again that Stan is the only "normal" kid in the show. That being said, I think it is Stan that most of the viewers relate to. Them saying that Stan sees everything as shit is akin to saying that their viewers see everything as shit. For the first time, Matt and Trey struck back at their audience. They say that their viewers are cynical assholes who can't just be happy.
The episode ends in a montage seeing Randy and Sharon divorce and Stan looking very unfulfilled living with his mom, seeing everything in life as shit. They have used Randy as a voice for themselves, Sharon as a voice of critics, and Stan as a voice of the audience. Randy said in the episode "I just want happy", Sharon replied "People grow apart, it is part of life" and Stan was forced to sit through it, growing ever more cynical as the days went on.
One last remark. I think it is noteworthy that the episode ended in a montage without Stan or Kyle standing up and making a speech with some sort of moral lesson to it. The montage ended and the credits rolled without the music that normally airs with the credits. This is a metaphor aimed towards audience. Being a cynical asshole has no moral upside, and it ends in peoples lives being forever changed. This in itself is the moral to be learned from the episode and it rang loud and clear.
I hope they keep up with this and move forward with a somewhat heavier story line. Not too heavy, but something along the lines of Furturama.
22 - Citizen D
It's the people like the one's on here complaining about their favorite stupidity laden show catching a plot that ruined and even got Moral Orel cancelled, people don't like to think anymore. Maybe Matt and Trey feel like it's getting a little stale and they would like to move on to something bigger?
23 - Jambilol
Am I the only one who thinks this season has been pretty much the best and that this episode was fucking hilarious?
24 - adsafdaf
I agree jambilol, i laughed more in this episode then the others. The whole LA noire and adam sandler thing killed me. THen again im kinda a cynic.
25 - Derek Jones
Roy too is really on to something. People get too comfortable with mainstream media showing them how to live, and its even been that way many times in american culture's past. No, but it IS americsn culture. Thats what SP has been about most of the time, at least in the these very late seasons--> american culture and how it's citizens are bound literally to whats on television or whats "in". america has proved to most definitely excel at one thing nobody can do better, ENTERTAINMENT. and so the general public remains influenced strongly by all kinds of latest technology, movies, games, television, radio, news. ad marketing, internet, and sports