Review: South Park ‘Freemium Isn’t Free’

 

Spoilers Below:

We’re now officially in the second half of South Park’s 18th season, and the show has decided to take on another foe (or several) in their quest for never-ending social and/or political commentary. Will this one be as poignant and necessary as previous episodes have been? Who cares? Just shut up and let the cartoons teach you – and all of us – something.

In “Freemium Isn’t Free,” a free Terrance and Phillip Mobile game swept the nation (and Canada) and Stan ended up getting hooked. However, the game never really ends up being free, as players usually “micropay,” which is essentially tricking people into using real money to buy fake money to make it not seem like they’re spending anything at all. Stan blew $489 initially, and then $26,000.

The gang realized that Jimmy was the one who pushed the game on everyone, in a pseudo-drug-dealer kind of way. Jimmy, in his confession, pointed out that “freemium” games are like drugs, in that they entice users with a free taste, end up charging them money (targeting the heavy users) and gradually get them to pay more and more. When the user is away for a while, the source send “triggers” to bring them back.

Meanwhile, Terrance and Phillip themselves were initially against the idea, but were persuaded to accept it, because money. It is later revealed that Canadian Satan is behind the game, and Satan (after giving Stan an informative pep-talk) confronted him about it. The Canadian government responded by deciding to stop making freemium games.

In Case You Missed It:

1) The Terrance and Phillip game is called “Give us your money!”

2) The “mium” in “Freemium” is Latin for “not really.” And by the way, according to Wikipedia: “Freemium is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for proprietary features, functionality, or virtual goods.”

3) Randy said he makes a good amount of money “with his music.” The continuity continues.

4) “Soon Canada will be as advanced and developed as Michigan!”

5) If you want the text of the alcohol commercial, it was: “You, friends, fun, drink, hot girls, you’re hot, drink more, expensive cars, ass, drink, ass, money, you in a tuxedo, threesome, vodka, pussy, drink, drink, drink, you, drink, Vegas, fun, pussy, you in a tuxedo fucking this girl, vodka, drink, drink, drink it all you fucking pussy, more tuxedos, more cars, more pussy, more vodka, drink, drink, drink…Please drink responsibly.”

6) I thought you could still only use the word “pussy” as an alternative to “wuss.”

7) Smorgashwine: Basically a car/jager-bomb, except gluten-free German beer gets dropped into a large glass of wine.

8) Satan’s speech was an incredibly apt explanation of the psychology behind addiction.

9) Leave it to South Park to reference something like the Skinner box.

10) Canadian Satan’s name is “Beelzeboot.”

11) Stan’s entrance when returning from Hell was fantastic.

12) “Canada is back to being an ethical, respected, shitty tundra.”

Despite the content of this episode being totally different from last week’s, I feel exactly the same way about it. Trey and Matt did a great job expressing their opinions on a number of topics, including mobile games, gambling, alcoholism, and addiction in general. And it’s worth noting, in this particular case, that South Park is one of the only shows that can rightfully make any criticisms about mobile games, because they have a pretty decent one. If their mobile game had a level of quality on par with other shows’ shitty freemium turds, like a couple cartoons on… oh… let’s say FOX… they wouldn’t have an animated leg to stand on.

And the show takes these stands while not coming off as preachy. Which is odd, considering the characters are constantly preaching. Yet they make the stances seem so obvious – by breaking down the issue in extremely simplistic terms or illustrating it with a complicated metaphor – that it’s hard to disagree with their logic.

Also, like last week, this episode didn’t have a ton of quotable lines, but still managed to produce a lot of things to laugh at. It had some, but not as much as I would like. And yes, yet again the progression of the plot was funnier than the things said during it.

So how should we feel about getting what is essentially a clone of last week in different clothes? Pretty damn good, considering how both episodes are, and South Park in general as of late is, totally solid. If you happen to be one of those folks that are totally against whatever statement the show happens to be making, or have an easily offendable disposition, you might not like last night’s episode. Or the season. Or the show in general. Then again, you probably wouldn’t be reading this review, so that’s probably a moot point. On the other hand, if you laugh easily and like your humor to be crass, creative, and current – which everyone should – then you’ll find “Freemium Isn’t Free” to be yet another feather in South Park’s brilliantly funny cap.