Review: South Park ‘Black Friday’

Spoilers Below

Yes, I watched last night’s South Park. No, I do not watch Game of Thrones. Yes, I realize that means I probably missed a bunch of jokes. I also understand my rating will be tainted because of this. But look, folks, I’m just not a fan of fantasy – in movies or TV. I don’t like Lord of the Rings or Avatar either. It’s all just make believe silliness, and I simply don’t have time for that in my life. Now, onward with my cartoon review.

Last night’s episode was about the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. Randy, Stan’s dad and my favorite character, decided to become a mall security guard “for some extra cash,” but was really planning an elaborate ruse to get to the front of the line when the stores opened. Most of the town was trying to do the same in some way, as the first 30 people in the mall received 80% off everything.

This also included the kids of South Park, who were desperately looking for an affordable way to buy a new Xbox One or Playstation 4. Unfortunately, they couldn’t come to a consensus, and two separate factions were formed. The episode closed as the two sides prepared for battle.

Although I don’t watch Game of Thrones, I don’t live under a rock, and thus I get the allusions to the infamous “Red Wedding” episode. Other than that, I liked Butters’ commentary on the series, and the conclusion he drew that “gay [or soft] wieners are less threatening to female viewers.”

On the topic of male genitalia, I also enjoyed Cartman telling the Star Trek kids: “big dong & prosper.”

Regardless of my lack of Game of Thrones knowledge (and the fact that the only video game systems I own are a Wii and a Sega Genesis) I still found lots of humor in the Black Friday jokes, especially the show’s depiction of the day’s biggest shoppers as brain-dead rednecks.

The spoof of the yearly popular toy was great too. Although seeing “Stop Touching Me Elmo” crème fraîche-ing on a kid’s hand was a bit disturbing.

Alright, so overall the episode was entertaining and worthy of some laughs, but I’m sure it would’ve been funnier if I got more of the jokes. I tried to keep that in mind with my score.