Review: South Park “Put it Down”

If you put it down right like the way I want it

Overview (Spoilers Below)

After one its most politically-charged episodes in “White People Renovating Houses,” South Park season 21 continues with another relevant episode. “Put it Down” wastes no time diving straight in. It opens with Tweek performing a song expressing his feelings about the political climate with North Korea. “Ahhhh Ahhhh Wahhhh, we’re all gonna die, they have nuclear missiles, why are you just sitting there doing nothing.” Tweek implores his fellow students to do something. Moreover, Tweek states that the President is making things worse.

Throughout the episode, the President keeps tweeting that North Korea doesn’t have the balls to nuke the United States. Tweek’s boyfriend, Craig, attempts to calm him down by suggesting various ways Tweek can attempt to better the situation. Among his recommendations: write a letter to his congressman, write a letter to North Korea, or bake something to send to N. Korea. Tweeks opts for the latter. Much to his surprise, North Korea loves the cupcakes. Unfortunately, the President tweets “I know that kid Tweek, he’s fucking with you, North Korea. Get a clue. I’ll bet he took a dump in the batter.”

Meanwhile, Eric Cartman launches a suicide-awareness campaign, but only for awareness of his own suicidal thoughts. Plus, there’s a texting and driving plot thread.

Our Take

Twenty-one seasons in and South Park is at its finest. I enjoy the topically relevant political commentary which fuses oddly though seamlessly with the goofy humor inherent to South Park. Plus, it’s refreshing to reunite with Tweek. In recent years, he fell by the wayside. Interestingly, there’s not much from the previous episode that carries over aside from Cartman’s rocky relationship with Heidi.  In “Put it Down,” there are a few subplots which follow the residents of South Park.

Overall, the balance of current events-focused storylines and character development. Notably, I enjoy the concentration on secondary and even tertiary characters. With its wide cast of characters, it’s fun to see the likes of Tweek and Craig getting increased screen time. Hopefully, the remainder of the season maintains such a solid mix of relevant political commentary and character-driven stories.