South Park 23.01 Review – ‘Mexican Joker’

South Park is back for its 23rd season, picking up where the 22nd season left off.

Randy is back at Tegridy Farms, still selling weed, which is totally his original idea. Having just binged watch Breaking Bad (I watched the original run before you all crucify me in the comments), Randy gave me some Heisenberg vibes. Tegridy weed is the only weed you should be purchasing. Don’t bother trying to grow your own stuff, Jesse or Todd. I question the majority of South Park citizens coming to the conclusion that they can grow their own weed. South Park is inherently stupid and they’ve been smoking up a lot of Tegridy over the last year. But the best ideas come when you’re high, so I’ve heard, so getting high and deciding that you’re better off growing your own weed rather than supporting a big business makes some sense.

Randy and Tegridy Farms honestly doesn’t do much for me. Randy is arguably the best character in South Park history but Matt & Trey feel like they’re trying to get too cute with him. The breaking of the fourth wall with the “I hate South Park” line, and Towlie’s reaction, had some shock value as sometimes it does feel like Matt & Trey don’t like doing the show anymore. But if that’s the case, don’t sign on for another three seasons.

I’m on Team Cartman, where I just want South Park to be South Park. Everyone together, causing chaos and hilarity.

Which is what we got in the primary plot as South Park tackled ICE and the separating of children from their parents. South Park didn’t make a big statement by pointing out that it’s screwed up that this is allowed to happen or by comparing it to Concentration Camps. It’s something we’ve all heard or read about for months now. But their take on it did give me some laughs, which is still ultimately the goal of the show. I think. Cartman’s realization that the detention centers are like Concentration Camps and that maybe it was in poor taste to call the cops on a Jew to put him in a detention center was funny. It reminded me of Cartman’s “maybe he should go to concentration camp” joke when Kyle’s second cousin visited.

Kyle being in the center allowed him to riff on the Joker controversy as a new way to show why family separation is so messed up. I won’t get into that debate. You’re either on the side of believing the Joker movie is just a movie or you think it glorifies and humanizes getting bullied into being a terrorist. Kyle prayed on the latter fear as a way to get out of the detention center by introducing Mexican Joker to the world.

Who is Mexican Joker? It’s anyone. It’s everyone. It doesn’t have to be someone in the detention center. Randy, or whomever blew up backyards in South Park, was identified as Mexican Joker. It was a person who felt threatened by others stepping onto their territory. It’s a story we’ve seen in movies and television for years. Only now it feels bigger because, as South Park said, our country is broken.

5.5

The final score: review Not So Good

The 411

Serialization is still partly alive in South Park, which is disappointing. I just want everyone back together again, is that too much to ask? No Kenny or Butters in this episode. Stan was barely there. Cartman & Kyle together is always good but the show has been centered around Randy too much recently and he's off doing his own thing. The show is still good for some laughs and satire, but it used to be so much more.