Warning: this review contains full spoilers for “South ParQ: The Vaccination Special.” If you need a refresher on where we left off with the series, check out our review of 2020’s “The Pandemic Special.”
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2020 was a relative ghost town in terms of new entertainment, and that includes South Park. The series all but took the year off, with the hourlong “The Pandemic Special” taking the place of a full-length season. One has to imagine the show’s absence has been less a matter of resources than simply the desire to attempt to satirize a year that already felt like a constant parody. Truth truly is stranger than fiction, and that’s never been more the case than right now. Thankfully, South Park is back for another standalone special, and this time the results are much more satisfying.
It seems the South Park crew have set about bookending the pandemic. If the previous special was all about exploring the crushing stress of COVID life and the way the Randy Marshes of the world try to profit from it, this followup is more about our collective, burning need to restore normalcy. What makes this special click in a way its predecessor didn’t, however, is that it ties in that social commentary very neatly with one of the longest running complaints surrounding South Park in the first place. When is the series going to get back to focusing on the kids? Why does Randy have to hog the spotlight every week?
Randy, thankfully, is all but completely MIA this time around, leaving room for an episode very firmly centered on Stan, Kyle and Cartman. And in many ways, this is a very classical, old-school South Park plot. Cartman hatches a scheme, it goes wildly out of hand and Stan and Kyle are dragged into his mess. Between that, cameos galore from old supporting characters and the return of a certain controversial ex-president, this special really does feel like a throwback to the heyday of the series.
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That’s all fine and well, but this return to a simpler era of South Park wouldn’t have worked if there weren’t a deeper purpose behind it. And that’s where “The Vaccination Special” really clicks. The main theme here is that, for as much as we all want things to go back to “normal,” that’s neither realistic nor even really very healthy. There’s no regaining that lost time from 2020, and there may be no repairing the relationships that were damaged as a result. In terms of both tone an plot, this special shares a lot in common with Season 15’s “You’re Getting Old.” This time, Stan isn’t the only one dealing with existential malaise and wondering how much longer he can put up with the same old routine.
That’s played for laughs at times with all the scenes of the three ex-friends trying to iron out a custody agreement for Kenny. But that aside, there’s a real sense of melancholy beneath all the wacky antics in “The Vaccination Special.” Much like in “You’re Getting Old,” there’s the sense creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are working through some of their own issues with the series and thinking aloud whether it’s time to move on. Not that we should necessarily assume this special will turn out to be an unpublicized series finale (the series has been renewed through 2022), but no doubt there’s a real creative drain that comes from working on any project for 25 years straight. South Park doesn’t always thrive when the humor turns meta and self-referential, but in this case it works and gives the story a more honest and personal quality.
Then there’s what is easily the best thing about this faux-return to normalcy. Mr. Garrison is back. As entertaining as Garrison was during that phase where he became the show’s stand-in for Donald Trump, that also forced him into the periphery for years. It feels good having Garrison back in South Park and getting up to his old shenanigans. It’s hilarious to see Garrison’s character arc bring him full circle for the second time in the series’ run. He’s back to teaching. He’s reunited with Mr. Hat. He even has a replacement for Mr. Slave in the form of poor, pants-less Mr. Service. The only thing that’s changed is everyone in town now really, really hates him.
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As the title of this special makes clear, this episode is also geared toward lampooning the QAnon movement and how their bizarre conspiracy theories play into the current vaccination “debate.” This episode doesn’t necessarily go as hard into poking fun at QAnon as you might expect. In fact, actual QAnon members seem pretty psyched about the added level of exposure the series is giving them. But at some point, it’s hard to top the absurdity of real life when you’re talking about a vast conspiracy theory involving a cartel of blood-guzzling, child-trafficking liberal elites. Rather than attempt to concoct something even more ridiculous, this episode wisely focuses its attention on the absurdity of Garrison as QAnon’s “Chosen One” and the big payoff that is the QTies battling the Kommunity Kids. And, this being South Park, there’s a fun, added wrinkle thanks to the reveal that the QAnon conspiracy is actually true and Parker and Stone themselves are the all-powerful elites lording over the citizens of South Park.
In short, “The Vaccination Special” is a much more well-rounded and consistent episode than “The Pandemic Special.” At this point it’s anyone’s guess as to whether the series will continue to return via these standalone specials rather than traditional seasons. But either way, there’s a lot to build on now as life begins to return to normal but Stan, Kyle and Cartman deal with the collapse of their broship. Let’s hope the series continues to follow its own continuity enough to actually venture down that road.
