![]() Nowhere was the nostalgia theme better explored than with the Member Berries. Whether it was Garrison's rise to power, the brewing civil war between boys and girls at South Park Elementary or the rash of online trolling, this season's conflicts all arose out of a misguided desire to cling to the past and the old ways of doing business. That really permeated every branching storyline. If political correctness was the central focus on Season 19, Season 20 was all about the dangers of nostalgia. And it helped that the general theme of Season 20 is so universal. If not entirely seamless, that transition was nonetheless impressive. The show's rapid production schedule allowed Parker and Stone to pivot and rework the final few episodes. But South park is nothing if not adaptable. A subplot involving Bill Clinton and Bill Cosby forming a First Gentlemen's Club was dropped almost as soon as it appeared. It's obvious from watching "Oh, Jeez.", the first post-election episode, that some last-minute edits had to be made to account for this real-life "twist" ending. And then the season was forced to make a hard 180 once the election unfolded and Trump was crowned President-elect of the United States. The political humor was very insightful here, especially as the show focused less on criticizing Trump himself and more on the hypocrisy surrounding the idea that his lewd sexual comments would make voters nervous where his various other offensive remarks didn't. The closer he got to actually winning, the more he was terrified at the prospect of having to lead. The first half of the season focused a great deal on Garrison's political cold feet. Sure, the season got in some good digs at Clinton, including her lack of charisma and tendency to over-prepare for debates, but she became less and less a focus over time. Turd Sandwich" revival, though in any case, it more or less faded away after a few episodes as it became clear that Parker and Stone were much more interested in lampooning Trump than his rival. You have to wonder if Parker and Stone have any regrets over the "Giant Douche vs. It's interesting to re-examine how the season handled Garrison/Trump in light of the - to put it politely - unexpected outcome of the election. Turd Sandwich" gag that so aptly summed up the 2004 Presidential election. ![]() This season also revived the "Giant Douche vs. If it wasn't obvious then that Garrison was being positioned as a stand-in for Donald Trump, it certainly was once he started sporting an orange spray tan and screaming at Hillary Clinton every week. Garrison quitting his teaching job to run for office on a fiercely anti-immigration platform. Season 19 basically set the stage for a proper election parody already, with Mr. Unsurprisingly, the impending US Presidential election was a major focus this year. It's no coincidence that Season 19's best episode was "Tweek x Craig," the one that best worked as a standalone adventure in addition to furthering the overarching narrative. That certainly wasn't a deal-breaker, but it would have been nice to have at east one or two episodes that deviated from the formula. The episodes tended to blur together after a while because there were so few distinguishing elements. Each week focused on the same themes and, for the most part, the same subject matter. On the other hand, that approach didn't allow for a great deal of variety. Garrison prepares for a tough road ahead. The emphasis on continuity also allowed Parker and Stone to continuously build on ideas and gags, pushing the show in progressively trainer and more surreal directions over the course of these ten episodes. South Park has been on the air for two decades now, and creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have to keep taking risks lest the show go down the same route as The Simpsons or Family Guy. The sheer novelty of watching a season where each episode led directly into the next can't be ignored. Naturally, this approach had its benefits and drawbacks. It was as if earlier three-part epics like "Imaginationland" or "The Black Friday Trilogy" were stretched into 10 episodes. These episodes didn't just reference one another they combined to form one giant saga. With Season 20, South became more continuity-driven than ever. Then Season 19 came along, offering a loosely connected, season-long narrative involving political correctness and the town's efforts to become a more progressive place worthy of Whole Foods. It started small, with characters suddenly referencing the events of the previous week's episode. South Park has shown a gradual shift towards more continuity-driven storytelling in recent years.
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