South Park, which debuted on August 13, 1997, has grown and changed over the course of 25 seasons. The series’ crude humor and dramatic excesses, on the other hand, remain unbridled, and the show’s mission remains the same—to hold a funhouse mirror up to society and force the audience to feel something, whether it’s revulsion, inspiration, recognition, or simply mindless laughter. As the show celebrates its 25th anniversary, we chose 5 classic South Park episodes from 317 to represent it at its most topical.
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5 Classic South Park Episodes That Are Still Relevant Today
“Back To The Cold War” (Season 25, Episode 4)
The episode’s backdrop is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which plays on the nostalgia it evoked in those old enough to remember the Cold War. Parker and Stone channel their Gen X anxiety into Mr. Mackey, who enters a midlife crisis when he learns that Russia is once again our enemy, blasting ’80s music and looking for spies around every corner.
The episode’s theme is ultimately brought home by Mr. Mackey’s mother: the dangers of nostalgia and the fear of growing old. She reminds him that the good old days were not all that they seemed. People were frightened. People perished. The episode neatly connects everything back to Vladimir Putin himself at the end. Or, as South Park put it, “an insecure and aging madman who started a war because his dick no longer worked.”
“Kenny Dies” (Season 5, Episode 3)
If you’ve seen South Park, you’ll know that Kenny is frequently killed off. And, like Kenny, some issues resurface even after we thought they were dead and buried. While the political and scientific landscape has changed dramatically since 2001, the debate over stem cell research (the subject of this episode) has resurfaced due to the recent Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, creating a legal quagmire that extends beyond the procedure itself.
Another timely point worth mentioning is the episode’s biting commentary on the dangers of opportunistic politicians messing with science they don’t understand for political gain. If only we’d known what we know now.
“The Big Fix” (Season 25, Episode 2)
South Park has frequently taken on racism throughout its run, most notably dropping the n-word 42 times in one episode to make a point about cancel culture and performative redemption before those words were part of the cultural conversation. In this episode, Randy Marsh is labeled “[n-word] guy” after incorrectly guessing it as the answer to a Wheel of Fortune puzzle. The point was that white people like Randy may not consider themselves racist, but they are blind to the harm slurs cause until they are the ones being targeted.
Randy may never acknowledge his racist blind spots, but Parker and Stone appear to be aware of their own. In this episode, they also retcon the name of the only Black kid on the show, who was previously known as Token Black. It is revealed that his given name is Tolkien, after his father’s favorite author, J.R.R. Tolkien. Due to unconscious biases, Stan and, by extension, the audience have allegedly been hearing it as “Token” all along. It’s a pretty good meta joke that forces us to examine our biases in real life, as Stan’s doctor instructs us to do at the end of the episode. “If you or someone you know thought the name Token didn’t come from J.R.R. Tolkien, then please call 1-800-I AM A GIANT PIECE OF SHIT,” he says to the audience.
“The Pandemic Special” (Season 24, Episode 1)
When Randy has the idea to release a Tegridy Farms “pandemic special” strain of weed, the writers address the risks of making fun of Covid-19 in their typical meta way. Sharon points out that profiting from something that is killing people may not be a good idea. Randy, on the other hand, can’t help but be Randy, so he keeps going. At least until he learns from the news that he may have started the outbreak while on a hedonistic trip to China. The episode also pokes fun at distance education, anti-masking, police shootings, and President Trump’s bungled response to the country’s worst health crisis in decades.
“Unfulfilled” (Season 22, Episode 9)
The opening of a new Amazon Fulfillment Center in South Park brings nothing but misery to the town and highlights the company’s most egregious practices. This results in a worker’s strike, which has such an impact that Jeff Bezos (or the creepy South Park version of him) comes to settle it. He expresses the company’s philosophy unequivocally: the customers are everything. But in reality, he only cares about their money. It demonstrates that workers do have some power, but they can be replaced. In this case, by the mutated employees of the town’s abandoned mall. It’s horrifying and inhuman, but so is capitalism. And in case the socialist message was too subtle, the show literally has one worker (who was previously mangled by an automated robot) quote Karl Marx directly.
