South Park: Post Covid Review – The Pandemic Is Almost Over

Imagine your life 40 years from now. Maybe you hope to be watching the younger generation of your family grow up, or perhaps you hope to achieve big things in your respective fields. No matter what you end up doing, there are a few things that are almost guaranteed. It’s not just that death and taxes remain inevitable, but there’s a pretty good chance that South Park will still be airing new episodes and movies – er, specials. No, sorry, “special events.” The latest, South Park: Post Covid, is here, and our review will explain why it’s precisely what we would have expected.

South Park: Post Covid Review – Nothing Really Changes, Does It?

“So, what have you been doing during the pandemic?” It’s almost been two years, and we still hear this question often enough. For the small town of South Park, Colorado, the question has kept going on for 40 years. And while there might be an end in sight, nothing stops new variants until they run out of things to name them.

The South Park “made-for-TV movie” starts with a premise that they have been working in since the early days: Those bastards kill Kenny. This time, he’s killed as a grown man who has done far greater things than anybody would have expected from him. He is a well-respected scientist and was ready to change the world with his experiments on the origins of the coronavirus. But somebody out there is trying to stop him, and it’ll be left to his old friends to figure it all out.

Image via Paramount+.

Are We Really Post-Covid In The New Special?

We didn’t spend a whole lot of time imagining the future of our favorite characters. Even with the Pandemic Special and following Vaccination Special, any futuristic episodes of the show were so outlandish that we knew it was for the laughs. Post Covid does something new for the show and makes us question if things could go the way they have envisioned.

While some characters might insist that the future holds more mutual respect among citizens, it also paints something bleaker. The cost of so many facemasks has had an environmental impact, we have changed our ways of consuming food, and children use virtual reality to have fun on the playground. Amazon Alexa assistants take the form of real women, and everybody is working a startup. And the worst part is that none of this seems that outrageous.

Stan Marsh ends up working as an online whiskey sampler. Kyle Broflovski winds up unmarried, without children, and in an unknown job which keeps him in South Park. Eric Cartmen ends up making his infamous chili recipes for the masses. Just kidding, he ends up being an Orthodox rabbi. When the trio reunites for one last mission, we’ll get all of the things we could anticipate: More Kyle/Cartman feuds and Stan wondering if there is some deeper meaning to it all. All that is missing is Butters Stotch, but we have a feeling that he’ll show up in the inevitable Post Covid: Part 2.

Image via Paramount+.

Is The Show Still Worth Watching?

South Park might not be the same laugh-out-loud funny that it used to be in its heyday. Its boundary-pushing is no longer as quirky as it once was, especially after we realized that creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker didn’t have any limits to their mockery. But fortunately, it remains willing to be experimental and reformat its content in ways that make it feel new, even after 24 years.

A recent $900 million deal for the show’s creators has renewed it to its 30th season, which will take us to 2027. The show will be turning 30 when it’s up for another renewal. In the meantime, we’ll also be getting 14 of these special events/made-for-streaming movies on Paramount+.

South Park will need to do two things to get us to the finish line: We need to stop with the pandemic specials and stop focusing on Randy Marsh. For the former to happen, the world needs to stop giving them fuel for their Covid-inspired stories. There’s another motivation to get vaccinated, folks.

After reading our review, you can head over to Paramount+ to stream South Park: Post Covid now.

Readers, let us know if you have streamed South Park: Post Covid on Paramount+ and if you agree with our review. It might not be the feel-good Thanksgiving Special that families want to gather around for, but it still brings enough laughter.

Featured image via Paramount+.

Meghan Hale is the kind of movie lover that has a "must watch" that is a mile long... and growing. When she isn't talking about the latest film and television news she is writing one of her many in-process novels, screaming film trivia at anybody who will listen, and working as a mental health care professional. Follow her on Twitter @meghanrhale for some fun theories and live reactions to all things entertainment.