‘South Park’ Breakdown: ‘Black Friday’

South Park Black Friday

(SPOILERS AHEAD, so proceed with caution, South Park fans!)

Season 17, Episode Seven: “Black Friday”

Written and Directed by: Trey Parker

The first of (what I’m must be) a lengthier story arc, “Black Friday” taps into America’s bloodthirsty, coupon-clipping obsession with GETTING THE BEST DEAL. As the local mall offers a massive 80% discount to the first 30 customers through the gate, the townspeople grow increasingly obsessed — to the point of transforming into flesh-eaters. Randy, naturally the first South Park character to jump at a scheme, assumes a position as a mall cop to secure his place in line. Meanwhile, the kids channel Game of Thrones by assembling into separate tribes — one in pursuit of the new X-Box, another craving a PS4.

“Black Friday” really only showed us part of the full story, and for that reason, it felt a bit slight — leaving with a massive cliffhanger and a lot of feet-dragging in the B-plot. The episode’s central theme (commercialization and exploitation) is familiar territory for this show, but as always, Parker and company handle it gracefully.

Quick Breakdown

“The holiday season is here,” says a mall cop. “And Black Friday is upon us.” As we come to realize, 26 people were massacred during last year’s rush to savings, and this year’s 80% off special will only lead to hysteria. Randy is “just trying to earn some extra holiday cash” by working as a mall cop, but a grizzled officer nicknamed Ol’ Pap says “not to estimate the battle” that’s about to take place in the mall. “Winter is coming,” he warns.

Meanwhile, Cartman walks to Kenny’s house, dressed as a wizard. “I need to speak with Lady McCormick,” he requests

Dressed in Game of Thrones-styled costumes, the kids gather in Cartman’s basement, along with “Lady McCormick” (Kenny with a blonde wig). Cartman discusses the next-gen gaming devices on the market and also notes that, yes, “winter is upon” them. And it’s a cold, cold winter indeed: Stan decides they should band together and bumrush the mall to nab a PS4, but Cartman insists on the new X-Box. This leads to dramatic split, and two rival families are born. The Console Wars are upon us.

This story essentially drags its feet throughout the episode — a twist compared to the show’s recent pace, which has been cramming in too much story in too small of a space. The two warring parties train their warriors separately, and Stan’s measly PS4 faction struggle to recruit outside members, even enlisting a gang of kindergarteners (and attempting to court the Goth kids).

The other plotline in “Black Friday” has more momentum — and way more laughs.

“Christimas is coming,” Randy sings. He comes home and tells Sharon he took the temp job to make some extra cash. She thinks he’s trying to get in the front of the line on Black Friday — and she’s right. “Isn’t Black Friday supposed to be about buying things for other people?”, Sharon asks. But this is a lesson Randy must learn the hard way.

Meanwhile, the release of the new “Stop Touching Me, Elmo” has the town on the verge of hysteria. (“Can I watch you go potty?”, Elmo asks in a commercial, one of the episode’s stupidest — and, yes, funniest — bits. Elmo has a toothpaste dispenser that essentially makes him ejaculate toothpaste.) After learning about the new toy, Ol’ Pap feels winter seeping into his bones — warning of the bloodshed ahead.

Sir Cartman talks to Lady McCormick and says he might need to exploit “her” loveliness to help get rid of Sir Kyle. The tension is palpable. Meanwhile, Randy browses around the mall and is surprised when Ol’ Pap confronts him. He tells Randy that he reminds him of himself, that he really appreciates his dedication to the mall cop team. Randy, of course, is wrecked with guilt — he doesn’t care about his co-workers; he only wants a cheap plasma screen.

Back at the PS4 camp, Sir Stan is upset — things are looking bleak. But a ray of hope comes after the Sony CEO unveils the Brack Friday Bunduru, a PS4 bundle that includes (along with a map of Japan) a pre-order for Metal Gear Solid 5. (I hate to admit it, but the cheap Asian accent jokes always get me). With this news, Sir Kyle is dismayed, wondering why X-Box can’t have a pre-order. Is camp X-Box suffering a hit?

Back at the mall, the Black Friday mob has essentially become a zombie hoard — during a scuffle, Ol’ Pap is stabbed and dies a dramatic death. “You can’t die — everyone really likes you!”, Randy confesses, but it’s too late. “You are in charge now,” Pap says, pasting his fake eye scar on Randy’s eye. “We have work to do,” Randy says, as he motivates his team.

Rating

B+

A strong set-up episode that promises an even stronger resolution. While some of the Game of Thrones stuff fell flat for me, I still got big laughs from Butters’ wiener talk and Lady McCormick. Really excited to see how this wraps up.

Now for some random thoughts and my favorite moments of the night…

News report: One-toothed woman says they slather themselves in pig blood; a family says they lost their daughter last year when her head got stepped on and crushed; a huge fat woman says anyone who thinks they’ll get beaten can “kiss (her) fat vagina”

Butters has a Game of Thrones theory — that when a weiner is shown, the character is gay. “I could just do with a little less gay weiner, that’s all.”

When they do show a straight dude’s weiner, it’s all soft and floppy!” — Butters; “You seem to be somewhat obsessed with weiners.” — Cartman

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