The South Park School has come up and made it all the rage, but Falls Flat

Unlike most episodes of South Park, The premiere of Season 22 has devoted almost all of its energy to one subject: shootings in schools and our apparent ability as a society to do something about them. In some ways, this episode seems to be a sign of growth – or at least a cautious step towards seriousness. But at the same time, he never manages to find insight or catharsis, ending rather on a dark and unsatisfactory note – and to crystallize which makes the series Asset era.

The principle is simple: Throughout the episode, school shootings ravage South Park Elementary School as the world continues to spin, undisturbed. The teachers shout over the balls passing in front of their classes. students ignore the sounds of shots when they struggle to learn fractions; TO CRUSH. teams rush into the hallways. The only person who seems alarmed by this is Stan's mother, Sharon. Unfortunately, her husband Randy and the whole city attribute Sharon's distress to hysteria. they wonder if she has her period or, worse, menopause. The plot B, which seems outdated and uninteresting, is centered on Cartman's quest to prove that Token Black Panther for reasons that do not matter, considering the metal detectors that line the entrances to the school, and the fact that Butters now has a semi-automatic rifle as part of its monitoring duties. room.

The main problem with this episode was his inability to address a very serious topic on his own terms. To the credibility of the series, it was a relief to see the mockery aim not Sharon, but rather a city full of adults more uncomfortable with a woman expressing her emotions than with school shootings. But if South Park has often had ferocious institutions that others were afraid to blaze – like Scientology – this episode does not blame a person or institution for the preponderance of shootings, perhaps for reluctance to alienate potential audiences. The episode does not even address the issue of gun control – which is simply not a reflection of the country in which we live, where people on both sides are constantly engaged in clashes enthusiasts.

The problems underlying the school shootings seem too complex and dark, and maybe too South Park really attack – even though our reality often looks more like a South Park episode that nothing that Stone or Parker can write. (The conspiracy theorists claim that a shooting victim in the school is a "crisis actor?" This statement seems to be the result of Cartman's playbook, but of course it is real.)

The end of this first, however, is when he really does not care. Sharon is finally convinced that she has reacted excessively to all school shootings and has promised to mitigate it. As she gives her relieved husband the good news of her newly stoic mental state, she receives a phone call: there was another shooting in the school and Stan was shot. "Should we go down there?" Asks Randy, nervous. Sharon's answer? "It's not the end of the world." Relieved, Randy kisses his wife.

What should we do with all this? Maybe watching Cartman and Token as they went through a flurry of bullets, that they wanted to participate in their math game on time and in one piece, was pretty funny, but for the most part it was scary. And what should we learn from Sharon, and the refusal of the city to listen to it – and the fact that the episode ends with its demise? Is that what Stone and Parker would say we all do, to the detriment of our nation? It's vague. And considering the refusal of this first to point a finger a tangible culprit – despite the record presence of so many powerful personalities who actively block the action on this issue – it is difficult to put too much stock in the "money". one of his show.

Still, it's good to see that the series has the ability to focus – and even a touch of seriousness, even if it's wearing a macabre humor. Once he finds his own bravery, there could be juice in South Park again.