No, This Week’s ‘South Park’ Wasn’t Really the Season Finale

This week’s South Park sure felt like a season ender. South Park called Rudy Giuliani a treacherous pig, Mr. Garrison made a cameo as the show’s Trump replacement, there were countless jokes made about the White family, and Randy almost went to prison. But don’t let South Park fool you. “Season Finale” isn’t the final episode of Season 23.

The show certainly committed to the joke hiding in this week’s episode title on every level. The first episode of this season primarily revolved around the fear of a “Mexican Joker.” Basically the hypothetical idea pitched by a detention center-bound Kyle was that if the United States continues to horribly mistreat the children of deported immigrants, one day one of them may rise up and revolt as a sort of anti-government anarchist. You know, like The Joker. That first installment also showed Randy being a shittier father than usual, something that’s been a running theme throughout Season 23.

Well, last night’s episode saw the culmination of those two ideas. Randy, after making deals with the Chinese and blowing up his neighbors yards, was put on trial as a result of his increased selfishness. The only person who saved him from jail time was Alejandro, a young Mexican boy covered in sunscreen whose parents were deported and who was adopted by the White family. In the middle of his justified rampage against the town of South Park he was identified as the still-not-real Mexican Joker, wrapping up two major arcs for this season. So that’s it, right? Season 23 is done?

Don’t trust that tidy ending, this episode’s title, or even Randy directly telling the camera that it’s a wrap on this season. There’s still more South Park to come.

According to Comedy Central’s website, Episode 7 of Season 23 is set to premiere next Wednesday at 10/9c:

We can expect at least one more new episode of South Park. But if we were a betting site, we’d bank on there being four more parts to this season. South Park typically airs 10 new episodes a year.

So why make that season finale joke? It may be a meta-narrative joke about Randy’s storyline this season. South Park has always loved a good Randy episode, but Season 23 has spent a shocking amount of time following Stan’s dad and his adventures on Tegridy Farms. The “season” South Park is likely referring to finishing is the weed harvesting season, something they double down on when Randy mentions “Tegridy Farms Season 1.” The rest of Season 23 will likely move away from the Marsh family farm. No matter what happens, it won’t be able to compete with the disturbing image of Rudy Giuliani pulling a joint out of his ass.

New episodes of South Park premiere on Comedy Central Wednesdays at 10/9c.

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