Last Night's Episode Of South Park About Gentrification, "The City Part Of Town" Was So, So Good

Obviously spoilers ahead

Let’s start with the basics: If you don’t watch South Park, you’re missing out. It’s now in it’s 19th season and as good as it’s ever been. I didn’t know if they would be able to top last season, and through 3 episodes of this season, they are well on the way. Last night’s episode was about the gentrification of South Park, brought on because Jimmy Fallon, who is known for loving EVERYTHING, was making fun of South Park on his Tonight Show monologue. (If you’re one of our dumber readers, gentrification is basically when cities drive out the poorer people by building up the neighborhoods and pricing them out).

So the town comes up with the idea to establish themselves by doing what else but trying to get a Whole Foods. Thus they launch SodoSopa, South of Downtown South Park. I’ll say this right now- if I was in college, I wouldn’t have liked this episode as much as I do. I wouldn’t have understood it because I hadn’t seen anything or been anywhere. One day I’ll blog about the shitty fucking neighborhood I lived in in New York. Garbage on the streets, homeless people everywhere, fucking disgusting place to live.

SodoSopa is making fun of every single major city out there who builds up neighborhoods and gives them those shitty nicknames/abbreviations. People from everywhere are like “woah wait, that’s my city!”. It’s every city in America. And South Park did it perfectly, complete with the commercials that promote the douchey places around town where you can pay for 13 dollar cocktails.

And while it’s all being built, they perfectly kept Kenny’s house right in the middle of it. They wanted to show while they build up all these fancy condos like “The Loft” and “The Residences at The Lofts at SodoSopa” and bars where only men in manbuns go “Bi the garage”, the poor people just sit right in the middle of it because it’s cultural and hip and historic.

In the subplot, Kenny, not wanting to be poor, goes to City Wok to get a job. Unfortunately for City Wok, nobody goes there anymore because it’s in the shitty part of town. Everyone goes to SodoSopa.

But since Kenny is a good worker, he still gets paid his child labor wage. And in one of the more touching moments on South Park ever, this is what he bought with his money:

Did not expect to feel feelings while watching South Park last night, very unexpected.

Meanwhile the people of South Park are still working to get their Whole Foods, trying to impress the Whole Foods guy to show their city is snooty enough and eats enough gluten free fusion food to get one. The kids even gather and sing He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands.

The black kid sits next to the 2 handicapped kids, “and Craig who is a homosexual”

And they introduce “The Villas At Kenny’s House” which was perfect. Just build up everything possible around Kenny’s house

When City Wok tries to revitalize the shitty part of town

Randy and co go over to stop it, because they are scared they won’t get their Whole Foods. But of course they end up getting it, because “I’ve never seen a town put so much energy into displaying an exaggerated sense of social consciousness” which summarizes exactly what every single city in the United States does.

So they get their Whole Foods

But they put it right next to the City Wok. The end scene shows everyone in South Park being their PC selves, happy at Whole Foods. And SodoSopa, well, abandoned, as everyone now goes to CtPaTown.

All in all, a really, really good episode. I’ve read a couple reviews online where people are saying it didn’t make them laugh out loud as much as they wanted. I don’t..I don’t know what people want from this show. This episode had literally everything you want from a South Park episode. And people who are mad about the theme of this season with the whole PC thing, that’s the entire point. The Kenny/City Wok subplot could have been better, but it showed what gentrification does to businesses, it allowed us to get that scene with Kenny and his sister, and it set up the Whole Foods being built. I thought this was one of the better episodes they’ve ever done. Like last season, the story keeps building on itself, making it even that more enjoyable. A+ episode.