I haven't hated this season of 'South Park' though I do think it has been in need of some sort of direction. I was encouraged by the press leading up to the premiere that Trey and Matt wanted to revisit stories dealing with the boys being boys. 'Franchise Prequel' is probably the closest we've come to that and this is where the episode's strength lies. The problem is that we still get the political/current events commentary that is for the most part wrapped up in metaphor padding it from becoming another Trump show in a string of Trump shows. It's just an inevitability now.
I too miss the episodes like 'Awesom-o' 'Lil Crime Stoppers' ,and 'Simpsons Already Did it' that dealt with the boys having bizarre outlandish things happen to them while they are seemingly playing kid games. The best moments of 'Franchise Prequel' are in that vein. If the game deals with that playtime to the extreme then it will be a hilarious treat. The hardest I laughed was when Butters uses a Circuit City as his evil base, a perfect example of that juxtaposition between kid's clubhouse in reality and villain headquarters in the superhero game.
The problem with the episode is that yet again Trump's shadow looms large over it. The Facebook/Russia story is so linked to the election that it is an odd fit as a metaphor although I think Trey and Matt did their absolute best and the childishness of Butter's misinformation taunts is pretty funny. The life and death stakes of importance that people put into that election and Trump just doesn't work when compared to the boys playing superheroes. I think they needed to expand it more and have made the heroes mean more to the community but then you'd have another epic on your hands like the last Coon trilogy. It's just a miss for me.
I too miss the episodes like 'Awesom-o' 'Lil Crime Stoppers' ,and 'Simpsons Already Did it' that dealt with the boys having bizarre outlandish things happen to them while they are seemingly playing kid games. The best moments of 'Franchise Prequel' are in that vein. If the game deals with that playtime to the extreme then it will be a hilarious treat. The hardest I laughed was when Butters uses a Circuit City as his evil base, a perfect example of that juxtaposition between kid's clubhouse in reality and villain headquarters in the superhero game.
The problem with the episode is that yet again Trump's shadow looms large over it. The Facebook/Russia story is so linked to the election that it is an odd fit as a metaphor although I think Trey and Matt did their absolute best and the childishness of Butter's misinformation taunts is pretty funny. The life and death stakes of importance that people put into that election and Trump just doesn't work when compared to the boys playing superheroes. I think they needed to expand it more and have made the heroes mean more to the community but then you'd have another epic on your hands like the last Coon trilogy. It's just a miss for me.