South Park: Joining the Panderverse

8/10

In this new South Park special on Paramount+, the South Park boys face the threat of their universe merging into one where are all the cast are multicultural women. 

This may be one of the show's cleverest satires in the last few years.  It pokes fun at both Disney movie pandering and those who get upset at anything the slightest bit "woke" at the same time and how a lot of franchises are taking advantage of the multiverse craze. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, much how they expressed their dislike of Family Guy and its reliance on cut-away jokes, deliver some probably honestly held beliefs of theirs about the overextension of multiverses through the South Park boys' dialogue. I appreciate that they are nuanced and not 100% one-sided when addressing the topics.

The writers were clearly having fun with the "woke" South Park universe idea. It's particularly funny seeing all the kids being played by adults who speak the exact same way the kids would. Stuntwoman Janeshia Adams-Ginyard, who also plays one of the Dora Milaje in the Black Panther movies, voices Diverse Cartman. Her delivery of Cartman's lines is pretty funny. She's not mimicking his unique cranky voice, but she gets all the nuance of his selfishness down flat. Kenny's muffled voice usually hides the fact that his dialogue is the dirtiest of the main quartet. Diverse Kenny (Diana Lauren Jones) has no coat covering her mouth, and seeing a woman sincerely delivering all of Kenny's dirty, hormonal boy dialogue makes for a fun time. Montana Jacobowitz completely nails Butters' gullibility and anxiety. Cartman (Parker) is sorta the main lead and again one of the funniest aspects of the show. He's best when he's his most paranoid and obsessive. Cartman's crazed, racist over-the-top fears of being replaced by diverse women are pretty entertaining as we see how increasingly desperate he gets.

The only downside to this is that the show really should've dipped its toe into the whole multiverse thing a lot more, and it felt like a lot of jokes and potential was left on the table. Thing is there's a B-plot. (It's not really mentioned in the promotional material, so I won't spoil the surprise of what it's about.) The satire of it is sound but just isn't as funny as the a-plot. It could've been its own half-hour episode. Plus, it stars Stan's dad Randy (Trey Parker), who I feel is really overexposed recently.

Recommended. Another prime example of the show's satire and both-sides, Libertarian-esque humor.