User Reviews

More overtly political then some of their past satires maybe but still typical Matt and Trey and I found the commentary to be funny and surprisingly fresh with it being done with the whole supervillain origin story critique on ICE.

The randy plot with tegridy farms is getting a bit stale for me already and it seemed quite out of character for randy to actually blow up houses and murder people, he's an incompetent idiot sure but he's not a sociopath like cartman, I hope they end the tegridy farms arc very quickly because I am not a fan, but I don't think they will.

The other plot with Kyle I found to be quite entertaining. A maybe obvious critique of ICE on most aspects but done very well with the final Jewish conversion underlying some funny themes and showing how if they are Jewish the immigrants would have to be let go due to past connections with the holocaust.

All in all a rather mediocre episode, this season all seems to be heading towards a long arc with randy and his tegridy farms thing, hopefully this will conclude next week in a two parter and won't bring South Park back to fully serialized format where they just don't do to well.

So this episode features a new intro where Randy is talking about Tegridy Farms. We can get used to it! Randy finds out other people are growing weed and he's losing profits. He gives an anonymous tip to get rid of Mexican workers. Cartman, upon finding out that anyone can do that, gives a tip that Kyle is an illegal alien. He gets detained, but later Stan does the same to Cartman who shows up in the same detainment camp.

The actual title doesn't appear until halfway through the episode. It has Kyle making up a Mexican Joker to scare the police into letting the Mexican kids go. It's easily the funniest part of the episode, especially with how they talk about flashbacks. They use a Princess Star. Was that a "Star Vs. The Forces Of Evil" joke? Eh, probably not. ***1/2

I thought season 22 was an overly good season and definitely the best the show has done in a few years. This season premiere seems promising for another season just as good with some flaws.

In this premiere, the synopsis is that Randy, still owning Tegridy Farms realizes that the residents of the town are growing their own weed. Meanwhile, Kyle and Cartman get send to an ICE detention center.

The new theme song at the beginning is very clever and I hope they use it more often this season. The main plot with Randy releasing that people are growing their weed felt really stale and hopefully, they will discontinue the plots with Tegridy Farms in future episodes. However, they will most likely not and It will probably start follow the same structure as Cartman and Heidi's abusive relationship in seasons 20 and 21. I also was not a fan of how Randy blew up all of the personal weed farms. I know Randy has done some pretty insane things over the years, but committing mass murder just felt so out of character for him. What I did like were the two references comparing Stan's speech to Greta Thunberg's "How can they sit there and look a child in the face and say it's fine for people to grow there own weed?" and Towelie referencing how Matt and Trey wanted to cancel the show many times but ended up continuing it.

The B plot where Kyle and Cartman got sent to detention centers was much more interesting and there was nothing that I necessarily hate about it. I especially liked the Joker references and how easily convinced the guards where that Mexican Joker was real. I can't wait to see what happens next to Kyle and Cartman, who are still in the detention center, in the next episode.

One thing I didn't like about the episode overall, was that Kenny got literally no screentime. I liked when he got an episode last year in which he played a main role. I really hope he appears in future epsidoes more often.

Overall, "Mexican Joker" is an alright South Park episode with some funny humour but can still be made better. I am looking forward to see what Matt and Trey have next in-store.

Watching this episode made me wonder if Trey Parker and Matt Stone really do want to cancel the show. The politics of the United States is becoming so absurd that satire seems to be closer and closer to reality than hyperbole.

All that in mind, I was thoroughly entertained by this episode. It held great critiques of American immigration policy and the commercialization of the marijuana industry. Using characters with strong alignments like Randy (the chaotic neutral), Cartman (the chaotic evil), and Kyle (the lawful good), this episode keys in on these issues with great precision. I would honestly much rather hear commentary from two creative geniuses like Parker and Stone than the talking heads of network television.

The idea of the Mexican Joker is particularly captivating. Kyle forewarns of the villains created by the detainment system propagated by ICE. Satirically, the agents of this department only understand moral problems in terms of superhero movies. The agents want to be on the good side of history, but also conform to a system that suppresses those that are different than them. "Doesn't Mexican Joker understand that we're just doing our job and trying to make America great?" The irony is too rich.

Additionally, the fake persona Randy takes on to sell his newest enterprise is pure comedy. He puts on a Southern accent just to make his product seem more genuine when, in reality, he is merely "faking it until he makes it" as the saying goes these days. The irony here is that he attacks his neighbors in South Park for growing their own weed and undermining his business. He even sells out to a medical marijuana company, thus driving a wedge between him and his original stoner buddy, Towelie.

I have noticed just in this episode that the writing has to cut the chase more quickly than it has in seasons past. I suppose this Tegridy (a play on integrity, though Randy actually has virtually none) Farms piece will be a season-long arc. I sincerely look forward to watching the rest of the material this season if it is on par with this episode and its social commentary. Parker and Stone have certainly not lost their touch. I suppose they may only be afraid of the disturbing accuracy their show has in the current American climate.

For a season kickoff this episode was great, and to be honest I like the farm thing. But, Randy blowing up houses is just so strange to me. Overall strong, but there was a few missed hits!

Season 23 of South Park should have started with a big bang ! Instead it started mediocre at best .Lets just start with the good , Mexican Joker storyline had me laughing , It felt like a classic Cartman and Kyle storyline. Now the Bad of course is the Tegridy Farms storyline , To start off Randy's character is completely different from the past seasons , He was Stan's cool dad that we all grew to love , But now his character completely changed for the worse, I hope they wrap up this storyline quick because it's getting old real quick.