This is meant to be a comedy, right? Where were the jokes?
I got a few chuckles out of this episode, but it just felt like every joke that was attempted fell flat.
Some might say that the episode is metaphor heavy, and you need to be across all the references to "get it"
I'm more than familiar with the references, it just wasn't funny. So much so, that I'm not even sure if it's worth the time it takes to watch part 2.
Butters: "They don't give a fuck, Kyle. They're gonna take everything they can get. Everyone knows, at the end of the day, there's only gonna be, like, three streaming services, so they, like, everyone just wants to have their shit on their stream and get bought out, you know? And they don't give a fuck how good anything is. And the people who made all the deals, they don't give a fuck 'cause they're all gonna get fired anyway, you know? And everyone working at this streaming service is now working over at that streaming service. No one gives a shit about what fucking goes on in it."
ViacomCBS/Paramount: "Do we have a problem here?"
It was okay - nothing great.
Another episode of the new "SJW south park" show. For the next episode, I suggest Trey and Matt glue them self to the ground in a museum.
[6.2/10] For the most part, this is fine. With this special, Matt and Trey find a clever way to meld social commentary on increasing drought conditions and water rights with the proliferation of streaming services. The problem is that they don’t go much beyond that. Every time Stan or Butter talks about providing boats (read: content) for “streaming” services that provide literal water, the double-meaning gets a little less clever. And while it was pleasant enough when South Park brought back Al Gore and Manbearpig for a mea culpa, the monster feels awkwardly shoehorned into a story centered on the actual effects of climate change. The metaphors here are sharp enough, but run out of gas quickly.
Plus, it’s a long outstanding complaint from South Park fans that, by god, not everything needs to turn into some crazy conspiracy theory. Again, while I get a kick out of the continuity nod of bringing back Pipi from the water park, him being in control of a vast urine-centric network of operators there to take advantage of the water crisis is a pretty tiresome conclusion from this show.
Likewise, I’m pretty tired of Randy as a character overall. Using him to comment on the rise of the term “Karen” is fine, I guess. But it doesn’t amount to much, and the show doesn’t have anything to say on the topic that hasn’t been said a dozen times elsewhere.
That said, there’s a couple of solid parts that boost this one. For one, it’s interesting to see Matt & Trey, of all folks, come out on what seems like the side of conservation. It’s never been their jam, and maybe I’m overreading. But the closing musical montage about people overusing water was, frankly, pretty chilling, so kudos on that.
What’s more, I found myself enjoying the Cartman story, against all odds. Ever since the dog-whisperer episode, it's been a little thrilling to see Lianne stand up to her son. The absurdity of him trying to get out of his hotdog hut and into something “coo” by convincing his mom to get breast implants to lure a rich stepdad is amusing enough. But the real peak here is the way he (seemingly innocently!) gets his friends to contribute monetarily so they can afford his mom’s “surgery.” Cartman going too far, yet again, but having to live with the consequences since his mom won’t placate him, and his friends are just now realizing what the funds he asked for were really intended for, is a good comic setup.
Overall, this one is perfectly watchable, and has a handful of laughs, but ends up a bit disappointing given how quickly the cleverness of the combined water rights/streaming service commentary starts to fade.
Could have been a decent premise for a regular episode. More than the length, the problem is the pacing and the overall structure being the same as usual instead of being adapted into an actual two-part movie. It’s just a drawn out episode. The second part made me think we were going to get rid of one of the major problems of the last few seasons, but, despite the authors clearly acknowledging the issues, it looks like we’re still stuck with it.
I thought it was pretty good, but I'll be honest, I didn't like the Cartman parts. This is just my opinion, but it feels like everything that's changed about his character recently has been a way of slowly walking him off the show.
I'm glad Liane isn't caving to his nonsense anymore, but now the character just seems truly isolated from everyone. I think that makes him less interesting. Yes Cartman doing Cartman things about it is nice, but no one around him is reacting to it. But thinking positively, maybe it's a long play, and there's more to his story? Despite me not liking his parts, I do still want to see what's next for him.
All four boys now live away from each other now. I guess Kyle and Kenny technically still live on the same street, but now Stan is on a farm and Cartman is in a hotdog. Where is this going? On one hand, I'm glad they're making use of their other characters and bringing a great variety to the stories. On the other hand, it seems like there's this big unknown ahead.
I loved the parts with Stan and Tolkien! I'm glad those two seemed to have (at least a little bit) naturally become friends, and they play together regularly despite Randy's disdain for Tolkien's family.
I also liked that Stan, Kyle, and Kenny still hang out and with Butters and Tolkien. I can't wait to see more of that! All of the boat-making parts (essentially the entire premise of this special) were great! I also liked how they breathed some new life into the whole Tegrity Farms/Credigree Farms thing. It was hilarious seeing Butters drunk on popsicles! Such a Butters thing! It was also cool seeing ManBearPig and PiPi again. I was not expecting that combo! Also, Clyde is my spirit animal.
Overall, I liked it. It wasn't the funniest it could have been, but the stories (except for Cartman's) were enjoyable. The overall message of the episode is insanely true. There's way too many streaming services that I couldn't care about in the least. They nailed it!
These Paramount South Park specials are something I have really enjoyed. I don’t think any have been particularly great, but I didn’t know any were coming and I’ve been pleasantly surprised with enjoyable “extended episodes” of South Park. Short, sweet, good chuckles. As long as they make them, I will happily keep watching!
Rating: 3/5 - 7.5/10 - Worth Watching
Shout by nutmacBlockedParent2022-06-02T18:46:50Z
To date, South Park's Paramount+ specials have one thing in common. They all have clever premises, but overstretched to around an hour running time. Like Post COVID and Post COVID: The Return of COVID specials before it, The Streaming Wars has several moments of brilliance. But after all the cards are laid out on the table, it struggles to close the deal.
After all the clever build ups, this special ends without a fully articulated message. But I can't say I wasn't entertained, just not up to its past high standards (e.g., Randy Marsh as Lorde).