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Don’t let that title fool you; this is technically a review of the latter half of the season. Every review you can find right here at Geek Binge will be covered, since I haven’t seen all of the early Season 16 episodes, nor will I go back and review them. There were seven episodes in the back half of the season, and from what I’ve seen there was a considerable step up in the quality and humor from the spring to the fall. But that shouldn’t stop me from really expressing my opinions on this newest season of South Park:

It was good.

Despite my best efforts to be cynical and jaded, Matt and Trey are still able to crank out good to great episodes on a weekly basis, and my doubts about the show maybe getting too old or the formula drying out are wrong. The fact that they create an episode with a ticking time bomb of about six days is really astounding. Usually, shows aren’t produced this quickly, but that gives them the option to satirize the latest trends or be on time about current events, instead of being behind on the references. Playing it like ear, like this, gives them some flexibility to wait and see what to write about. The NFL referee lockout made a prominent part of “Sarcastaball”, Lance Armstrong’s recent stripping of his titles in “A Scause for Applause”, and the Presidential results AND the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney in “Obama Wins!”. The immediacy and surprise of these things give South Park a nice sense of place and relevancy, eliminating the problems old shows run into in their 16th seasons (cough*Simpsons*cough).

I’m not going to go over every single episode (you can find the catalog of reviews here), but I will give shout outs to my favorite episodes, since this has been a generally good season. The appearance of Bane masks in “Insecurity” was absolutely the best way to pay homage/poke fun of the Batman franchise. The conclusion of that trilogy clearly dominated the news the entire year, and there was no avoiding it, so the best you can do is make Randy say ridiculous things with the voice. Cartman was also a standout in nearly every episode of the season, and the writers know exactly how to use him for levity, story advancement, and fat jokes. He’s just as brilliant a character now as he was ten years ago, and whether he’s the Hulk or trying to be part of the Skywalker family, there’s no denying everyone loves Cartman.

It’s strange, reviewing shows and games, because there is a dichotomy you have to be aware of constantly. On one hand, you want to get the review out as fast as you can, and you have to compile your thoughts immediately. But on the other hand, most of the real opinions don’t form until days or weeks after you’ve had enough time to absorb everything, and reflect back on whether or not you enjoyed something. Sure, Prom was a good idea at the time, but years after I regretted it, and do every day of my life. Games with multiplayer are particularly challenging, because then you can run into a situation like Gears 2 or Modern Warfare 2, where those games were either broke as hell or just plain didn’t work. So it’s a double edged sword, and something most people don’t think about when reading reviews.

I bring this up because my favorite episode of the season I didn’t give the highest score. “A Nightmare on Face Time” I should have given a higher score, simply because it is the episode I would most want to watch now, and one that will definitely live on as a classic of the new era of South Park. The attention to detail on every level, and the Shining spoof is so great in retrospect, I could watch an entire show dedicated to Randy. He, like Cartman, had some genuinely great stuff this season, from pushing sarcasm to its limits, to imitating Bane. You know you’re in for a good time when Randy shows up, and they don’t overuse him ever. I can appreciate a show that always makes an appearance of a character exciting instead of expected, and the Marsh family is always a terrific source to go back to every now and again.

I didn’t know how to approach the score for this half season, so I took the individual scores of each episode and tabulated an average. Here is what it all looks like:

Sarcastaball 8 +

Raising the Bar 6 +

Insecurity 9.5 +

Going Native 6.5 +

A Nightmare on Face Time 9 +

A Scause for Applause 8.5 +

Obama Wins! 7 +

Divided by 7

Average = 7.785714286

With that information, I didn’t feel right giving the season an uneven score like that. I have OCD, and the numbers have to be nice and round. So I will happily give Season 16 an 8 out of 10, and it was certainly an honor writing my thoughts on it for all of you. Be sure to check out all of the great content on Geek Binge, and in the meantime, while we are all waiting for next year, let’s hope Butter’s face gets better. Excelsior!

-Jared

