South Park The Streaming Wars
"South Park The Streaming Wars" | |
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South Park episode | |
Directed by | Trey Parker |
Written by | Trey Parker |
Produced by |
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Featured music |
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Original air date | June 1, 2022 |
Running time | 50 minutes |
"South Park The Streaming Wars"[a] is a 2022 American adult animated comedy television special episode written and directed by Trey Parker. It is the third South Park television special produced for Paramount+ and was released on June 1, 2022.[2][3] It also serves as the 318th overall episode of the television series.
Plot
In South Park,
Steve learns that he can sell some of his water supply if the stream reaches Denver's reservoir. At Stan and Tolkien's suggestion, they craft a small boat and send it downstream. The experiment is successful, and Steve begins accepting subscriptions to his streaming service, including Pi Pi. When Steve is told to send boats downstream daily, he pays Stan and Tolkien to increase their production. Randy becomes frustrated at Steve's success, so Stan and Tolkien agree to build him craft boats as well. They recruit Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick and Butters Stotch to help them as demand increases; they initially refuse to recruit Cartman, but relent when Cartman tells them of the surgery. Cussler offers Stan and Tolkien $15,000 for 10,000 boats, thus covering the surgery's cost. Cartman tries to surprise Liane with the surgery, but she stands by her earlier decision, no longer giving in to his demands. He threatens to have the surgery done to himself, but Liane remains unfazed, allowing the surgery to proceed.
When Steve sees a report about ManBearPig's environmental damage, he hikes up the mountains to see for himself. He approaches a dying real estate agent, who tells Steve that a large swath of land near the streams has been sold to a wealthy buyer. When Randy sails one of his boats downstream, it is sunk by Cussler Industries boats. Randy confronts Stan about Cussler's boats and demands that he end their deal. When they visit Cussler's house, they find that he was killed by ManBearPig, and Randy wonders if Stan is in danger. At Pi Pi's Splashtown, Steve tells Pi Pi that he will have to cancel the waterpark's streaming rights to provide water to his farm. Pi Pi refuses, revealing that he is collaborating with the water commissioner and ManBearPig. Steve realizes that Pi Pi purchased the land in the mountains when ManBearPig attacks, stabbing Steve and throwing him out a window down a water slide. Pi Pi later reveals to the water commissioner his plan to replace all of Denver's water with his park's urine-contaminated water. He betrays the commissioner and has ManBearPig attack him in a similar fashion to Steve.
At school, Stan warns the others of Cussler's death when Cartman arrives with his breast implants. Tolkien's mother, Linda, calls him to inform him of Steve's disappearance. The people of Denver waste their water supply as the reservoir is slowly draining, while Randy investigates Cussler and the commissioner's histories.
Cast
Production
On August 5, 2021,
"The Streaming Wars"' release date and synopsis was released on May 11, 2022.[2]
Reception
John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber rated the episode a 9 out of 10, stating that the episode "continues to showcase the franchise creators' advanced forward thinking that seems to just be far beyond reach of what we deem reality". Schwarz also compared the episode to the episode "Dead Kids", stating it "also features a litany of hilarious gags that, like 'Dead Kids', help you forget the seriousness of the matter at hand, but the signs are still all there."[7]
Kayla Cobb of
Spencer Legacy of
Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant wrote about the ending of the episode, and stated the ending "is a bleak one that will be familiar to fans of the classic film noir Chinatown. The evil Pi Pi ends up achieving all of his goals, with ManBearPig tearing down the dam holding Denver's water supply in reserve while the local citizens unknowingly waste their precious, limited water. The true meaning of the South Park special is that real-life companies are doing the same thing, with Pi Pi standing in for corporations profiting off water scarcity while ManBearPig acts as an allegory for climate change."[10]
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "South Park The Streaming Wars - Watch Full Movie on Paramount+". Paramount+. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
- ^ a b Del Rosario, Alexandra (May 11, 2022). "'South ark': Paramount+ Sets Third Television Movie Event Titled 'The Streaming Wars'". Deadline. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ Swift, Andy (May 11, 2022). "South Park: The Streaming Wars Set as Next Paramount+ Special — First Look". TVLine. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ "MTV Entertainment Studios inks new and expansive deal with creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone through 2027". Comedy Central. August 5, 2021. Retrieved May 11, 2022.
- ^ Paramount+ [@paramountplus] (February 15, 2022). "Exciting @SouthPark news!-#SouthPark will premiere two events on #ParamountPlus each year for the next 6 years" (Tweet). Retrieved February 15, 2022 – via Twitter.
- ^ Karl, Chris (October 29, 2021). "South Park Creators Clarify Paramount+ Projects Are Not Feature Films". Screen Rant. Retrieved December 28, 2021.
- ^ Schwarz, John (June 1, 2022). "Review: South Park: The Streaming Wars". Bubbleblabber. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- Decider. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
- Comingsoon.net. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
- ^ Gunning, Cathal (June 2, 2022). "South Park: The Streaming Wars Ending Explained (In Detail)". Screen Rant. Retrieved June 3, 2022.
External links
- "South Park The Streaming Wars" at IMDb