At times, the latest episode of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s comedy feels like it’s running out of ammo when tackling the US President. But might it just be sowing the seeds of what’s to come?
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o far, South Park’s 27th season has had one clear goal: to provoke Donald Trump into a tantrum. Every episode has managed to pick on a new and different facet of his authoritarian rule – the silencing of his media critics, his use of Ice agents as an intimidation tactic – while simultaneously telling everyone what a tiny penis he has.
So the anticipation levels were off the charts for this week’s episode, entitled Wok Is Dead, which promised to take on Trump’s tariff policy. And in fairness it did do this, but only in a couple of scenes where a Chinese character with an uncomfortably Mickey Rooney-esque accent complained about them. The rest of the episode just settled for a bunch of jokes about Labubu dolls, as well as calling Donald Trump “Satan” as many times as it feasibly could.
For the most part, Wok Is Dead found itself split in two. The bulk of the episode was taken up with a very traditional South Park storyline about a cultural fad pushed to extremes. Everyone at South Park Elementary has become obsessed with Labubu dolls, a line of vaguely creepy collectible plush dolls sold in mystery boxes. In real life, the Labubu craze has been ramped up to the level of fidget spinners and loom bands before them, prompting the market to be flooded with a rush of carelessly manufactured fakes that potentially pose a danger to children.
