By Kaitlyn Huamani, Los Angeles Times
LOS ANGELES — “South Park” is bidding adieu to its short-lived but buzzy Season 27.
The sixth episode of the year, which aired Wednesday on Comedy Central, marks the first episode of Season 28, a spokesperson from the network confirmed to The Times. (The episode is available to stream on Paramount+.)
The reason behind the decision to end Season 27, which was originally expected to have 10 episodes, is unclear. But fans of the long-running satire will still get four additional episodes this year, if “South Park” co-creator Matt Stone and Trey Parker stick to the schedule they outlined. Fans had been speculating about the start of a new season after seeing television listings that coded Wednesday’s episode as the first of Season 28.
The new episode, titled “Twisted Christian,” acted as a continuation of Season 27’s plot, with President Donald Trump grappling with the consequences of impregnating his partner, Satan, and Jesus Christ continuing his role as a counselor at South Park Elementary. Chaos erupts at the school when the viral “6-7” slang, an essentially meaningless phrase that has taken over Generation Alpha, creates disruption. The school’s leadership is concerned the slang could be tied to “some satanic numerology,” so they bring in “the highest authority on biblical prophecies”: tech billionaire Peter Thiel.
A musical theme that declares “Peter Thiel knows about the Antichrist,” plays each time he appears on screen throughout the episode, and he lectures students about how the “newer, more human form of Satan” is coming. He later visits Cartman, who is obsessed with the “6-7” sensation and appears to be possessed, and Thiel deems that he is the “key to saving our country” and that he must take the boy with him to Washington. Thiel and Vice President JD Vance are scheming to end Satan’s pregnancy, and Cartman seems to be the closest thing to a solution they have.
The real-life Thiel recently gave an off-the-record four-part lecture series on the subject, reportedly suggesting that someone like 22-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg could be the Antichrist, according to Politico. Thiel, who co-founded Palantir, is a self-described “small-O orthodox Christian” and has been a vocal backer of conservative politicians and a vital donor for Republicans.
The episode also shows Jesus clashing with the principal of South Park Elementary, who now calls himself a Power Christian Principal, over their competing definitions of Christianity. The principal says he follows the sect of the religion that loves America and doesn’t tolerate gay people, using a slur. He then tries to set up Jesus with a Christian woman, who, like his wife, has large breast implants, lip filler and dons a large cross necklace. The animation style of the women, and their lack of knowledge about the religion they claim to follow devoutly — one cites podcasts as her source of information — seems to poke fun at what some call “MAGA style,” or the enhancement of classically feminine features, sometimes to a “cartoonish degree,” as described by New York Times’ chief fashion critic Vanessa Friedman. The women in the episode wear heavy makeup and figure-hugging styles.
“I don’t know what you think Christianity is, but it has nothing to do with that,” Jesus says, referring to their appearance. He later tells the principal, “You need a way of bullying people and you’re using the Bible to do it.”
Recent episodes have drawn strong viewership and, as always, poked fun at topical issues and political figures including Trump, immigration raids, tariffs and the FCC. Even Paramount, which bought the global streaming rights to “South Park” this summer in a $1.5 billion deal, has been the butt of several jokes.
Season 27 had an unusual cadence of episodes, with the first two arriving on a weekly schedule, then biweekly before the arrival of the apparent finale of Season 27, which aired three weeks later on Sept. 25.
The second episode drew criticism for its parody of Charlie Kirk, the slain political influencer, despite the episode airing weeks before his death. Comedy Central, which is owned by Paramount, announced it will not air reruns of the second episode of the latest season after Kirk was fatally shot Sept. 10 in Utah. The episode can still be found on Paramount+.
The final episode of Season 27 was the first to air after Kirk’s death, but Parker and Stone told the Denver Post the delay was unrelated to its content: “No one pulled the episode, no one censored us, and you know we’d say so if true.” The pair issued a statement on Sept. 17 saying the episode wasn’t finished in time.
Future episodes of “South Park” will air every two weeks through Dec. 10.
Times TV editor Maira Garcia contributed to this report.
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