In the fourth episode of “South Park” Season 29, beef from the American South has become a surprisingly popular commodity – Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Randy refuse to let their lunch of choice be taken from the local mountain town without a fight.
The episode, aptly titled “Guinea Pig on a Stick,” opens with Cartman eager to grab a sloppy sandwich for lunch at South American Elementary School. But to his horror, he learns that there is a national beef crisis, so the government takes it from South America and he and his crew are forced to eat different versions of the four-legged rodent instead. But the kids (and a shrunken Randy) can’t stand it, and after considering what Kenny (who got blown up by an e-bike in the first episode of Season 29) would do, they set out to find a solution: not put up with it.
They visit the local farm and suddenly learn that the most sought-after South American beef is “the same cows that have always been here.” But here’s the farm worker’s response: “We have a much higher customer base now, you know, and all the rich people in other states want a premium experience.” He talks about his national customer base outside South America, specifically the Ruth’s Chris Steak House chain; although anyone who eats meat is literally bursting with diarrhea.
But beef eaters don’t care because beef has become a symbol of “who is more patriotic,” Randy explains, and politicians want to prove they support local South American beef. Plus, eventually, another chain called Sizzler steps in and steals all the cows. Stan has an epiphany: “They even said no one cares about our cows… Then this rancher can inject lard and butter into everything and people can be just as obsessed with it. That’s it, man. That’s it. We can get all our cows back.” Indeed, it works as the episode ends at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, where a waiter is serving customers their new “patriotic food”: flame-roasted guinea pig on a stick.
This week’s episode was definitely not a Halloween special, despite the show’s history of spooky holiday episodes and airing just a few days ago. So it looks like creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are skipping the holiday entirely. Although last year’s episode titled “The Lady in the Hat” was not promoted as a Halloween episode prior to its air date, I did It arrived two days later than usual, coinciding with the spooky night of October 31st.
So far, Season 29 has featured much-talked-about topics, including e-bikes, data centers, billionaires, and anti-vaxxers. In the third episode, the gang found themselves trapped in the “back room” of Sephora; This was a nod to the joke that tweens spend ages at the beauty store and engage in internet-age term aura wars (lingo like “mogging,” “maxxing,” and “meowing” abounded).
With Season 29, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are continuing full steam ahead with the “South America” name change, which was announced earlier this month ahead of the Season 29 premiere. The premiere, the first episode after being titled “South America”, reached 4.2 million viewers in three days, as previously reported. Diversityand even featured an updated theme song (and a Donald Trump cameo) to feature in the name change.