South Park S25, Episode 2 Review

If you read my reviews for the Post-COVID specials, then you know that I have never liked the concept of Tegridy Farms that much. I think that it was a joke that should’ve ended a long time ago, and the fact that Matt and Trey refused to do so was a major source of frustration. Then the Post-COVID specials gave us our wish in a monkey’s paw fashion, and I thought “I should drop the hate.” I’m glad I did, because this week, two things take center stage in South Park: Tegridy Farms and the fact that we’ve gotten Tolkien Black’s name wrong for years now! The cringe is about to get real, people!

Randy Marsh Latest Cringe Scheme

The episode starts with Randy Marsh having a major realization: people aren’t going to want to buy weed from him due to his lack of diversity. I.E., he’s a white man, and people want products made by minorities that previously got screwed over so that they can profit from it. Thus, Randy comes up with the most Randy-solution possible: bring Tolkien Black’s family over and make a big deal about his Dad is “helping” run his weed business. His motives are so blatantly obvious, it’s cringe-worthy.

Even before the episode aired, I could tell that this episode was going to be as deliberately cringe as possible. Randy’s motives are so blatantly obvious: he just wants to exploit the blacks to make his business look better. However, that’s just Randy being Randy. Randy Marsh is stupid and never thinks things through, but that’s probably why he’s become the adult breakout character. Of course, given how his efforts are insincere, they come back to bite him in a big way down the line.

It’s Tolkien, Not Token

The joke that got me laughing in this episode wasn’t the plot revolving around Randy’s Tegridy scheme, but the subplot revolving Stan (whose voice sounds different), and Tolkien. When Matt and Trey first created Tolkien, his name was meant to be a pun on the concept of the “token black character.” That was a funny joke, but one that gradually faded from memory as the show continued. This week, though, Tolkien once again became subject to a joke. In the first third of the show, it’s revealed that Token’s name is not, in fact, Token. It’s actually Tolkien, as in J.R.R. Tolkien.

I had to mentally restrain myself from laughing out loud when I witnessed the audacity of what South Park was doing. With a simple retcon, the show just called us out on assuming for years that Tolkien’s name was really Token. At the same time, they also call themselves out for how cringe it would be to actually name a kid that or to assume that was his actual name.

The cringe only continues. It turns out, everyone except for Stan Marsh knew that Tolkien’s real name was, well, Tolkien, even Cartman! Stan has a brief crisis when he thinks that he’s racist and tries everything in his power to “fix” that. Basically, he reacts in the same way his Dad would, the difference being that Stan’s motives are more genuine. Too bad their dads now hate each other.

The Weed War of South Park Has Begun

Randy and Steve Black have a falling out mid-episode when Randy dismisses an idea of Steve’s, showing his true motivations. As a result, Steve retaliates by buying his own Marijuana farm right across from Tegridy Farms and puts on a fake accent just to attract customers. That’s right; Randy Marsh and Steve Black are about to go to war over Marijuana.

By the end of the episode, I was mentally laughing my butt off. First, they managed to make Token into Tolkien and do another reference to The Lord of the Rings franchise. Then, they proceed to get Tegridy Farms into a full-scale, cringe-worthy weed war. My newfound tolerance of Tegridy Farms couldn’t have come at a better time, because I think Matt and Trey are going to take this place. Maybe this will finally be the season in which Tegridy Farms comes to an end. Either way, I’m going to have my popcorn ready for next week’s episode.

I Give “The Big Fix” a 5/5. The Cringe Was Hilarious!

Stray Observations:

  • Did anyone notice how Stan’s voice sounded different?
  • Comedy Central moved fast with the editing.