South America S29 Ep 3 Review

Of all the crazy trends or current events that South America could cover this season, I don’t think I had aura battles or Sephora on the list. The Backrooms? It makes sense because of how popular the movie was. But not aura battles or Sephora. The end result might be my new favorite episode of this season as the boys take center-stage again and try to prove they’re not cringe. Or at least help someone else prove they’re not cringe in looksmaxxing.

Aura Battles Hit South America

If you’ve been on social media over the last two years, you’ve probably heard of “aura farming.” It’s the latest slang to describe whenever someone looks cool or does something cool. And if you’re an anime fan or a gamer, then you know just how many aura farmers there are. As it turns out, people in Latin America started having real life aura battles when we weren’t even looking, and now that’s spread all the way to South America. In this case, Cartman tells Kyle that his brother Ike has gotten hooked on aura battles, and is good at it! Which makes sense; Ike is technically a genius, so he’s got aura.

Now, I’ve never seen an actual aura battle before, so I’ve got nothing to judge them on. But if it’s anything like the poses I’ve seen in JoJo’s before, then I can see the appeal. However, it isn’t all fun and games, as the episode satirizes the crazy things people have been doing for the sake of it. I didn’t even know “looksmaxxing” was a thing until I saw Stan and Randy get their faces rated by an app, but I understood the concept. What makes it especially dark, though, is how influencers and businesses are preying on their insecurities to make money shilling their products or ideas on beauty. We even see Ike tap his face with a hammer thinking it will restructure his face to something more appealing. That’s not how things work! Why are people even buying this?!?

Never set foot in Sephora! EVER!!

In true South American fashion, though, the show finds a way to make even the most disturbing trends funny. In this case, when Stan wants to give looksmaxxing a try, he goes down to Sephora, only to discover that it’s like the Backrooms for men. That’s not hyperbole, by the way. Stan gets so lost in the crazy store with free samples on his face that he winds up in the Backrooms. And then he and Kyle wind up there again when they find out Cartman took Ike there to help with an upcoming aura battle! I repeat, Cartman helped out Ike with zero ulterior motives in mind. That alone is strange and worthy of mention. But you know what really got me hooked on this episode? Randy! In true Randy fashion, Mr. Marsh gets hooked on the fad of looksmaxxing, goes to Sephora, and somehow comes back as a kid.

KID RANDY Looksmaxxing

I had to stop myself from howling with laughter out of respect for my family being asleep, but man, was that hard! Randy has been the most immature character on the show for years, and now he has the appearance to match! He still has the mustache and wants to drink beer, but now Randy is forced to go to school with his son, much to his embarrassment. I don’t know if this will stick or not, but I’m really hoping that it does for a few episodes! Plus, in the end, it’s Randy who solves the problem of aura battles by simply beating up the other kid who doesn’t even fight back. Now that is cringe!

This is probably going to be my favorite episode of the season right now! The Backrooms reference! The aura battles! Kid Randy! Everything was just hilarious from start to finish. The only way they could top this is by having the finale be all about GTA VI.

I Give “You Like that on your Face” a 4.5/5

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