*Warning: This article contains spoilers*
Where to even begin with tonight’s episode of South Park? Following a week-delay — officially attributed to Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s inability to finish the episode on time, but likely also intended to create some distance from the events surrounding Charlie Kirk’s murder — it was anyone’s guess what direction the comedy duo would take. Parker and Stone have never shied away from touching the third rail, but the heightened rhetoric around political violence, underscored again today by the targeted shooting at an ICE detention facility in Dallas, Texas, made for a backdrop the South Park creators likely weren’t ready to confront. Instead, on Wednesday, they opted for a path far less divisive and politically fraught: the war in Gaza.
For the first time since Israel’s invasion of Gaza began two years ago, Parker and Stone tackled the crisis head-on — but in the way only they could. The episode opens with the students of South Park Elementary placing bets on prediction markets like Kashi and Polymarket, with one of the most popular props being whether Kyle’s mom would strike Gaza and destroy a Palestinian hospital. Shockingly, Cartman isn’t behind the prop itself, but after realizing the lucrative potential in driving up its odds, he hatches a scheme.
“Ever since Kyle got all pissed off, the odds are going up that his mom will attack Gaza,” Cartman explains. “We can influence Kyle to get the odds raised more. It’s a conflict of interest, it’s a way to make more money. All we have to do is make sure Kyle stays angry and talk anti-Semetic shit about his mom to goose up the odds more… It’s obvious rage bait.”
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And go begins Story B involving Donald Trump Jr., who is portrayed as Strategic Advisor for Predictive Markets, chair of the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, and Special Advisor to Israel. Kyle soon finds himself in a game of telephone with Trump’s eldest son as he tries to get the wager removed from the app.
“If it’s offensive, you should talk to the FCC… talk to Brendan Carr,” Trump Jr. tells Kyle, setting the stage for the episode’s biggest highlight.
But first, let’s cover what Daddy Trump is up to this entire episode. After realizing his life is about to change after knocking up Satan, Trump becomes determined to get rid of the baby. Unfortunately for FCC commissioner Carr, he shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time and stumbles into each of Trump’s plots, seriously injuring himself in the process. By episode’s end, Carr has contracted a case of toxoplasmosis from exposure to cat feces. “If it reaches the brain, he may lose his freedom of speech,” the doctor warns Vice President JD Vance.
As for Kyle’s mom? She never does end up bombing Gaza, but she does travel to Israel to berate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “Just who do you think you are, killing thousands and flattening neighborhoods, then wrapping yourself in Judaism like it’s some shield from criticism?”
Following its premiere on Comedy Central, Season 27, Episode 5 of South Park — “”Conflict of Interest” — will be available to stream on Hulu beginning Thursday, September 25th.
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