WARNING: The following contains spoilers for South Park's "South ParQ Vaccination Special," which aired Wednesday on Comedy Central.
Following Randy Marsh's "Pandemic Special," South Park continues to avoid pulling its punches, with the "South ParQ Vaccination Special" focusing on life in the small Colorado town after vaccines are available. The episode finds the kids back out to school under tenuous circumstances, though Cartman notes their "broship" isn't as strong as it used to be due to the time apart.
And unfortunately, thanks to a prank gone awry, there's a shocking betrayal that ensures the group of friends will break up for good.
"South ParQ Vaccination Special" opens with Cartman playing a menstruation prank using ketchup on their teacher, Mrs. Nelson, only for her to flip out. She's not getting paid enough to deal with this, and seeing as teachers are low-priority on the COVID-19 vaccination list, she quits. This angers the rest of the gang because they know if teachers quit, they'll be holed up home again. This leads the boys to come up with a hair-brained scheme to steal vaccines from Walgreens, which is only catering to old people.
It's ironic they're risking it all for school to stay open, but after they steal the serums by pretending to be "Kommunity Kidz," things take a dark turn. Cartman, as expected, is entertaining messages to see who'll pay top dollar for the vaccine. He was initially curious, but after people offer up to $2,000, he's looking to profit. As for Stan, his primary concern is that they should vaccinate themselves because the powers that be believe kids are healthy enough to withstand and be part of the herd immunity.
Kyle, though, calls them out on this, talking about principle and how teachers need to be cared for. However, later that night, when his parents call, his sinister side reveals itself. Gerald reminds him that he's placing teachers ahead of his own parents, guilting the boy in a sneaky move, and as a result, Kyle tries to steal a couple of vials, swapping soda in its place, only for Stan to catch him in the act.
Kyle argues it's a moment of weakness, but the next day, as the kids struggle to get into the school because citizens are surrounding it looking for vaccines, a massive argument breaks out and Stan spills the beans about Kyle's hypocrisy to Cartman and Kenny. After hashing it out, they realize they really don't have each other's backs anymore. Eventually, Israel drops vaccines in town and the adults get their shots, but the kids aren't the same. They split up, decide to share custody of Kenny and move on to other friends, leaving the fate of South Park's most iconic friendships up in the air.
South Park's "South ParQ Vaccination Special" is currently available on Comedy Central.