WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for South Park's Season 23 episode, "Season Finale."
This season, South Park hasn't gone as political in terms of America as previous outings when creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker used Mr. Garrison as a Donald Trump-like individual, who eventually shocked himself as he got into the President's seat. They've instead focused on issues like China's iron-fisted governance, business malpractice, corporate takeovers with Disney and child migrants.
This changes in "Season Finale," with Randy's imprisonment and shutdown of Tegridy Farms following a bout of animal cruelty, as it allows the series to take shots domestically, not just at Trump, but former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.
For the first time since a tiny glimpse last season, Mr. Garrison's Trump-esque character gets to play a major role when Randy calls him from jail after the weed dealer's found to be the Mexican Joker and bomber from earlier this season. We see Garrison behind the desk in the Oval Office with Giuliani underneath, as Randy asks if he knows any good lawyers.
Garrison's responds, "No, but I know Rudy Giuliani," which plays off the fact Giuliani is Trump's personal attorney and one of his staunchest defenders. The former mayor is also entangled in the current impeachment investigation of the president and illegal political machinations with Ukraine, so obviously Garrison is cool with having him tamper with the legal system to get Randy out as a favor to a lifelong friend back home in South Park.
Before skewering Giuliani, though, the show calls him a "treasonous pig" at one point thanks to a newscaster. Giuliani then appears throughout the episode, sometimes struggling to keep his dentures in his mouth, going all out to help Randy avoid prison with Garrison also offering Randy advice on how to deal with his trial and detractors on the whole. He tells Randy to deflect and shoot the same accusations back at his prosecutors and attackers in general he thinks is slandering his character. It's a technique used by Trump in the real world, especially with reporters and on Twitter, although Garrison informs him this method only works if you happen to be President of the United States; otherwise, it’s just another toddler-tantrum. Of course, the slimy and kooky take on Giuliani, similar to Smeagol, agrees with his boss' golden solution and Randy goes on to simply repeat accusations back at people he thinks is disparaging his name, but louder, and behaving as though he's being unfairly persecuted. However, as in the real world, there aren't really any results because Randy's frowned upon as a nothing more than a petulant infant and a corrupt brat who no one trusts.
Even when Giuliani tries to pacify things by sneaking a joint into prison through his butt, Randy realizes that from the bad weed he just got, this isn't the approach he should be adopting to make his way back to his family. He wants to earn his freedom and by behaving like Garrison and Giuliani, all he's doing is eroding his personal character and looking like a madman in the eye of the public.
Randy has this epiphany on his court date, reflecting how bad it is to actually have president legitimize his immoral behavior. Randy gives the famous South Park moral speech in front of a grand jury at the ends of the episode, chastising this kind of politics, especially figures such as the rodent-like Giuliani, and acknowledging his sins are something he'd like honest redemption for. Randy has no one to blame but himself and owns up to it, with the surprising twist that because of Garrison's backing and the White family, he's going to get off anyway as the legal system has indeed been bent for his freedom. It's bittersweet as South Park once more illustrates how the real world operates.
The series shows what one can get away with, given unwavering support from a self-interested fanbase, in another shot at Republicans who voted Trump into power, as well as white privilege. It remains to be seen what Randy will do now because Tegridy Farms remains closed, but as an adult with a certain degree of power, the sky's the limit as he can do things Cartman and Co. can't. This enables the show to aim at political targets higher up in the American food chain yet again while sticking to the silly yet intelligent brand of comedy we've enjoyed since the '90s.
Starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park Season 23 airs Wednesdays at 10 pm ET/PT on Comedy Central.
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