The following contains spoilers for South Park: The Streaming Wars, now streaming on Paramount+.
South Park's 25th season was important for the fictional Colorado town because it shifted the business landscape immensely. Not only did the real estate market collapse but Randy Marsh's Tegridy Farms got competition from Credigree Farms, which led to important discussions about capitalism and cultural appropriation. As expected, Randy got it wrong again, having an ill-advised meltdown on St. Patrick's Day after losing profits to his rivals.
While fans waited for word on Season 26 and how Randy will rebound from his betrayal of Towelie, Matt Stone and Trey Parker had already charted the next chapter. The Paramount+ exclusive special South Park: The Streaming Wars played on the bevy of streaming services that have become available to viewers. Here's what the latest special was about -- and who, if anyone, came out the winner.
What Was South Park: The Streaming Wars About?
In the special, South Park was rocked by news from the mysterious Water Commissioner about a shortage trickling down to Denver and the surrounding area. However, he visited Randy and Credigree's Steve Black with an idea: rather than use all the mountain water for growing marijuana, they could send any excess downstream and make money off businesses and households that desperately needed it. They just had prove they could send a constant supply every day and that it came from their agricultural properties.
Steve had the boys build toy boats, branded them and upon sending them downstream, he got people to subscribe to his water service. Randy followed suit... not realizing that his son Stan and his friends were building boats for both companies, playing them behind their backs. The water was an analogy for the internet, with Randy and Steve being two streaming services that sent their content to citizens. But since all the boats came down one reservoir stream, fans didn't need to subscribe to either one. They just needed the commissioner to get more water that would be available to everyone. This was South Park's cheeky way of saying fans could pirate what everyone's paying for.
Who Won South Park's Streaming Wars?
While Randy and Steve were mimicking Netflix and its early competitors, one elite capitalist named Cussler came up from Denver. He bought key acreage, giving him access to streams that fed into the main water supply. He then subcontracted the kids to build thousands of boats and offered better rates than either Randy or Steve. Cussler deemed himself the "Amazon," nodding to how that company launched its own streaming service with properties like Lord of the Rings in the works.
When Cussler's boats came downstream en masse, the sheer volume started knocking over Randy and Steve's boats, proving Cussler's 'content' was indeed king. Randy was furious because he couldn't believe the boys were behaving like greedy studios, producing boats for so many services. Their production line got so busy that even Butters called it out. He lamented that if they made too many boats, it'd be all about quantity and not quality, which would lead to substandard work. The rest of the boys didn't care. They were in it to make money, which they did when Cussler became the streaming champion.
South Park: The Streaming Wars is now available on Paramount+.