Oh South Park, how you never get old! Now in it’s 15 season, Trey Parker and Matt Stone just don’t seem to run out of ideas. By this time in The Simpsons, the plots are getting redundant. But since South Park feeds off of celebrities, current events, and trends, the ideas are never ending. One great thing about South Park is its ok to love one episode and hate the next. That’s the only way the show maintains its fan base. “The Poor Kid” is one of those episodes you love for it’s obnoxious take on American culture and hilarious exaggerations. For those fans that have watched South Park from the beginning, you know how much of a treat it is to have an episode focus mostly on Kenny. Kenny is one of those characters that are not often focused on much but when he is the star, he has memorable episodes. Kenny, the character who used to be killed in every episode, who played the body double for Michael Jackson’s son Blanket in “The Jefferson’s” episode, and hit Butter’s in the eye in “Good Times with Weapons” is the perfect target for this episode (although the obnoxiousness of Cartman can never be escaped).
When Kenny and his siblings are placed in foster care because their parents were arrested for being “white trash”, Cartman is determined to figure out who the next poorest kid in school is so that he can pick on him. While doing research Cartman and Butter’s discover that Cartman is the next poorest kid in school. Finally, what audiences have been waiting for - Cartman to be the target of cruel jokes. But no, Cartman, not wanting to be made fun of, frames his mom so that he can get placed in foster care as well. The “soft room” at the police station where Kenny and Cartman are both taken, is a funny sight gag, a room filled with scary clown pictures that would give anyone the heebeegeebees. A room that is supposed to be comforting for these trauma kids, is actually the complete opposite. The foster home that they boys are taken to is a home run by an Agnostic couple who enforce the idea that God may or may not be real and that only Dr. Pepper should be consumed because its not really root beer and its not really coke. The kids in the foster care are so on edge and afraid of committing to anything. The over exaggeration and twist of having an Agnostic couple instead of the cliché of overly religious foster parents adds an interesting and hilarious aspect to this episode.
Funny stuff, but back to Kenny. Its true that Cartman dominates the majority of episode but not only do we have Kenny, we have his alter ego and super hero side Mysterion Man. The costume is relatable to Kenny’s usual coat that covers his face, not allowing the audience to see Kenny. It is very rare when Kenny is shown and when it is done, the audience usually never acknowledges that it is indeed Kenny (like in “The Jeffersons”). We get the return appearance of Mysterion Man, who protects Kenny’s little sister at school and in foster care. One of the best scenes in the show is when Mysterion Man is trying to distract the foster parents from their torture session towards the kids after one kid states something instead of questioning it. Their weapon is a keg of Dr.Pepper that sprays the kid who is hanging upside down in order to force the indecision in them. As Mysterion Man is leading the foster parents away, he replaced the Dr.Pepper in the fridge with a can of PBR, which previously established is what cause people to become “white trash”. The couple shares the can and then they are arrested for being “white trash” after being disorderly.
Overall the episode struggled to incorporate time relevant jokes, like as many Penn State jokes as possible, into the episode without actually commenting on the matter in a way that worked. Being the season finale, much more was expected. South Park usually ends with a quite a bang. Still though, “Poor Kid” is right up there with the best of this season such as “History Channel Thanksgiving” and “You’re Getting Old”.
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