Park

Predictive betting comes to South Park in episode five of the show’s sporadic yet highly-rated 27th season, when the odds on whether Kyle’s mom, who is a Jewish woman, will attack Gaza become a hot speculation at the elementary school.

It all starts with the kids of South Park Elementary placing bets on whether one of their own — a Boy Scout who insists on repeatedly informing the class that she is one of the group’s WeBlos — is a boy or a girl. Soon, Eric Cartman is going on about Kyle’s mom, one of his least favorite people in town but one he enjoys talking (and on the big screen, singing) about.

Back at the White House, Satan and President Trump are awaiting the birth of their child, who is likely to bring about the apocalypse, and are preparing for the little one’s arrival. A seemingly goober-like version of Vice President J.D. Vance is back, too, with bad news for Trump.

“Everyone is so excited for the baby,” Vance says. “Boss, you must be so excited as well. Yeah, well, excited, it is going to completely change your life, though…”

Naturally, this being South Park, Trump soon begins his efforts to kill his and Satan’s unborn child. Hi-jinks ensue. Vance’s motivations are also revealed later in the episode (but you all knew the Vice President of the United States was no goober, right?).

Plots in Washington and our favorite small Colorado mountain town once again merge after a phone call is placed from South Park to end the sports betting craze, via government intervention. FCC chief Brendan Carr ends up on the other end of the line from a frustrated Kyle and within about 10 seconds of his appearance on the show, he’s there with Trump and Satan, shitting so hard he flies around the room, and then in the hospital with a parasite called toxoplasmosis; it can be transferred from cats to humans and bring about some complications — in particular, for Carr, the loss of his freedom of speech.

As the tension around what Kyle’s mom Sheila will do about the Israel-Gaza atrocities reaches a fever pitch at South Park Elementary, she decides that it’s time that she go to Gaza and does what she needs to do. However, this is not before explaining her perspective on the seemingly endless conflict that has now come for her personally.

“You see, it’s just pure anti-Semitism,” Sheila explains in one of the show’s teachable moments. “I’m so sick of being grilled about my views on Palestine and my thoughts on Hamas, and being judged for things that are centuries old and that non-Jews know nothing about.

“Well, if they all think we should do something, then you better believe I’ll do something,” she concludes.

The episode ends with her in Israel — and she does attack. But it’s only verbal violence, as Sheila launches into a non-stop tirade-as-homage to Curb Your Enthusiasm and its pseudo-villain, Susie Greene (Susie Essman). Cue the trademark tuba, mandolin, banjo, and piano of “Frolic,” Curb theme song, as we reach what is said to be the halfway point of the 27th season of South Park.

The episode arrived a week later than planned, after the show’s creators admitted that they failed to complete it in time; Trey Parker and Matt Stone blamed their own procrastination habits for the delay. But some speculated the killing of Charlie Kirk, who was spoofed in episode two of season 27, at a speaking event in Utah that week, led to the new episode being yanked or possibly tweaked. The South Park team did manage to touch on the other major scandal of the moment with the Carr subplot, as it was his comments and veiled threats to ABC that are believed to have been the catalyst for Jimmy Kimmel’s late night show going dark last week.