South Park: The End of Obesity Review

Nothing tastes better than opposing the American healthcare system in the newest South Park special, South Park: The End of Obesity.

In the 55-minute South Park special that Paramount+ released earlier today, the title and target were revealed. Paramount boldly suggested that, following a 27-year battle with his own fat ass, South Park’s most obese and racist fourth grader might finally lose his round figure with the aid of popular weight-loss medications like Ozempic. In South Park: The End of Obesity, the lads support Eric Cartman’s quest to overcome his unofficial nickname of “fat ass” and lose weight with the help of medical assistance, while the entire community struggles with the consequences of these drugs’ unequal distribution between the wealthy and the poor.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone expertly address the obesity issue and the several commercial interests involved in both its treatment and its continuation in this focused and nuanced follow-up to the disappointing South Park: Not Suitable for Children back in December.

For those who haven’t seen South Park: The End of Obesity yet, there are spoilers aplenty. It’s the smartest and funniest South Park special since the Streaming Wars, but its lasting legacy may be keeping its promise in the promotional materials to stop calling Cartman “fat ass,” much to the chagrin of Pakistanis worldwide.

The makers of South Park: The End of Obesity have thrown a creative curveball by starting the episode with a different disclaimer than their typical “all characters and events on this show” card. This time, they inform viewers that they will be hearing the sounds of Trey Parker actually injecting himself with weight-loss drugs during the episode. The stated inciting action then takes place when Cartman and his mother visit the doctor, where he discovers the wonderful world of semaglutide injections—better known by the brand names Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus.

Cartman’s physician, however, tells him that insurance companies do not see obesity as an illness and will not pay for the expensive medications if the patient does not have a diagnosis of diabetes. In one of the most hilarious original South Park song montages ever, Kyle decides to go against his character and assist his old friend Cartman in navigating the American healthcare system after learning of his predicament.

When their supply is cut off, Randy joins a drug-addled group of “MILFs” who have been abusing Ozempic in order to flaunt their slender bodies by wearing crop tops in inappropriate settings. One such instance is when they steal a drugstore at gunpoint in order to acquire their dose. Kyle, Stan, Kenny, and the rest of the boys are inspired by the health-care system’s crackdown on non-diabetic Ozempic users to order the basic ingredients of semaglutide from factories in India at ridiculously low prices (a real thing that people do, apparently), which incites the ire of America’s most dangerous body-positivity activists: the entire cereal lobby.

Together, Tony the Tiger, Captain Crunch, and the Coco Puffs bird raid the Indian factory in a brutal manner, claiming that obesity is not a disease and that every body is beautiful as they burn the factory to the ground. This led to the hilarious news headline, “The Terrorists Claimed That Obesity Is Not a Disease and That Every Body Is Beautiful As They Burned the Factory to Ground.”

The lads, the MILFs, and the cereal mascots all engaged in a high-octane, Mad Max-style, bullet-riddled automobile pursuit, only to discover that the health insurance corporations are always victorious. Kyle, however, is determined to use the incident as a teaching moment and begs the whole school to stop making fun of the epidemic of obesity since there are much more sinister and extensive causes than Cartman’s behind.

The crucial contrast between profound satire and pure absurdity that distinguishes South Park as a unique series is struck in South Park: The End of Obesity, a contrast that has regrettably been absent from the last several Paramount+ specials.

While they criticize the most guilty companies and individuals for the toll obesity takes on the middle-class and lower-class, Parker and Stone show a sophisticated understanding of the complexities of the American obesity epidemic. However, they never get too high on the soap box to deliver the outrageous action sequences and hilarious spectacle that every South Park special should feature—especially given how long it takes between new South Park content releases.