Predictive betting sweeps into South Park in the fifth episode of the show’s sporadic yet wildly popular 27th season. The odds on whether Kyle’s mom, a Jewish woman, will launch an attack on Gaza become the hottest topic of speculation among the elementary school crowd. The frenzy begins innocently enough, with the kids at South Park Elementary placing bets on whether one of their classmates—a Boy Scout who never tires of reminding everyone that she’s a Webelos Scout—is actually a boy or a girl. Before long, Eric Cartman seizes the moment to turn the spotlight on Kyle’s mom, one of his least favorite townsfolk, but someone he relishes talking (and, on the big screen, singing) about.
Meanwhile, back at the White House, Satan and President Trump await the birth of their child—a progeny who is prophesied to bring about the apocalypse. They busily prepare for the little one’s arrival. A seemingly bumbling Vice President J.D. Vance also makes a reappearance, bearing ill tidings for Trump. “Everyone’s so thrilled about the baby,” Vance remarks. “You must be over the moon, boss. Yeah, well, thrilled it may be, but it’s going to turn your world upside down, though…”
In true South Park fashion, Trump soon embarks on a quest to rid himself of his and Satan’s unborn child. Chaos and hilarity ensue. Vance’s true motivations are later unveiled (but surely, none of you thought the Vice President of the United States was a total simpleton, right?).
The plots unfolding in Washington and the beloved small Colorado mountain town collide once again when a phone call from South Park triggers government intervention to halt the sports betting craze. FCC chief Brendan Carr answers the call from a frustrated Kyle. Within about ten seconds of his on-screen debut, Carr finds himself in the same room as Trump and Satan, so overwhelmed that he literally defecates with such force he soars around the room. He then ends up in the hospital, suffering from toxoplasmosis—a parasite transmitted from cats to humans that can wreak havoc, particularly on Carr’s freedom of speech.
As tension mounts at South Park Elementary over what Sheila, Kyle’s mom, will do regarding the Israel-Gaza atrocities, she decides it’s time to take matters into her own hands and heads to Gaza. Before she departs, she shares her perspective on the seemingly endless conflict that has now become personal. “You see, it’s just pure anti-Semitism,” Sheila declares in one of the show’s signature teachable moments. “I’m sick and tired 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 with resolve.
The episode culminates with Sheila in Israel—where she does indeed launch an attack. But it’s only verbal, as Sheila unleashes a non-stop tirade reminiscent of Curb Your Enthusiasm’s pseudo-villain, Susie Greene (Susie Essman). The iconic tuba, mandolin, banjo, and piano melody of “Frolic,” the Curb theme song, plays as we reach what is said to be the midpoint of South Park’s 27th season.
The episode arrived a week later than scheduled, after creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone admitted they failed to finish it on time, blaming their own procrastination habits for the delay. However, some speculated that the real-life killing of Charlie Kirk, who was parodied in episode two of season 27, at a speaking event in Utah that week, led to the new episode being pulled or possibly revised. Nevertheless, the South Park team managed to weave in 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 sparked Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show going dark the previous week.
