South Park Episode: Beef Satire Meets GTA VI Tease

South Park returned to Comedy Central on Wednesday with an episode that satirized high food prices and elite dining habits. The broadcast also featured new footage from Grand Theft Auto VI, a video game scheduled for release later this month.

The game preview appears roughly two-thirds into the show. The characters visit a cattle ranch in South America, where they meet Ruth Chris. This new character resembles Ruth Fertel, the founder of Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, but is not the real person. She shows the boys scenes from the game, specifically a fight between the main character, Jason Duval, and another man on Vice Beach.

Ruth Chris comments on the graphics, asking if the audience sees the world-building. She explains that players can pick up a bag of dog waste and throw it at enemies. She states that this mechanic represents what is coming in November. Rockstar Games plans to release Grand Theft Auto VI on November 18. Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have previously used the game's release date as a metaphor for the upcoming midterm elections.

The episode begins with Eric Cartman climbing the walls of South America Elementary. The school renamed itself from South Park, and Cartman is waiting for his lunchtime Sloppy Joe. However, the school removed the dish from the menu because domestic beef prices reached record highs. This change prompts the main group of characters to seek out locally produced beef.

The group dynamic has shifted because Randy Marsh, Stan's father, now occupies Kenny's spot in the crew. Randy shrank to child size in the previous episode after using youth-enhancing creams. Stan is depicted adjusting to his tiny father being part of his friend circle. The boys find that the local beef causes severe diarrhea in those who eat it. The effect is visualized as a Scanners-style explosion in the middle of restaurants. The creators link consuming this patriotic beef to being a true American patriot, a gag that repeats throughout the episode.

The show includes interview segments with the piles of waste resulting from the explosions. The episode notes that these piles are still full of it. The Hollywood Reporter assessed that the installment struggles to connect its various ideas into the tightly structured satire the series is known for. The publication stated that the repeated exploding gag wears thin. It described the episode as a mid-season entry whose strongest elements are setting up the November payoff.