South Park Season 28’s Story Brings Back Its Biggest (& Earliest) Controversy

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Though it’s evolved over the years, the newest season of South Park revisits the themes and controversies that first made it popular. While The Simpsons holds the record for the longest-running scripted primetime show, South Park has also been on the air for a very long time.

Now in its 28th season, South Park is a long-running comedy that actually premiered before Family Guy and even had a movie – South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut – before The Simpsons did. However, South Park’s history has been far more chaotic and often sparked controversy, unlike the generally wholesome run of The Simpsons.

The numerous times episodes of South Park have been banned demonstrate the show’s biting satire and its knack for provoking controversy. For example, as recently as August 2025, President Donald Trump publicly protested an episode from season 27 that portrayed him in a compromising situation with the devil.

South Park Season 28 Focuses On Religion and Horror

Image courtesy of Paramount

Okay, so Season 27 of South Park felt really cut short, and then we found out the rest of those episodes are actually the start of Season 28, but only five episodes long! Honestly, even with all that, it’s kind of awesome. It feels like the show is getting back to what made it great in the first place – you know, ripping on horror movies and making fun of religion. It’s like they’re going back to their roots, which is super cool to see!

The first two episodes of South Park‘s 28th season have explored a lot – from the connection between Satan and Donald Trump, to Cartman and Peter Thiel attempting to prevent the rise of the Antichrist, and even Trump’s ghostly experiences in the White House. This shows that the show is currently mixing longer, connected storylines with self-contained episodes, creating a somewhat unpredictable viewing experience.

For several seasons, from its fourteenth through twentieth, South Park shifted to telling one continuous story throughout each season. Unlike earlier seasons (4 through 13), which reacted to current events with standalone episodes, these later seasons aimed for a more connected and in-depth look at broader cultural and political issues.

The main storyline for South Park season 20 fell apart when the show’s creators publicly stated they had predicted Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election. Donald Trump’s unexpected win forced them to quickly rewrite the season’s finale, and season 21 shifted back to a more standalone, less connected format.

Season 28 takes a new approach by combining two different styles. The first episode, “Twisted Christian,” featured a character inspired by Peter Thiel and launched a strange storyline about the Antichrist. However, the second episode, “The Woman in the Hat,” put some parts of that storyline on hold while still keeping others going to maintain a connected narrative.

South Park’s Religion and Horror Parodies Were Its First Major Controversies

The story’s use of horror themes and religious satire will likely remind longtime viewers of South Park, as these were central to some of the show’s earliest controversies. For example, the 1997 episode “Pinkeye” transformed the town into monstrous zombies, and “Damien” presented a boxing match between Jesus and Satan, organized by Satan’s son.

Similar to the episodes in South Park season 27, these stories clearly aimed to provoke criticism from those with conservative viewpoints. The show presented a casual take on religion, even including a satirical portrayal of Jesus, and combined it with over-the-top, graphic horror and deliberately crude humor. The result was a comedy series that was both shocking and disgustingly funny.

Early episodes of South Park aimed to shock viewers by using scary themes and making fun of both religion and politics. After a long storyline about Tegridy Farms concluded in the 27th season, the show seems to have gone back to this original approach of challenging and satirizing a wide range of topics.

The show needed this boost, especially since it had been struggling to define itself recently. While some of South Park‘s recent standalone episodes have been praised for their sharp and focused humor, the May 2024 special, The End of Obesity, was particularly inventive and well-received.

South Park Season 28’s Religious Horror Story Returns To Its Roots

The show tackled big topics like American healthcare, the popularity of Ozempic, body positivity, and highly processed foods, offering a surprisingly new and humorous take on each. However, South Park‘s Not Suitable for Children felt rushed and didn’t successfully combine its parody of OnlyFans with its take on the Prime energy drink trend.

It took two seasons, but South Park finally addressed the situation in Gaza with a sharp critique of Israel’s actions in episode 5 of season 27, “Conflict of Interest.” This episode suggests the show’s creators are trying to recapture the biting satire that defined its early seasons, and are willing to revisit their controversial, no-holds-barred approach to do so.

It’s not surprising that the latest season of South Park focuses on making fun of horror movies and religion. These have always been central themes of the show – they’re what made it famous nearly 30 years ago – and they still manage to spark strong reactions from viewers.

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2025-11-08 02:29