Warning: This review contains full spoilers for South Park Season 29, Episode 3!
Yeesh, that was probably the weakest new episode of South Park in several years. As is often the case in the show’s lesser moments, “You Like That on Your Face” has a few amusing gags and ideas, but none of it comes together as a cohesive whole. Talk about cringe…
This week, the series opts to turn its attention to Gen Z/Gen Alpha culture and hot-button issues like looksmaxxing and aura farming. Honestly, I was really hoping the opening scenes were meant to be a springboard to something else. Yes, aura farming is really stupid and laughable, but did we need an entire episode devoted to the practice?
In execution, “You Like That on Your Face” plays like a spiritual sequel to Season 8’s “You Got F’d in the A,” only with aura battles replacing the dance-offs of yore. Sadly, this episode compares very unfavorably to its predecessor. It hits too many of the same beats and doesn’t really build on its ideas in a satisfying way. I don’t know that “Hey, look how stupid and self-absorbed today’s kids are” really makes for the greatest material.
This episode also leans way too heavily on the recurring gag of Sephora clerks squirting cream on children’s faces and asking, “You like that on your face?” We get it. It’s like porn, but with children. It’s not particularly funny the first several times, and certainly not by the end when the twisted Sephora manager comes lumbering out of the darkness.
Again, there are some funny bits to be found in Episode 3. The initial reveal of the Sephora Backrooms is pretty funny (though this is another element that doesn’t ultimately lead anywhere). The return of the Pet Semetary-spoofing Farmer Ted is also a welcome treat. And Randy himself getting into looksmaxxing and transforming himself into a 4th grader is probably the highlight of the episode. If anything, the South Park team really should have leaned more on that subplot. Randy can usually be counted upon to carry the series, at least when he’s not hawking his Tegridy Farms wares. But I suppose we’ll see if this particular development carries over into future episodes.
Read IGN’s Previous South Park Review
Season 29, Episode 2 – “Billionaire Weenietown”
Clearly, despite the series’ satirical title change, the intent with Season 29 is to pivot away from the politically focused Season 27/28 approach and return to a more classical brand of South Park that emphasizes the younger characters. That approach worked well enough in the first two episodes, but it falls pretty flat here. I don’t know if South Park America strictly needs to go back to lampooning the Trump administration at every turn, but it does need to develop a more coherent overall storyline for the season and do a better job of tackling the more urgent topics of the day. This isn’t it.
