The chaotic season premiere — oddly labeled Season 28 — mashes up tech billionaires, demonic pregnancies and Cartman’s very messy possible destiny.
South Park came roaring back this week with a premiere that felt like someone handed Trey Parker and Matt Stone a blender full of politics, religion and gross-out comedy — then turned it to puree.
The episode (mysteriously listed as Season 28, Episode 1) picks up the show’s ongoing plotline and cranks it up: the stakes now include Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance, a very unusual Planned Parenthood scene, and Eric Cartman as maybe the only human able to stop the Antichrist.
At the center of the chaos is a tiny, baffling cultural moment: the “6-7” meme. Kids at South Park Elementary have been saying “6-7” whenever they don’t know an answer — a meaningless filler that somehow spreads like wildfire. Adults are baffled; teachers are furious; and Cartman becomes physically ill, vomiting repeatedly in scenes that blur the line between illness and possession.
Classic South Park grossness, yes — but the show leans into it to suggest something darker is at play.
Enter Peter Thiel, portrayed as the type of tech billionaire who solves problems by buying surveillance and downloading student files. Teaming up with J.D. Vance, Thiel’s mission is part data-hunt, part panic: they’re trying to stop what they believe is the birth of the Antichrist — a child of Donald Trump and Satan.
That plot point fuels some of the episode’s sharpest satire, with Thiel recruiting Trump for an absurd attempt to get a doctor at Planned Parenthood to perform an abortion on Satan. The doctor refuses, asking for expertise on the Antichrist instead — the kind of surreal gag South Park does better than anyone.
This isn’t the first time South Park has toyed with demonic births or religious chaos. Longtime fans might remember the 1999 classic “Damien,” where the son of Satan comes to Earth to challenge Jesus in an epic boxing match, or the fan-favorite “Woodland Critter Christmas,” in which adorable forest animals worship Satan and help give birth to the Antichrist.
Both episodes blended religion, horror, and dark humor — themes that clearly echo in this new storyline.
As for Peter Thiel, his return isn’t random either. He previously popped up in Season 20’s “Member Berries,” when he served as one of Mr. Garrison’s presidential advisors, symbolizing the mix of tech wealth and political power. His reappearance this season continues that satire — this time turning him into a paranoid exorcist figure trying to save humanity from evil.
Meanwhile, Thiel commandeers the school’s security system and starts watching the students like a very online government. He eventually arrives at Cartman’s house in a scene that nods to The Exorcist, complete with ominous camera angles and the suggestion that Cartman may hold crucial — and terrifying — secrets about the Antichrist.
After his investigation, Thiel pronounces Cartman potentially the one person who can stop whatever’s coming. The notion of humanity’s hope being someone as self-absorbed and vile as Cartman? That’s textbook South Park irony.
The episode doesn’t stop at politics and possession. A B-story follows Jesus trying to reckon with modern Christianity. He goes on a disastrous double date with PC Principal and a woman named Peggy Rockbottom, leading to a kind of spiritual crankiness and then, in true South Park fashion, a barroom-bro evolution.
The show skewers the performative side of religion while keeping its usual irreverent wink.
What works here is the show’s ability to juggle a dozen absurd ideas without losing momentum: political satire, cultural commentary, religious poke, and bodily humor. It’s messy and provocative and exactly the sort of topical, in-your-face storytelling that made South Park a cultural touchstone back in 1997 — and keeps it sharp in 2025.
Want to weigh in? Do you think Cartman could actually save humanity — or doom it? Drop your hot takes and memes in the comments and share this story if you laughed, gagged, or felt weirdly moved. New episodes continue through December; stay tuned for the second half of this two-parter.
