Leave it to “South Park” to always take the joke five steps further. After introducing its official version of Donald Trump two weeks ago, Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s masterpiece returned with an episode that showed the president and vice president preparing to have sex with Satan.
Season 27’s “Got a Nut” revolves around the moral negotiation required to live in a capitalist society. Yes, really.
At the beginning of the episode, everyone in South Park Elementary is furious at Clyde for starting a racist, sexist and homophobic podcast that’s straight from the manosphere. When the guidance counselor tries to reason with him, Clyde tells Mr. Mackey that he’s just trying to get his “nut,” aka trying to make enough money to afford his expenses. Mr. Mackey initially chastises Clyde before the long-standing South Park staple is fired because the government is tightening down on “needless spending in schools.” With nowhere else to go and a massive nut to fund, Mr. Mackey joins ICE.
The former guidance counselor does so well in the role that he’s asked to go to Mar-a-Lago by President Trump. It’s there, framed by giggling young girls and overweight tourists, that “South Park” reveals its JD Vance — another photorealistic character like Trump who’s as small as the kids in the show.
Trump immediately takes a liking to Mr. Mackey and asks him to be the new face of Homeland Security, an offer that ensures Mr. Mackey will make more money than he’s ever had in his life. After Mr. Mackey agrees, Trump says, “Excellent. Now let’s take care of that nut for you.”
Trump then walks into a room where an annoyed Satan is reading in bed, and Trump takes off his pants.
“Would you like me to apply the baby oil to Satan’s asshole, boss?” tiny JD Vance asks.
That’s enough to freak Mr. Mackey out. As he tries to escape Mar-a-Lago, he stumbles into two disturbing rooms where older men are getting massages from young women (one of those women is Dora the Explorer, because “South Park”). He then enters a room where Clyde is sitting by himself, having also secured his nut at a high price. Noticing how sad Clyde is, Mr. Mackey pulls up a chair and listens to him, falling back into the familiar role of guidance counselor. That’s when he says the line that’s ultimately the thesis of this episode.
“I know we all have a lot of pressures and we all want nice things, mkay,” Mr. Mackey says. “But if you’re doing something you don’t really believe in just to make your nut, you’re going to find you just get sadder, and your nut just gets bigger.”
The episode ends with Trump, Vance and the patrons of Mar-a-Lago singing a rendition of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” after their Kristi Noem shoots Krypto the Superdog out of the sky. Oh, right. There’s an entire Kristi Noem subplot where she repeatedly murders puppies as a makeup team rushes around her to fix her rapidly collapsing botox. “South Park” highlights this puppy-murdering subplot so much that the episode’s ending credits, which often show a clip from the episode, instead shows new footage of Noem walking into a pet store with her rifle.
So, yeah. Anyone afraid that “South Park” was going to back down after the premiere and the Paramount-Skydance merger, worry about something else. New episodes air Wednesday on Comedy Central.
