{"id":870334,"date":"2025-09-03T23:14:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T04:14:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/03\/south-parks-first-trilogy-was-arguably-its-best\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T23:14:56","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T04:14:56","slug":"south-parks-first-trilogy-was-arguably-its-best","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/03\/south-parks-first-trilogy-was-arguably-its-best\/","title":{"rendered":"South Park\u2019s First Trilogy Was Arguably Its Best"},"content":{"rendered":"
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South Park<\/a><\/em>\u2018s Season 27 debut nabbed the series its highest numbers<\/a> in over 25 years. Specifically, since the debut of Season 3, \u201cRainforest Shmainforest.\u201d And Season 3 is exactly what we\u2019ll be discussing today. Not because of its terrific viewership numbers, but because it was the first season to have a trilogy, which the show actually wouldn\u2019t do again for quite some time. However, it\u2019s almost not even an official trilogy. At least not the same way \u201cImaginationland\u201d is. But it\u2019s a ton of fun, and perhaps even better than \u201cImaginationland.\u201d Fortunately, both of the trilogies are able to stream in full, unlike the two-parter \u201c200\u201d and \u201c201.\u201d Specifically, they\u2019re available on Paramount+<\/a>, as the show has now left its former home of HBO Max.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tVideos by ComicBook.com\t\t<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Here we\u2019re going to go through Season 3\u2019s \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy,\u201d as it were. We\u2019ll unpack each of the three episodes, observe how they (loosely) tie into one another, and what makes each of them so special and iconic.<\/p>\n

The Cartman-Focused \u201cCat Orgy\u201d<\/h2>\n
image courtesy of comedy central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All three episodes of the \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy\u201d have distinctly different focuses, but there is a throughline. Each episode has at least one of the core four boys<\/a> as well as a focus on at least one character who, at that point in time, didn\u2019t receive much spotlight. In the case of \u201cCat Orgy,\u201d it\u2019s Cartman and Shelley Marsh, who really only previously had an integral role in Season 1\u2019s \u201cAn Elephant Makes Love to a Pig.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCat Orgy\u201d isn\u2019t the strongest installment of the \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy\u201d (that would be \u201cJewbilee\u201d), but it is the most impressive. It manages to take Cartman, a character who wore an Adolf Hitler costume with reverence and joy in the first season, and make him come across as compassionate and something of a voice of reason. In Shelley, he meets his match. As his babysitter, she\u2019s calling the shots, and he\u2019s forced to do what she says. When she introduces her 22-year-old boyfriend (Shelly is 12), Skyler, Cartman immediately sees he\u2019s taking advantage of her.<\/p>\n

At first, Cartman is just trying to bust Shelley for having a boyfriend over, and that\u2019s a funny scenario that the episode gets plenty of mileage out of. However, when Skyler dumps Shelley because she won\u2019t give him \u201cany action,\u201d she\u2019s heartbroken. Cartman both tries to cheer her up and ascertain just what she was thinking. Skyler\u2019s a man and she\u2019s just a little girl. He\u2019s a creep and she\u2019s his victim (it seems one of several victims).<\/p>\n

Together, they team up to exact revenge on this guitar-loving pedophile, and it\u2019s quite possibly the only time where Cartman\u2019s vengeful nature actually manages to line up with an ethical response. In other words, it\u2019s an episode that gives Cartman a genuine character arc, which isn\u2019t usually something he experiences. Typically, he does something awful and then faces the repercussions of that action.<\/p>\n

\u201cCat Orgy\u201d also works because it features, well, a cat orgy. Mr. Kitty hasn\u2019t been seen so much in recent years, mostly because there\u2019s only so much Trey Parker and Matt Stone can do with him. He just meows a whole bunch, then gets yelled at by Cartman until he runs off. But, let\u2019s face it, that worked really well throughout the first few seasons (especially for anyone who has a needy cat), and it was never done better than here. Not to mention, this is the episode with a bunch of references to the then-new release Wild Wild West<\/em>, and it\u2019s hilarious hearing Cartman call Clyde Frog \u201cArtemus Clyde Frog.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stan-Focused \u201cTwo Guys Naked in a Hot Tub\u201d<\/h2>\n
image courtesy of comedy central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Even in the early seasons, when he popped up fairly often, Pip was a forgettable character. That was part of his point; he was dismissed by the core four boys and even by the staff of South Park Elementary School (e.g. in Season 1\u2019s \u201cBig Gay Al\u2019s Big Gay Boat Ride,\u201d where Pip is the only kid to not get a helmet during football games). And thanks to episodes \u201c200\u201d and \u201c201\u201d being removed from streaming, now fans can\u2019t even see that he was, in fact, killed off<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But \u201cTwo Guys Naked in a Hot Tub\u201d was an important episode for him. Specifically, in hindsight, it signaled the beginning of his end. This was the first episode where Butters got more than a single little line, and even that was rare prior to this point. In other words, this was the exact point where Butters entered the fray and took over Pip\u2019s role as the oft-dismissed boy, and did it much better<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The narrative of this episode primarily follows Stan, Gerald Broflovski, and Randy Marsh. Gerald and Randy\u2019s B-plot is them breaking away from being boring family men for one night and experimenting. Their definition of experimentation, as it turns out, is watching one another masturbate in a hot tub. Randy spends the rest of the episode worrying that anyone will find out, which a few have, since Gerald immediately spread the word.<\/p>\n

The more interesting part is the A-plot, with Stan trapped in the basement of Mr. Mackey\u2019s house as the party rages on the floor above. The only other kids there are Pip, Butters, and Dougie, all of whom Stan deems the biggest \u201cMelvins\u201d at South Park Elementary. By episode\u2019s end, Stan learns that these \u201cMelvins\u201d aren\u2019t so bad once you get to know them, but that\u2019s swiftly dismissed as soon as Kyle asks him how his night was in the final scene.<\/p>\n

This is the most political episode of the three, and like Stan\u2019s plot, it\u2019s very well done. Specifically, the ATF and its highly controversial handling of Waco. At one point, they blast music just like the ATF did in real life. It was more like they blasted the sounds of screaming and babies crying, but here it\u2019s the music of Cher, a pretty great dig at her then-recent hit album Believe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Kyle and Kenny-Focused \u201cJewbilee\u201d<\/h2>\n
image courtesy of comedy central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJewbilee\u201d pairs Kyle and Kenny, and between the two, it\u2019s Kenny who runs away with the episode. Gerald and Sheila Broflovski are heading to Mr. Mackey\u2019s meteor shower party, therefore solidifying that as the trilogy\u2019s true connective tissue. They drop Kyle, Kenny, and Ike off at what amounts to a Jewish Boy Scout camp, which ends up being a pretty exclusionary place. An Asian boy is thrown out into the cold (where a bear is known to be lurking), and anyone who is not \u201cKosher,\u201d like Kenny, faces the same fate.<\/p>\n

And Kenny does face that fate once Moses arrives. And in Moses, we get the most bizarre South Park <\/em>character up to this point. His appearance and voice are yanked straight from the Master Control Program in Tron<\/em>, and it\u2019s hard to say why they went in that direction, just as it\u2019s hard to pinpoint why it works so, so well.<\/p>\n

\u201cJewbilee\u201d has the best sense of focus of the three episodes. The single locale works really well here, even better than Cartman\u2019s house or Mr. Mackey\u2019s house. It\u2019s a fresh location, and because of that, the episode feels a bit fresher by extension. It was also a heartwarming way to round out the trilogy. Kenny saves the day and the Cartman (not to mention the heads of the camp) learn to become more accepting of outsiders. And having the episode\u2019s villain, Garth, say he\u2019s from the Synagogue of Antisemites is really a top-tier early-season joke.<\/p>\n

The Argument for the \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy\u201d <\/h2>\n
image courtesy of comedy central<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

South Park <\/em>has always been a risk-taking show and arguably the best example of that came from the first time it had a two-part episode. That would be Season 1\u2019s finale, \u201cCartman\u2019s Mom Is a Dirty Sl-t\u201d and the sophomore episode of Season 2, \u201cCartman\u2019s Mom Is Still a Dirty Sl-t.\u201d That two-parter wasn\u2019t a risk so much because it ended a season on a cliffhanger, but because when the second season debuted, it did not answer the question that had been posed at the end of Season 1. Instead, it did a Terrance and Phillip special.<\/p>\n

The \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy\u201d was a different kind of risk. It was Parker and Stone\u2019s effort to see how the central quartet could function when they were forced to separate, and in that, there\u2019s the argument why this trilogy is the best.<\/p>\n

It shows that they can, in fact, each have a compelling narrative and even (kind of) grow as characters. Cartman shows his sweet side to Shelley, Stan opens his mind to individuals he\u2019s openly thought weren\u2019t worth his time, Kyle learns to accept accountability for his choices, and Kenny sacrifices himself<\/a> to save a group of people who just threw him out of their gathering.<\/p>\n

The \u201cMeteor Shower Trilogy\u201d is also incredibly rewatchable, and it\u2019s the one trilogy (or even multi-part narrative in general) where each episode is fun and functions as a single piece. If viewed as a trilogy, it works. If you just check out \u201cCat Orgy,\u201d that works too.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s your favorite trilogy of South Park <\/em>episodes? Let us know in the comments below!<\/p>\n

<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Ben Hathaway
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Park \u2018s Season 27 debut nabbed the series its highest numbers in over 25 years. Specifically, since the debut of Season 3, \u201cRainforest Shmainforest.\u201d And Season 3 is exactly what we\u2019ll be discussing today. Not because of its terrific viewership numbers, but because it was the first season to have a trilogy, which the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":870335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1306,683],"tags":[12752,7070],"class_list":{"0":"post-870334","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-parks","8":"category-south","9":"tag-parks","10":"tag-south"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=870334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/870334\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/870335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=870334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=870334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=870334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}