20 Best ‘South Park’ Episodes From the Last 10 Years, Ranked

South Parkis a phenomenon of television that is still going strong almost three decades since its original debut. In its inception, the filthy content and unsparingly dark humor differentiated Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s television show from other animated programs aimed at adults. However, South Park changed its premise for the better as it honed in on its satirical themes over the course of its later seasons.

Similar to other animated sitcoms like The Simpsonsand Family Guy, South Park’s most recent seasons don’t necessarily hold up to the genius of its original classics. That being said, the last ten years of South Park have allowed the show to address such modern topics as corporate sponsorship, the acquisition of Lucasfilm, virtual reality, and the Donald Trump presidency. Here are the ten best South Park episodes of the last decade.

20

“Sermon on the Mount”

Season 27, Episode 1 (2025)

“Sermon on the Mount” instantly provedto be one of the most important South Park episodes ever due to the controversy surrounding its release. Although the debut for Season 27 had been pushed back due to the impending merger between Paramount and Skydance, Parker and Stone clearly took issue with the administration of Donald Trump, whose FCC had the ability to sink or save the deal.

“Sermon on the Mount” is one of the most scathing episodes that South Park has ever aired, as it mercilessly makes fun of Trump, and even features a few callbacks to the events of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. Although the Trump administration claimed that the show was no longer relevant, “Sermon on the Mount” proved that South Park still had the ability to be shocking, provocative, and timely in the best ways.

Season 19, Episode 8 (2015)

South Park has always done a great job of making fun of its own release, as Parker and Stone have been quick to satirize the nature of streaming, corporate sponsorship, and native advertising. When Stephen and Linda Stotch find it impossible to read the news without encountering some form of advertising, Jimmy gets into his own adventure when he realizes that the online ads might actually be somewhat malicious. Although Jimmy rarely gets to be the lead, “Sponsored Content” allowed him to have a prominent role, as he even got to stand up to PC Principal.

“Sponsored Content” lampooned many hot-button issues that were relevant in 2015, and even featured a humorous recreation of a presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton. Ironically, the episode also seemingly predicted the rapid ways in which artificial intelligence would become normalized in everyday life within the next decade.

18

“Unfulfilled”

Season 22, Episode 9 (2018)

“Unfulfilled” is another scathing indictment of a public media figure, as the episode turns Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos into a science fiction villain of an alien race. Parker and Stone have indicated in the past that they are big fans of the original Star Trekseries, and “Unfulfilled” has some humorous parallels to the premise of the original pilot, “The Cage.” Ironically, it’s Butters’ love of riding his bike that sets off the big events.

South Park proved once again why it is such an important piece of social and political commentary, as “Unfulfilled” has some surprisingly clever insights on what the ramifications of an Amazon factory would be for a place like South Park. Although it does come with economic benefits and employs many people, the factory also has dehumanizing conditions and mistreats its workers, leading to a strike and revolution that grows increasingly chaotic.

17

“Tegridy Farms”

Season 22, Episode 4 (2018)

“Tegridy Farms” was the beginning of one of the most controversial storylines in South Park, as some fans felt that the plotline of Randy Marsh becoming a marijuana farmer took up too much screen time. While it may have overstayed its welcome, the initial introduction to Randy’s scheme in Season 22 was undeniably hilarious, as he is a character whose ignorance and bad luck are seemingly boundless.

Randy is one of the greatest creations in the history of South Park, as he is both completely convinced that he can pull off his elaborate plans and incredibly incompetent whenever he is tasked with additional responsibility. Although Randy’s new endeavor would eventually lead to more conflict within his family unit, it is admirable that Parker and Stone believed that the character was strong enough to justify a detour from the rest of the show’s events.

16

“Hummels & Heroin”

Season 21, Episode 5 (2017)

“Hummels & Heroin” is another South Park episode that tackled a controversial issue, as it offered an analogy to the ongoing opioid epidemic by comparing it to a situation in which Stan accidentally becomes a drug mule for his grandfather, who lives in a retirement community. While the idea of comparing life in a senior citizens’ facility to that of a prison is inherently funny, the episode also shines a spotlight on the mistreatment of the elderly, who have been effectively abandoned by their families.

“Hummels & Heroin” offered Stan the opportunity to face a morally dubious situation, which developed his character in an interesting way. While it was fascinating to see Stan consider whether helping his grandfather was worth committing crimes, the episode also makes fun of many of the ongoing controversies about the Chuck-E-Cheese restaurants by featuring a ridiculous recreation of their sponsored mascots.

15

“Skant Hunt”

Season 20, Episode 2 (2016)

Cyberbullying has been an interesting theme throughout South Park, as the series is old enough that it began when communication through the Internet’s messaging forums was still a relative novelty. Although the series had often lampooned the fact that Cartman is incredibly cruel in the way he treats people, “Skant Hunt” created a mystery around an enigmatic Internet troll who turns out to be Gerald Broflovski.

“Skant Hunt” shows the blend of hilarity and emotional maturity that is essential to South Park. While the degree to which Gerald’s comments get under everyone’s skin is hilarious, it also has something to say about the pressures to create an online persona. The episode was also able to subvert expectations about Gerald, who has always been seen as a more mild-mannered character in comparison to the other adults in South Park, such as Randy Marsh.

14

“The Big Fix”

Season 25, Episode 2 (2022)

“The Big Fix” featured one of the most hilarious “retcons” in the history of South Park, as it revealed that there had been a misperception about the name of the character always known as “Token Black.” While initially it has been assumed that Token received his name because he was one of the few standout characters of color within the series, “The Big Fix” revealed that his name was actually “Tolkien,” a reference to the legendary author behind The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and many other iconic fantasy stories.

“The Big Fix” pointed out the latent ways that racism emerges, and actually recontextualized some of the previous seasons. Although Tolkien has been at the center of some of the more interesting South Park storylines early on in its run, “The Big Fix” indicated that Stone and Parker were interested in continuing his development well into the future of the series.

13

“Stunning and Brave”

Season 19, Episode 1 (2015)

“Stunning and Brave” marked the debut of PC Principal, one of the more divisive characters in the history of South Park. Following the firing of Principal Victoria, South Park’s latest educational leader is tasked with implementing extremist social policies at the elementary school.

“Stunning and Brave” examines the double-sided nature of some progressive thought leaders, and indicates that PC Principal doesn’t exactly practice what he preaches; while he is often stating that he wants a greater sense of equality, PC Principal only seems interested in bullying and demeaning others. The archetype of a cruel and unfeeling principal is common in coming-of-age stories, but South Park was able to reinvent a supposedly familiar storyline and take it in the most outrageous direction possible. PC Principal may be the only character who is so ridiculous that he actually makes Cartman look reasonable in comparison.

12

“The Scoots”

Season 22, Episode 5 (2018)

South Park has a surprisingly deep frame of reference when it comes to homaging classic movies, as it is very clear that Parker and Stone are major cinephiles. Although the show often makes fun of current trends in popular culture (as it benefits from airing so shortly after production), “The Scoots” manages to be a great parody of the classic Alfred Hitchcockhorror film The Birds.

“The Scoots” makes fun of the growing popularity of ride-sharing apps by showing how it becomes an epidemic that takes over South Park. It’s a pointed work of social satire that also pulls off being one of the best Halloween episodes in the show’s entire history; similar to other animated programs aimed at adults, such as The Simpsons or Family Guy, South Park has consistently been able to go above and beyond with its spookier installments.

11

“Board Girls”

Season 23, Episode 7 (2019)

The storyline revolving around the Dungeons & Dragons universe is one of South Park’s best, as the series has been able to lampoon everything from The Lord of the Rings to Game of Thrones. “Board Girls” features a significant reckoning for Stan, Butters, Cartman, Stan, and Clyde when a mandate by Mr. Mackey forces them to include Tammy and Nicole into their gaming club.

“Board Girls” was able to examine headlines involving gender-based athletic competitions whilst also tying into the ongoing threat of PC Principal and his domination over South Park Elementary. Although it is Swanson that ends up being the villain of the episode, Tammy and Nicole are given an empowering moment at the end in which they are able to speak up for themselves. It’s a reminder that South Park is actually able to make salient points in regards to the way the kids interact with one another, even if it is done in the funniest way possible.