'South Park' (300th Episode) Review: 'Shots' Fires Back At The Anti-Vax Movement

The third episode of season 23 sees Randy boasting about the $300,000 he made from brutally murdering Winnie-the-Pooh, highlighting the fact that South Park has now made it to 300 episodes by doing the precise opposite, Matt Stone and Trey Parker having held on to their artistic 'tegrity by refusing to sell out, or censor their stories.

Last week's episode was perfectly timed, immediately followed by two major Chinese censorship scandals, with gaming company Blizzard and the NBA both coming under fire from fans, the episode amplifying the two scandals through the power of pop culture. And of course, the show itself was promptly banned in China, just as the title predicted.

This week's episode doubles down on that message, but doesn't fixate on it, instead taking aim at anti-vax conspiracy theorists; there's certainly no shortage of targets to ridicule, after all.

Cowardly Cartman is shown to have never, ever accepted the mild pain of a vaccination shot, meaning he briefly faces expulsion from school, for the protection of his fellow classmates.

Of course, Cartman quickly finds a loophole, claiming " religious exemption " (there is no ancient, sacred text that mentions vaccines, for obvious reasons, thus said exemptions are not doctrinally imposed). Cartman, as usual, is making a mockery out of the well-meaning, thoughtlessly exposing his peers to the dangers of disease.

Cartman's mother, Liane, has always been the type to put her own child's feelings above the welfare of others, angrily reacting to the judgement of other parents. But Cartman has the amusingly animalistic ability to escape the clutches of the doctor, and they're going to need the help of a professional pig-catcher to restrain him (animal control experts are always the most effective weapon against Cartman).

As Cartman chooses to believe the repeatedly debunked myth concerning a link between vaccines and autism, he asks his mother if getting his shots is really worth the risk of ending up "artistic," "like Jimmy," or, "like Token."

Cartman's characteristically hateful, ignorant comparison highlights something disturbing about the anti-vax conspiracy theorists - the (imaginary) threat of autism is considered worse than the threat of death.

As Randy continues his obnoxious celebration of ill-gotten wealth, he finds himself ostracized by the townspeople, along with Liane. As the two share their grievances, claiming that they are only doing what's right for their family, both manage to reduce an issue that affects the entire community into a story about themselves.

But the two have a sudden change of heart and decide to make amends, Liane hilariously taking a vaccine for her squealing son, and Randy finally reconciling with Towlie. 'Tegrity Farms is now sticking to its values, and so, it seems, is South Park.

The very final scene finds Cartman at the doctor once again, to face the dreaded shots. But there was a complication when Liane took a vaccination for him; Cartman is horrified to see that his mother has become "artistic," obsessively working on a still life painting in the doctor's office. The absurdity of the scene is wildly appropriate, summarizing the hysterical fears of the anti-vax conspiracy.

While the 300th episode of South Park can't quite compete with the brilliance of last week's episode, the show seems to be only improving with age; remember the 300th episode of The Simpsons?

Yeah, me neither.