Why South Park Quietly Premiered Season 28 With Its Newest Episode

This episode accommodates spoilers for “South Park” season 28, episode 1, “Twisted Christian.”

Final night time’s “South Park” was bizarre for an entire variety of causes. Preserving with Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s dedication to parodying the traits of the time, “Twisted Christian” sees the mysterious 6-7 meme decide up with nearly each child in class. That is the place I present my age in admitting that I nonetheless do not totally know what the Gen Alpha time period means, however within the episode itself, it is each an inside joke and a trigger for concern amongst different events. Tech billionaire Peter Thiel (Stone) quickly turns into a pawn of Lil Vance and his plans to cease the Antichrist, in any other case referred to as the butt child of President Donald J. Trump (Stone) and Devil (Parker). The episode ends with an “Exorcist”-esque confrontation between Thiel and Eric Cartman (Parker), who can not help however vomit each time somebody indulges the 6-7 bit. There’s even a aspect plot involving Jesus (Stone) and PC Principal (Parker) arguing over what it means to be an actual Christian, and but, none of that is the strangest factor about final night time’s episode.

Hours earlier than “Twisted Christian” aired on Comedy Central, The Wrap reported that the episode would not be the sixth episode of season 27, however the premiere of season 28. It was assumed that season 27 would include 10 episodes all through 2025. The commerce added that, whereas we could also be on a brand new season, the remaining 4 episodes Stone and Parker are contracted for this yr might be launched over the following few months. So, what occurred? The “South Park” co-creators, in addition to Paramount, have but to touch upon the sudden shift, which leaves all of it open to interpretation at this level.

Sneakily premiering “Twisted Christian” as the beginning of a complete new season got here as a shock to simply about everybody. For one, the 15 second promo that South Park Studios launched to its YouTube channel yesterday marketed it as “an all-new episode.” When “Battle of Curiosity” aired on September 24, 2025, it wasn’t billed as a season finale, nor introduced like one. In reality, this week’s episode performs like a pure continuation of the butt child affair. However Paramount+, along with cable listings, has certainly referred to final night time’s spherical of Trump having a teeny, tiny penis jokes because the true begin of season 28. This has understandably induced confusion amongst viewers and shops alike, as they’ve gone backwards and forwards on methods to cowl it.

Stone and Parker had been in a rigorous negotiating course of for the way forward for “South Park” that continued till mere hours earlier than season 27 was slated to debut on Comedy Central. The deal resulted in a staggering $1.5 billion payday that contractually obligates the pair to supply 50 episodes for Comedy Central over the following 5 years, so we’re getting all of them anyway (by way of The Hollywood Reporter). Contemplating the Paramount deal did not particularly point out the quantity of seasons Stone and Parker needed to ship, having a bunch of brief seasons is not totally out of the realm of chance. However the choice to chop season 27 actually brief amid the continued thread of the cartoonish Trump administration, with no indicators as to when one season ends and one other begins, is de facto odd.

“Twisted Christian” being thought-about the beginning of a brand new season would technically make season 27 the second shortest within the sequence’ total run. Seasons 25 and 26 consisted of six episodes every, whereas “Battle of Curiosity” marks the fifth and last episode of its season. The shortest “season” is technically the twenty fourth, which consists of 2020’s “The Pandemic Particular” and 2021’s “South ParQ Vaccination Particular.” These two are totally different from the remainder of the opposite double-length episodes Stone and Parker had executed for Paramount+ like “Put up COVID” and “The Streaming Wars,” as these have been a part of a earlier cope with Paramount and have been marketed as “unique occasions.” Tv enterprise offers may be so complicated typically.

For sure, Season 27 has actually been one of many sequence’ most eventful in fairly a while, as its premiere episode, “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” took ruthless jabs at Trump and Paramount for bending the knee to his present administration. The next episode (“Bought A Nut”) dug even additional, delivering hilarious jabs on the focused ICE raids run by Trump’s present Homeland Safety Secretary, Kristi Noem. Not serving to issues, the present took some warmth when right-wing podcaster Charlie Kirk was assassinated 5 weeks after its parody of him being a “grasp debater,” regardless of Kirk having been flattered by the entire thing (by way of The Hollywood Reporter). God solely is aware of how the remainder of this season goes to unfold, particularly since “Twisted Christian” is the present’s weakest episode since its new Paramount deal. If nothing else, although, it actually provides an attention-grabbing entry level for a battle between Cartman and the incoming Antichrist.

Each episode of “South Park” is presently streaming on Paramount+.