When it comes to stirring the flames of the political present, South Park is no stranger to pushing boundaries. Hence the morbidly titled “Dead Kids,” the upcoming premiere episode of the 22nd season. Airing Wednesday, September 26th at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central, the latest from creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s animated farce explores what happens when Stan and company’s school is rocked by a mass shooting. There’s also the matter of Stan failing his math test.
According to the official episode description for “Dead Kids”:
Sharon is overreacting to everything these days and Randy can’t cope… Randy is desperate to help Sharon get her emotions under control and Cartman unexpectedly fails his math test.
In the above clip from the premiere, Stan’s mother, Sharon pushes her son into telling his father, Randy about the failed math test and the school shooting. “Who shot up the school? Was it you?” Randy accusingly asks his son. When Stan says it wasn’t him, however, the father quickly returns to the flunked exam. “Well, what’s this about failing a math quiz?”
Considering the current state of the gun control debate in America, especially since it seems another school shooting happens every few weeks, South Park‘s decision to plow straight into the subject matter is as shocking as it is unsurprising. After all, back in 2015 the show plunged into the gun control debate with the Cartman family arguing amongst themselves while brandishing weapons.
Season 22 of South Park will debut on 9/26 on Comedy Central.
