South Park: Z is for Zimmerman

Mixing news with popular culture is one of the strengths of South Park, and is also perhaps one of the reasons that the series continues to draw in so many viewers after all these years. I personally was expecting a Government Shutdown episode, but perhaps Matt Stone and Trey Parker are waiting to see how it is resolved before they tackle it with the fourth graders. Instead, the meld in this episode depicts a story that brings together events from last summer. Still, although it might have been more relevant if it had aired in July, it also might have been "too soon" to be poking fun at a case that had folks across the country up in arms. Actually, it might still be a bit early to do so, as I found it a little difficult to write about the events of the episode, and I didn't particularly follow the case very closely. Regardless, it's shaping up to be a strong season!

South Park "World War Zimmerman" (S17E03): Cartman hangs out with Token, then acts like Token is bothered by things that happened long ago. [haha, Les Mis and French history.]

Comedy Central

Cartman dreams that he is Brad Pitt, and Token is among those attacking him after the Zimmerman trial's verdict outrages African Americans. [play on World War Z with black people as zombies.] Cartman and Token clear the air in the counselor's office, but the former decides to leave town, as "the outbreak is starting." [haha, Tesla jokes.] He hops aboard a plane and tells everyone that there will be no Denver left to go back to, but when there's a black guy in the restroom, panic breaks out and the plane crashes. Cartman and one other person are the only survivors, but when Cartman finds out he just can't shoot Token to stop the plague, he decides to go to a Stand Your Ground state (Florida), where he heads to murder George Zimmerman. Another plane crashes again, and the same two survivors don black hoodies so they can't be seen. [that joke is a little touchy.] She's run over, but Cartman keeps going.

The government goes to Zimmerman's house to ask him to shoot another African-American kid, even though he has "given that up." [this is where I start to feel icky about recapping...] But, he shoots Cartman, and gets the chair for shooting a white kid instead of a black one. [errr....] When Cartman recovers, he shoots Token (whom Cartman believes is Patient Zero) in a spray-painted circle on the street. He's found not guilty, and is soon panicked enough to bring down another plane when Token gets upset at how the Stand Your Ground law allegedly works. [I didn't actually see World War Z, on account of the fact that I don't really do supernatural stuff, but I understand this is an exaggeration of the planes crashing in the film.]