In my last article, I listed the ten best episodes of South Park ever made. While making the list, I felt bad for having to leave out some episodes that are truly great but not good enough to make the top ten. I considered making it a top 20 list, but felt that would ruin the point of the whole article. The goal was to name the ten best episodes, not identify all the good ones. That would take weeks. Instead, I decided to write another article about twenty great South Park episodes. They may not be the best, but they sure are good. In this article I'll write about ten and write about the next ten in my next article. Of course, there are SPOILERS, so be careful.
1. "Woodland Critter Christmas"- The last episode of Season 8, this is one of the best South Park episodes ever. Some people told me that I should have included this along with the Imaginationland series in my previous articles ("10 Best South Park Episodes Ever"), but I feel it's a good enough episode to stand alone. The 200 series got the tie-in to "Scott Tenorman Must Die" because it is too critical to the series's plot. Both "Woodland Critter Christmas" and the Imaginationland series can be seen as seperate entities because they do not need to be supported by the other. This episode just missed my top ten after losing out to the Coon series. This episode turns out to be nothing more than a story by Cartman, but the plot is too good to ignore.
2. "Good Times With Weapons"- From the last episode of Season 8 to the first, you can find this episode on some best episode lists, but it didn't make the cut here. The best parts of this episode are the fight sequences, which are shown in traditional anime style. Changing up the norm doesn't always work, but here it did. The ending sequence was also pretty great.
3. "Medicinal Fried Chicken"- In an poll on southparkstudios.com, fans voted this episode as the best of Season 14. The episode, which deals with the legalization of marijuana, focuses primarily on Randy Marsh and Cartman. It's usually a lot of fun to see Randy in a prominent role, he's an intelligent man but also dim-witted. Another thing that makes this episode stand out: a shockingly sobering moment towards the end of the episode.
4. "Super Fun Time"- The seventh episode of Season 12 is one of the most underrated in South Park history. There is no real underlying message, but it doesn't matter. Like in "The Death of Eric Cartman", the comedic duo of Cartman and Butters really shines. It also highlights the relationship between Stan and Wendy, which we don't get to see to often.
5. "Kenny Dies"- This is easily one of the most depressing episodes of South Park. The episode came about when Trey Parker and Matt Stone (the creators of the show) decided to kill off Kenny permanently and make Butters a main character. Without this episode, we would never have had the classic "Butters' Very Own Episode". Of course, Kenny was brought back, but at the time, this was supposed to be it for him. It resulted in a very somber episode that moved us all.
6. "Fun with Veal"- This is one of the Season 6 episodes in which Butters replaced Kenny as a main character (see previous entry). He provides some comic effect in this episode that Kenny could not have pulled off. Though all four main characters work as a team here (something that is surprisingly uncommon), Cartman steals the episode with his great negotiating skills. Cartman is typically a total jerk, so it was nice to see him work with the others. That's something that should happen more often.
7. "Lil' Crime Stoppers"- The fifth episode of Season 7, this episode is well-liked but generally underrated. The plot focuses on the four boys playing detective, and what happens when things get out of hand. The Park County Police Force show up in this episode, something that should happen more often. This episode highlights the fact that the four main characters are just kids, something we sometimes forget.
8. "Christian Rock Hard"- Three episodes after "Lil' Crime Stoppers" came "Christian Rock Hard", one of the best episodes of Season 7. In this episode, Cartman and Kyle have a bet to see who can make a platinum album first. Cartman forms a Christian rock band with Token and Butters while Kyle is distracted by the FBI. The satirical takes on downloading music illegally and the world of Christian music are pretty great.
9. "Pre-School"- This Season 8 episode shows what our favorite animated fourth graders were like when they were fourth-graders. In the episode, it is revealed that Stan, Cartman, Kyle, Kenny, and Butters were involved in an incident that took place five years ago. They let another kid take the fall, resulting in that kid going to Juvie. Now, that kid, Trent Boyett, has been released and he is looking for revenge.
10. "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow"- A spoof on the movie The Day After Tomorrow, this episode aired in Season 8. It's a huge fan favorite and gave a great satirical take on the climate change debate. In the episode, Stan and Cartman destroy a beaver dam, leading to the flooding of a nearby city. While the whole city's response to the impending disaster of global warming, it is the reporting of the news channel that makes this episode so entertaining.
As you can see, South Park has a plethora of good episodes. In a future article, I'll list even more great episodes.
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