Warning! The following contains spoilers for the South Park episode "You Like That On Your Face." Stream the episode with a Paramount+ subscription, and read at your own risk!
South Park got into the weird trend of "looksmaxxing" in its latest episode, and somehow worked in Backrooms into the whole thing as well. The movie is crushing it on streaming, so I'm happy to see it played a vital part in fixing a common complaint fans have had with Randy Marsh.
Randy is one of the Comedy Central show's best characters, to the point he's dominated storylines in recent years. Unfortunately, it's hard to work Randy into whatever the main characters are doing from time to time, and it feels the show addressed that by turning Randy into a child.
Randy Went Into The Backrooms, And Came Out As A Child
For those who haven't seen Backrooms, critics will confirm it's a pretty weird movie where crazy stuff can happen. Stan witnessed that firsthand when he went into a Sephora in search of products that would give him "aura" and ended up briefly trapped in the confusing space.
Stan escaped unscathed, but Randy wasn't so lucky. He came home later looking like a fourth grader, and while he maintained it was his diet and bike riding that led to his change, Stan knew better. Randy had gone into Sephora, got trapped in the Backrooms, and was turned back into a child.
Now That Randy's A Kid, He Can Hang Out With The Boys More
Sharon made Randy go to school now that he's a kid again, which means he'll now be in class with Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman. To me, that's exciting, because it allows him to interact with the boys on their level, which we haven't seen before in South Park.
Of course, there's a possibility Randy is an adult the very next episode again, but I tend to think the show did this intentionally. With the end of the Tegridy Farms storyline, it feels like South Park needed something new for Randy. This seems like a good choice, and something that could lead to some more memorable moments.
It also feels like something you'd see in classic South Park, which quietly addresses fan complaints about the series becoming too politicized. The show has seriously dialed back its stories directly related to President Donald Trump, though it has rebranded as "South America" and featured a parody of him in the intro as a recurring dig. I wouldn't expect the political references to go away completely, but it does feel like there are efforts being made to make this latest season feel more like old seasons.
We'll see how Little Randy fares being back in grade school, and if his Gen-X attitude can hang with the Gen Alphas. He's off to a good start so far, so I do hope this change sticks as future episodes of this season are made.
