Scene from the “South Park” Season 28 “Turkey Trot” episode.
Comedy Central/Paramount+
Trey Parker and Matt Stone returned with South Park Season 28, Episode 4 on Wednesday night with a Thanksgiving episode that takes a break from the plotline involving President Donald Trump and Satan and is set almost entirely in South Park.
Titled Turkey Trot, the episode is still very much political, as Parker and Stone once again find creative ways to work in topical issues relating to Washington, D.C., and a key member of Trump’s administration.
Note: Major spoilers are mentioned throughout the rest of this article.
The episode aired on cable’s Comedy Central on Wednesday night before making its streaming debut on Paramount+ on Thursday morning. The Thanksgiving episode begins with Mayor McDaniels heading up a meeting of the South Park Chamber of Commerce, where chamber members, including Randy Marsh, are trying to figure out a way to fund the town’s annual Turkey Trot.
Randy mentions that his now-defunct Tegridy Farm used to sponsor the event and he begins to choke up as members of the chamber talk of how everybody is going through tough times. One person suggests the City Asian Pop-Up Store as a potential sponsor, which prompts a stern “no” from owner Lu Tuong Lu Kim, who says he has to pay for tariffs and is “more f—ed than anybody.”
Eventually, one of the chamber members says, “Of course there is someone who’d be willing to give South Park a bunch of money … I mean, they’re giving money to everyone else.”
After a lightbulb goes off in McDaniels’ head, the scene cuts to a live-action commercial of how Saudi Arabia is sponsoring the 28th annual South Park Turkey Trot, where the winner will be awarded $5,000.
Then, in a reference to the recent controversial Riyadh Comedy Festival that featured several prominent stand-up comedians from the West, the commercial ends with the disclaimer, “Disparaging remarks toward the Saudi Royal Family are strictly prohibited.”
The action then cuts to South Park Elementary, where Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman — back after being held by Peter Thiel to help prevent the birth of Trump and Satan’s Antichrist — are trying to figure out a way to win the Turkey Trot.
Cartman claims he has a scientific way of recruiting a runner to win the race and, being Cartman, approaches the Tolkien Black to join their team with the racially charged line, “The data says your race always wins races.” Tolkien begins to walk away, and Cartman pleads how he could really help the needy by joining them, noting how Stan’s family has lost their home. Tolkien then agrees to join the team.
Cartman and Tolkien Black in “South Park’s” Thanksgiving “Turkey Trot” episode.
Comedy Central/Paramount+
Mr. Hegseth Goes To South Park
Part of the South Park Turkey Trot episode is set at the South Park Police Department, where Det. Harrison Yates is warned in a phone call from the nation’s capital that if the PD doesn’t release Peter Thiel from custody, they will send in Pete Hegseth and the Department of War.
Seconds later, Hegseth appears in the police station and Harrison literally kicks him out. Thiel was arrested at the end of Season 28, Episode 3 as he was holding a demonically possessed Cartman captive as part of a plan to prevent the birth of President Donald Trump and Satan’s baby.
While Hegseth is making a video about the Department of War, he gets a call from Trump and is admonished for not getting Thiel released. When Hegseth asks Trump if he can use “the full might of the Department of War” to extract Thiel, the president gives him approval, adding, “And Hegseth, don’t just make a bunch of content. Like, actually go and do something.”
Meanwhile, as the South Park Turkey Trot gets underway, Cartman is enraged by Tolkien dropping out of the race for political reasons because Saudi Arabia is sponsoring the race. At Tolkien’s house, Cartman tries to tell him how Saudi Arabia is trying to be progressive, and, alluding to the Riyadh Comedy Festival, says that getting “them to pay for American things is good. ‘Cause guess what? If Saudi Arabia is out paying for sporting events, they’re not out hacking up reporters and inviting Pete Davidson to do comedy.”
Tolkien still isn’t convinced and just wants to be left alone, but Cartman grabs his Xbox and bolts toward town and Tolkien runs after him. Eventually, they both inadvertently end up running in the Turkey Trot.
Hegseth, meanwhile, is spying on the activity on the outskirts of town with a bunch of troops but mistakes the crowd at the Turkey Trot for an “Antifa uprising.” Once Hegseth hears Mayor McDaniels fire off a gun to start the race, he yells, “Shots fired! Shots fired!” and begins a livestream, saying they’re going to take on the “liberal terrorists” he hears “screaming and chanting” behind him.
While Hegseth is devising plans to get more content, the Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shows up on the scene with ICE agents to offer assistance. Hegseth, however, looks at Noem’s offer to help Noem as a way of Homeland Security competing to make its own content. Down on the street, Hegseth, backed by military troops, fires teargas at the runners in the Turkey Trot. With the running route blocked, Randy and his team try to find an alternate path to the finish line.
Hegseth is then shown flying in a helicopter over the crowd to the tune of Kenny Loggins’ Top Gun classic movie track “Danger Zone,” but the lyrics are altered and don’t paint the defense secretary in the most positive light. Eventually, Det. Harrison tosses Hegseth in jail alongside Thiel.
Back at the Turkey Trot, Tolkien calls out Cartman for being a racist, saying, “Just because I’m Black, doesn’t mean that I run fast!” At the same time, however, Tolkien accidentally backs across the Turkey Trot finish line to win the $5,000 prize. The win results in Cartman screaming, “Yes! Race science!”
Back at the South Park PD jail, Hegseth, standing next to Thiel, warns, “South Park’s going to pay for this! They’re all gonna pay!”
While Cartman showed no signs of being demonically possessed in the South Park Thanksgiving episode, the possession is bound to re-emerge as the show heads into its Season 28 finale on Dec. 10.
At that time, Trump is all but guaranteed to have more screen time as he and Satan await the birth of the Antichrist — that is, unless, Hegseth and Thiel get out of jail and head to Washington, D.C., with a repossessed Cartman to prevent it.
South Park Season 28, Episode 4 — Turkey Trot— is new on streaming on Paramount+.