This week's South Park featured a clever setup, with Canada exploiting the freemium game phenomenon in order to renovate their own country. However, much of this episode was wasted on longwinded explanations of freemium games and how they worked. That said, the episode picked up steam when Satan arrived to help Stan and later do battle with the Canadian Devil himself: Beelzeboot!
And yes, I get that the episode was trying to draw a line between freemium games, gambling, and alcohol addiction, but that all seemed like a bit of a stretch. I’d rather South Park get to the business of making me laugh rather than teaching me about the ins-and-outs of mobile-gaming’s nefarious moneymaking strategy. Which isn’t to say this episode didn’t make me laugh at all—it definitely had some funny moments. I’m a sucker for any appearance by Canadians and Satan, so it’s nice to get an episode with solid moments from each.