City People
| "City People" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 25 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Featured music | "Whenever You Are Ready" by Tomas Skyldeberg |
| Production code | 2503 |
| Original air date | February 16, 2022 |
"City People" is the third episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 314th episode overall of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on February 16, 2022.[1]
Plot
Liane Cartman interviews at a South Park Realtors office, looking to become a real estate agent. She is told that South Park is seeing a large influx of city people moving into South Park and she is hired. When she tells her son Eric Cartman about her job, he is stunned. Eric visits Butters Stotch and says that he believes that anyone can become a real estate agent, so he decides to get into the business himself. When Liane and Eric show a house to two different families from the city simultaneously, Liane berates his efforts and he threatens to start a separate own real estate agency. Eric later begins showing the homes of his friends while they are still living in them. At the South Park Chamber of Commerce, Mayor McDaniels speaks with local business owners about the influx of city people with their "city money" and "city lifestyles" which they initially support. At South Park Realtors, the office sees that they are starting to lose their customers to South Park Realty Group, which is Eric's company. They believe that Eric's picture for his company is causing them to lose business, so they take new pictures with each agent bending their back in an exaggerated manner, causing their backs to snap.
Eric makes a video advertising his business which increases his sales even more. Eventually the town is completely overrun by city people looking for houses. At the Chamber of Commerce, Tuong Lu Kim warns the other members that what city people hate most is other city people and that eventually they may leave. Mayor McDaniels asks Jimbo Kern to go to his gun store and get supplies, as she declares open season on real estate agents. When Eric shows Tolkien Black's house to a group of city people, Liane chases him down in anger. The members of the Chamber of Commerce break down the doors of South Park Realtors, but all the agents there have broken their backs from trying to take new pictures. The agents warn the Chamber of Commerce members that Eric is showing Tolkien's old house and has been upsetting the balance of real estate in South Park. Eric's mother finally confronts him, stating she understands that he is scared to see his mother taking a job which will in turn take her attention away from him. As the Chamber of Commerce members open fire on the house, Liane concedes that she will quit her real estate job and never take another job again. Liane and Eric announce to the Chamber of Commerce that they have quit, and in turn, all of the city people suddenly leave town. However, Eric and Liane have to move to an abandoned hot dog stand as it is now the only place they can afford.
Reception
An unnamed reviewer for Bubbleblabber gave the episode 9 out of 10 rating, praising its ability to work without the inclusion of three of the main four boys, along with its inclusion of secondary characters such as Liane Cartman and Lu Kim. The reviewer appreciated the hits on 'city people', commenting that "As someone who has grown up about 45 minutes from NYC, I can't say I agree with the assessment that they would all drive out to South Park in Teslas as most don't even drive cars…but LA residents would. Regardless, the personalities are spot on regardless of which coast you pick, and Matt Stone and Trey Parker know plenty about both in which to satirize. From douchey La Croix drinks and constant talk of pilates, I'm not sure a documentary about NYC/LA assholes could be more of a direct shot than what we were presented here".[2]
Dan Caffrey of The A.V. Club gave the episode a "B+", primarly praising the hits on real estate agents, while also pointing out that Matt and Trey did not seem to have much to say on the city people themselves. He still generally enjoyed the episode, commenting that "'City People' never quite explodes into the kind of bonkers finale promised by the episode's front half, And yet the quieter look into Cartman and Liane's codependent relationship proves to be interesting in its own right." Also saying that "There's something both fascinating and depressing about seeing Cartman's mom—the butt of so many jokes over the years—take literal agency and try to make something of herself, only to be thwarted by her son's parasitic needs."[3]
