Help, My Teenager Hates Me!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Help, My Teenager Hates Me!"
South Park episode
Episode no.Season 25
Episode 5
Directed byTrey Parker
Written byTrey Parker
Featured music"My Name Is Ruin" by Gary Numan
Production code2505
Original air dateMarch 9, 2022 (2022-03-09)
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Back to the Cold War"
Next →
"Credigree Weed St. Patrick's Day Special"
South Park (season 25)
List of episodes

"Help, My Teenager Hates Me!" is the fifth episode of the twenty-fifth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 316th episode overall of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on March 9, 2022.[1] This episode features the boys having to learn to deal with the angst and frustration of teenagers, as the boys want to play Airsoft and find teenagers are their only willing participants.

Plot[]

Kyle Broflovski excitedly begs his father Gerald to allow him to purchase an Airsoft gun, as he wants to play with his friends Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, who have already bought their equipment. Gerald is warned by the Airsoft store employee that mostly teenagers play this game. When the gang arrives at the Airsoft field, they find a group of teenagers wanting to play but they refuse to play against younger kids, so the field manager splits the teams into two groups, with Kyle and Stan playing with one group of teens, and Eric and Kenny with another group of teens. Everyone enjoys playing the game together and as the kids head home, they comment how they "all have teenagers now". At Kyle's home, teenager Trevor arrives, immediately asks for food and then wants to be left alone. Stan receives a call from another teenager who does not know how to prepare instant ramen, while another teenager enters Eric's home holding a bottle of lotion and demanding to use the bathroom. When Kyle meets Kenny at his home to discuss their problems with their teenagers, Kenny reveals that a teen is at his house complaining of his pimples. Kyle realizes that the teens are something they have never dealt with before.

Kenny and Stan attempt to play another Airsoft game with their teens, but Eric and Kyle are unable to join them as their teens have demanded to be taken to the store but are depressed and moody while there. At night, Stan's teen calls him to chastise him for using the word "gay" during their Airsoft battle and then falls into a depression as he purposefully burns his hand with a lighter. As the kids discuss their mutual problems with one another, Kyle reveals a book he has purchased titled Help, My Teenager Hates Me! which suggests they take their teenagers camping. When they do so, the teenagers continue their general state of malaise. Kyle sadly tells Gerald that he no longer wants to play Airsoft as he can no longer stand being with the teens, but they also have no one else to play with. Gerald suggests the kids instead play with their fathers. Gerald takes Randy Marsh and Stuart McCormick to the Airsoft store and uses his American Express Platinum card to purchase "one of everything". At the Airsoft range, the kids and the teens challenge one another to one last battle, with the losing team agreeing to never play at the Airsoft range again. Just as the bet is made, Gerald, Randy, and Stuart arrive. They tell Eric that they have brought along one more player, Jimbo Kern. The teens are at the cusp of defeat and begin hiding when Randy places a jar of marijuana in the field to lure them into the open. As the teens approach the jar, Randy throws an airsoft grenade at them and knocks them all out at once. As the boys and the adults head toward Eric's home for a meal, Randy raises his rifle towards the kids, asking the other adults if he should "take them out now", but Gerald stops him, saying that they still have a few more years before the kids "turn into monsters".

Reception[]

Dan Caffrey with The A.V. Club gave the episode a "C+", calling it "frustratingly one-note" and stating in his review that "The problem is, the nonstop apathy and frustration of the teenagers becomes boring to watch. While [Trey] Parker and [Matt] Stone are undoubtedly commenting on the real-life challenges that can come with raising an adolescent—the selfishness, the lethargy, the irritability—the flatlined demeanor feels out of place on a show like South Park." He also noted that the final Airsoft battle scene featured "jerky camera movements reminiscent of gritty war films like Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, and The Hurt Locker."[2]

Max Nocerino with Future of the Force gave the episode a B+, while the website rated the episode four out of five stars. Nocerino ended his review stating "This episode was extremely, subtly funny. It wasn't brute force in your face offensive. It simply exaggerated a very common trope of American life. Teenagers 'hate' their parents and parents don't know how to reach them. I enjoyed myself and laughed out loud several times, which is a good sign (at least for me)."[3]

References[]

  1. ^ "South Park's 25th season continues Wednesday, March 9th at 8 pm ET/PT on Comedy Central with 'Help, My Teenager Hates Me!'" (Press release). March 7, 2022. Retrieved March 7, 2022 – via Comedy Central.
  2. ^ Caffrey, Dan (March 9, 2022). "South Park goes old-school in an episode that never quite takes off". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 10, 2022.
  3. ^ Nocerino, Max (March 10, 2022). "TV Review South Park Season 25: Episode 5 (Help, My Teenager Hates Me!)". Future of the Force. Retrieved March 10, 2022.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""