South Park went deep on deepfakes this week, with dual plotlines in Colorado and Washington centered around the concerning use of false video and the implications of its widespread use — be it for revenge porn or to excuse real footage.
We start this week’s episode with our beloved Butters, feeling like he was used, hellbent on revenge against his ex-girlfriend, Red, over the whole Labubu Satanic ritual incident at her birthday party last season. So the sweet boy decides to create an A.I. deepfake video of her being urinated upon by Santa Claus. Which is bad, but not quite as bad as the video Red makes of Butters having sex with Totoro, the lovable creature from the 1988 Hayao Miyazaki animated fantasy film, My Neighbor Totoro. And, yes, Butters defiling Totoro is something we just can’t unsee.
The plotline thickens surrounding Eric Cartman and Peter Thiel’s trip to Washington to battle The Antichrist — a kidnapping that is being covered up with deep fake AI videos of the young resident obnoxious anti-hero — as the boys’ mother starts asking questions of the local police. But Detective Harris is more concerned with the apparent series of rapes at South Park Elementary, and are soon questioning Butters about his relationship with Totoro (referred to here as “hat forest dwelling piece of shit”). And that’s when goons from Studio Ghibli in Japan show up, calling B.S. on the hard-earned work of animators being easily copied by AI deep fakes. They are soon thrown into South Park’s jail.
In Washington, Vice President J.D. Vance is getting a tongue lashing from President Trump over his meddling in his personal life, namely the baby he is expecting with Satan, aka the Antichrist. Trump fesses up that he doesn’t want the baby, as the little bundle of hellfire will cramp his social life. So Vance suggests a gunman he knows in Colorado who can take care of things. Satan walks in on the Veep and Prez in the White House hot tub, hatching the plan, but yells at Trump and runs off. At that point, Trump and Vance seem to have a moment in the hot tub… and end up making love in the Lincoln Bedroom — in a scene that goes on and on and never gets comfortable to watch.
Talk about a speedy trial. After the act break, the A.I. The video revenge situation at South Park Elementary is soon on trial — with animated favorite Bluey on the stand to testify about the bad things Kyle, Stan and Kenny made her do in a deep fake that she wasn’t even paid for. By episode’s end, it;s discovered that the videos of Cartman were fake and he’s rescued and as always, ungrateful of his mother’s love (“When’s the last time you saw me eat a pot pie?” he asks his relieved mom.
All’s well that ends well for Detective Harris, who believes that he busted a huge community of online rapists named after a popular AI tool. However, Trump is in hot water when Lincoln Bedroom surveillance footage of him getting freaky with Vance leaks to Fox News; the network issues a despondent, defeated report on the tryst; it’s so sad you can almost feel bad for the network and its Trump-loving staff. That is, until Trump clears the air by telling Fox anchor that, duh, of course that lengthy — too lengthy — sex scene with his veep was fake as hell. Satan seems skeptical but remains in Trump’s bed as the arrival of The AntiChrist gets closer…