When describing South Park, the adult-animated TV show infamous for toilet humor, profanity, gore, and a wide collection of controversies under its belt, the words "heartfelt" and "poignant" usually don't come to one's mind. Showrunners Matt Stone and Trey Parker have never shied away from any taboo topic, but the show really gets to shine when unexpected moments of genuine tenderness take place amid all the chaos in the fictional Colorado town.
The show's whole ethos is built around shocking its audience, but from tackling body image issues for young girls to the debilitating effects of Alzheimer's, South Park can get surprisingly emotional.
11 "The Hobbit" (Season 17, Episode 10)
Wendy Testaburger is one of the (very few) wholly good characters living in South Park. She is intelligent, thinks rationally, frequently stands up against Cartman in his various unethical and nonsensical schemes, and usually succeeds due to her perseverance and passion for doing what's right. However, the tenth episode of the show's 17th season finds Wendy defeated after she fails to convince her classmates about the dangers of social media and how photoshopped images can wreak havoc on girls' self-esteem and body image.
The episode highlights the increasingly unrealistic expectations of female beauty standards and how feminist critical thinkers are lampooned as "haters" for calling attention to the issue. The final scene of Wendy succumbing to her peers and tearfully photoshopping a picture of herself while the show's credits solemnly roll on is heartbreaking and sadly reflects the reality of young girls living in the digital age.
10 "The Poor Kid" (Season 15, Episode 14)
Kenny McCormick is the long-suffering and immortal member of the main four whose various gruesome deaths and impoverished background have been iconic staples of the show since the very beginning, with the 15th season's 14th episode expanding on his family life, especially his relationship with his younger sister, Karen. After his parents' meth lab is exposed on national TV, he is moved, alongside his siblings, to a foster home with aggressively agnostic foster parents.
Kenny spends his time in this episode protecting and comforting Karen via his superhero alter-ego, Mysterion, even beating up a bully who harassed her, leading Karen to describe Mysterion as her "guardian angel," much to the chagrin of their new parents. Kenny proves to be a great big brother in this episode, and his devotion to ensuring his little sister is okay and safe is unbelievably adorable, helping to add greater depth to the beloved parka-clad character.
9 "You're Getting Old" (Season 15, Episode 7)
What can only be described as the existential midlife crisis of South Park and probably the most depressing episode in the entire show's history, "You're Getting Old" explores depression, cynicism, as well as the pitfalls of growing older as Stan begins to view everything in his life as literal crap. The episode, despite featuring a duck that spews feces from his mouth, is incredibly introspective as it attempts to tackle the complexities of experiencing mental illness and how it also affects the people around you and explores how Stone and Parker view South Park as a whole.
The episode ends on a devastatingly heartbreaking note, as Fleetwood Mac's "Landslide" plays alongside a montage of Stan's life beginning to change around him: his parents get divorced, he moves into a new home, and Kyle drifts away from him and instead moves onto Cartman of all people before the credits take over. There is no ending in the series that hits viewers with such an emotional gut punch. The following episode, "Ass Burgers," brings everything back to normal soon enough, even though Stan's problems never really go away.
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7 "Cash For Gold" (Season 16, Episode 2)
In one of South Park's most dark and brutal episodes, Cartman attempts another get-rich-quick scheme by up-selling cheap jewelry to vulnerable senior citizens, inspired by home-shopping TV channels doing the same thing on a much larger scale. The episode primarily focuses on Stan's crusade to stop this exploitation of the elderly, especially after his grandpa got scammed due to his severe Alzheimer's.
The two share a moment in the episode in which Stan's grandpa explains his love for his former beloved dog, Patches, and laments about how he can no longer remember what she looked like, making it one of the most heart-wrenching lines ever said in the show. The entire episode is golden (pun intended). It has an incredibly macabre ending, but the tender scene exploring the devastating effects of long-term memory loss between Stan and Marvin Marsh makes this episode great.
6 "Kenny Dies" (Season 5, Episode 13)
Kenny dying is a regular occurrence in South Park, and he usually meets his fate in pretty gruesome ways. Still, his death in the fifth season's penultimate episode is a lot more tragic and remarkably sad in comparison.
The episode follows Kenny's struggle with a terminal illness and his friends' attempts to support him, even though Stan cannot bear to see his friend dying and only comes around to visit his friend in the hospital much too late. Kenny dies for real and utters his last words: "Where's Stan?" It is an unbelievably depressing and bleak episode, especially by South Park's standards, even though Kenny would return in the final episode of Season 6, much to the delight of die-hard Kenny fans.
5 "Raisins" (Season 7, Episode 14)
Wendy and Stan have broken up and gotten back together on numerous different occasions, but their first-ever break-up was featured in the fourteenth episode of the show's seventh season, "Raisins." The break-up leaves Stan in a deep depression and influences him to join the moody goth kids, and he soon begins to spiral deeper into melancholy and nihilism. The episode also features Butters infatuated with a Raisins waitress (a parody of the real-life Hooters franchise), even though it is obvious to everyone but him that it is incredibly one-sided.
After Butters realizes this and has his heart broken, he still refuses to join Stan and the other goth kids to wallow in his misery. Instead, he offers an introspective speech about the beauty of sadness, stating that he is grateful that he felt enough joy in the first place to now experience the loss that comes with it. His speech is incredibly impactful and denounces the nihilistic views surrounding life and suffering that Stan falls victim to, making a rather sad episode incredibly wholesome.
4 "The Scoots" (Season 22, Episode 5)
Another episode with Kenny in the spotlight is the fifth episode in the show's 22nd season, "The Scoots," which explores the smart-phone age and the rise of e-scooter sharing apps, which the kids use as a means to get more candy than anyone else. Kenny, not owning a phone, cannot access the scooters and is kicked out of his friends' trick-or-treating group; he spends most of the episode trying to find a new group to no avail.
Kenny is left out and rejected by everyone because he doesn't have a phone, and the town is brought to chaos because so many people caught on to the idea of using scooters. It's a great episode and one of Kenny's best, even if he spends the majority of the time dejected and lonely.
3 "The Return of Chef" (Season 10, Episode 1)
Isaac Hayes, the legendary singer, actor, and voice of one of South Park's most beloved characters, Chef, was an iconic fixture of the show since season one but departed the series allegedly following the previous season's episode lampooning Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology, which Hayes was a member of. The first episode to premiere following his departure, aptly titled "The Return of Chef," used archived voice recordings of Hayes and follows the boys attempting to un-brainwash Chef after joining "The Super Adventure Club," which is used to parody Scientology.
While the episode is crude and doesn't exactly paint Chef in the best light, it still ends with a touching tribute to Hayes and his work on the show, with Kyle stating at his funeral that he will remember Chef fondly and how he always managed to make everyone around him smile, which also adds some insight to the real-life feelings of Stone and Parker following Hayes leaving. To make things even more tragic, it was revealed 10 years later by Isaac Hayes' son that his father suffered a stroke and was incapable of leaving South Park of his own will and that an unknown member of the Church of Scientology left the show on his behalf without his consent.
2 "Cartman Sucks" (Season 11, Episode 2)
While this episode primarily follows the hilarious misdeeds of Cartman, the B-plot with Butters and his experience at a conversion camp is particularly memorable. The episode completely lampoons the "pray-the-gay-away" concept pushed by harmful and pseudoscientific practices like conversion therapy. It depicts youth conversion camps as miserable places where depression and suicide are rampant and the counselors are uncaring.
Butters quickly becomes close to another boy, Bradley, who is stressed from the camp, and they are paired up as each other's "accountabili-buddy." After Bradley attempts to end his life by jumping off a bridge, Butters quickly steps forward to denounce the staff for their cruel actions, saying that God might be a little "bi-curious" too if he and Bradley were made in His image. It's equally hilarious and utterly heartwarming: Bradley is encouraged by Butters' speech not to commit suicide and steps down from the bridge's ledge.
1 "The City Part of Town" (Season 19, Episode 3)
Kenny once again proves himself to be the best big brother ever in "The City Part of Town," an episode that lampoons gentrification. Randy and the rest of the town-folk are building a new ultra-modern and expensive part of town surrounding Kenny's dilapidated home called "SoDaSoPa," an abbreviation of "South of Downtown South Park," to get a Whole Foods.
Due to the rising costs, Kenny finds himself a job working at City Wok alongside other child laborers while rampant gentrification rages on outside his house. The episode once again highlights Kenny's dire financial situation, but his dedication to his little sister Karen showcases why Kenny is such a beloved fan-favorite.