South Park season 27 premiere ending explained: Do Cartman and Butters die?

After a two-week delay, the South Park season 27 premiere episode arrived on Comedy Central on Wednesday, July 23, 2025, with an explosive episode taking jabs at topical events. The show has never been shy about making social commentary and making its political points clear.

In Sermon on the Mount, Jesus returns to seemingly save the people of South Park from a hefty legal battle with Donald Trump. Also, woke is dead, or so Cartman believes, causing him to start giving up on life. The South Park season 27 premiere episode ends with no death, however, as Cartman and Butters live despite trying to kill themselves.

Meanwhile, the president is running amok in the White House, but contrary to what the people of South Park believe, Mr. Garrison has not set foot in the White House for quite some time.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers for the South Park season 27 premiere. Reader's discretion is advised.

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Do Cartman and Butters die at the end of the South Park season 27 premiere?

Butters and Cartman in South Park season 27 episode 1 (Image via Paramount+)

Cartman is depressed in the South Park season 27 premiere after his favorite radio show, NPR, gets cancelled. The president is one to blame for his current predicament, as well as the possible demise of the people in South Park. However, it's not just about cancelling the show because it's only the beginning.

It seems that the president is waging war against free speech, aka suing people, especially if they offend him. Cartman, feeling useless after President Trump has made it okay for people to offend others, thinks woke is dead. Without the wokeness, he doesn't see much reason for living. So, he decides to end his life, and to make it exciting, he's not only going to end his life but Butters' too.

He proposes a "s**cide pact." The following day, still depressed with how things have gone in America, Cartman decides that it's time to end everything, and Butters goes along with his friend's decision. They suck on fumes from the tailpipe of the Stotches' car and wait to die from asphyxia. However, the South Park season 27 premiere ends with Cartman and Butters still alive inside the car.

Cartman thinks they are not dead yet because their bodies are still fighting on for dear life, but death will come soon enough. But they are not likely to die, at least this time, because, as the Stotches reveal during the sermon on the mount, they have an electric car. EVs don't produce exhaust fumes, rendering Cartman and Butters' s**cide attempt a failure.

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Is the town of South Park getting cancelled in the season 27 premiere?

With Jesus taking over South Park Elementary in the South Park season 27 premiere, Randy starts a protest, leading to an angry mob to break down Mr. Garrison's door. They want to confront him about his lack of accountability while in office, but it turns out, there's a new president in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump in South Park season 27 episode 1 (Image via Paramount+)

Cut to the White House and there's President Donald Trump, who is making suing people who are against him his new hobby. As the Canadian Prime Minister describes him, Trump is acting like "some kind of dictator from the Middle East." He even threatens Satan, who turns out to be his secret love, with a lawsuit for criticizing him.

Meanwhile, Randy and the townsfolk continue their protest, placating the president. Like always, Trump's answer is to launch a multi-billion-dollar lawsuit against them. However, Jesus Christ arrives, seemingly there to save the day. He begs the townspeople to "shut the f*ck up" against Trump, saying that South Park will be over if the president gets angry.

Throughout the South Park season 27 premiere, the episode directly and indirectly references the possibility that Trump will get the show cancelled for criticizing and mocking him. That said, even with the initial angst of the people, they end up settling outside the court, paying Trump $3.5 million.

Along with the appeasement money, they also have to produce a pro-Trump public service announcement. In the end, the people of South Park are safe from Trump so far, although with the highly controversial South Park season 27 premiere, the fate of the show remains on a tight rope despite its deal with Paramount.

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What's the meaning behind the South Park season 27 premiere title?

During the protest in episode 1, Jesus arrives and educates the townsfolk while he's standing in a mount of dirt, prompting the 60 Minutes host to call it a "sermon on the mount." As to the deeper meaning and reference of the South Park season 27 premiere's title, Sermon on the Mount, it can be taken as a dig at Paramount.

Jesus giving a sermon (Image via Paramount+)

As Jesus tells the townspeople, he doesn't want to return to the school, but Trump has forced him because he sued him, too. It's a direct dig at Paramount's deal, caving in after Trump sued them. Along with the millions in settlement, Trump has also forced CBS to show Trump ads on the network.

However, Jesus' plea to the town to avoid provoking Trump is ironic, as South Park has released its heavily anti-Trump episode on Paramount Global-owned Comedy Central. It will also stream on Paramount+ a day later.

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South Park season 27 premiere: How does the episode put Donald Trump on blast?

Besides Cartman's depressing predicament, the South Park season 27 premiere appears to be all about blasting Donald Trump. Instead of using Mr. Garrison, who has been used as a Trump replica for the past seasons, the first episode of season 27 uses Trump's real-life face, erasing any doubt about what or who the gag is all about.

The first episode of the animated TV show references the latest headlines about Trump. That includes headlines about him being on the Jeffrey Epstein list, which is directly referenced during his conversation with Satan. There are also various references on Trump's penchant for filing lawsuits against those who paint him in a bad light, including the one with CBS and Paramount+.

Gerald agreeing to give Trump appeasement money is likened to what CBS has done after Trump filed a lawsuit against them. There's als the 60 Minutes host desperately trying to avoid saying anything offensive about Trump.

Moreover, the episode directly references Stephen Colbert's show's cancellation, which happened days after he criticized Trump and Paramount Global's settlement. At the sermon on the mount, Jesus threatens the townspeople that the same will happen to them if they don't stop offending Trump.

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South Park season 27 episode 1 will be streaming on Paramount+ on Thursday, July 24, 2025, a day after it airs on Comedy Central.