History YMMV / SouthParkThePandemicSpecial

** Yates and his crew were already corrupt from the beginning, but they finally cross the line here by committing mass murder on multiple children ForTheEvulz.

** Yates saying "Got him!" after shooting Token in the arm.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Token getting shot in class by Sergeant Yates. This could have been South Park's way to satirize the issues of systemic racism, PoliceBrutality towards black people and the Black Lives Matter protests, but after a gag on how the police views it as a COVID-related injury, the incident is forgotten and Token is not seen or mentioned again in the episode.

** Token. He’s shot because of Kyle and Cartman fighting and he’s never seen after that. While it’s likely he survived being young, it’s also likely he had to go to the hospital to get the bullet out and seeing what awful shape the hospital was in makes an awful situation (that’s happened to him before) even worse.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: The most prominent criticism of Season 23 was that Randy [[SpotlightStealingSquad hogged up almost all the screentime]]. Here, while Randy is still a major focus of the episode, Butters, Stan, Cartman, Mr. Garrison, Harrison Yates and even ''Jimbo'' have roles in the various non-Tegridy subplots. Judging from some comments on the episode however, this still wasn’t enough for people.

* WhatAnIdiot: Who would be dumb enough to have sex with a bat or pangolin? Randy did, causing the pandemic.
** Harrison Yates lies that he shot Token due to COVID. The real reason the former shot the latter was because Kyle and Cartman were fighting. All the kids become quarantined in the school despite Harrison’s lie. He also didn’t bother giving the kids a COVID test which would prove if they have COVID or not.

** During one of the hospital scenes, Mrs. Nelson could be seen amongst the patients in the waiting room having Randy's mustache and a horrible cough. In ''Recap/SouthParQVaccinationSpecial'', [[spoiler:she would later catch COVID-19 and die from it.]]

** The kids in general are considered to be this. They are all stuck in quarantine due to the cops' incompetence and when they all break free, the police chase after them with lethal force.

* WinTheCrowd: This special drew millions and millions of viewers and is considered one of the best episodes to date.

* SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome: Stan calling out Yates for shooting Token. While Yates still refuses to acknowledge what he did and claimed what happened to Token was 'COVID-related', it takes some true ''guts'' to stand up to someone who would find any reason to harm you.

** Yates and his crew were already corrupt from the beginning, but they finally cross the line in this episode where they murder multiple children ForTheEvulz.

* MoralEventHorizon: President Garrison makes it clear that he intends to do nothing about the pandemic because it was disproportionately killing Hispanic Americans coinciding with his promise to the American people on how he would [[FinalSolution get rid of the Mexicans if he were elected]]. Worse, when Cartman relents and spares the pangolin, Garrison sets the pangolin and scientist on fire condemning South Park to an unforeseeable future of lockdowns and raging fires with untold casualties.

** Token. He’s shot because of Kyle and Cartman fighting and he’s never seen after that. While it’s likely he survived being young, it’s also likely he had to go to the hospital to get the bullet out and seeing what awful shape the hospital was in makes an awful situation (that’s happened to him before before) even worse.

** The kids in general are considered to be this. They are all stuck in quarantine due to the cops' incompetence and when they all break free, the police chase after them with lethal force.

* HarsherInHindsight: President Garrison fully intends to let the Coronavirus spread so he can kill all the Mexicans and then delays having a vaccine made by killing the scientist and the pangolin at the end of the episode. A day after the special aired, Donald Trump was diagnosed with the Coronavirus.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** President Garrison fully intends to let the Coronavirus spread so he can kill all the Mexicans and then delays having a vaccine made by killing the scientist and the pangolin at the end of the episode. A day after the special aired, Donald Trump was diagnosed with the Coronavirus.
** Wildfires are raging across South Park. Now wildfires are starting to ravage Colorado. Though the wildfires were active at the time of first airing, they just got worse...

* JustHereForGodzilla: Even for those who don't watch ''South Park'' a lot tune in to see this episode simply because of its longer running time and what it has to say about COVID-19 and 2020 in general

** The kids in general are considered to be this. They are all stuck in quarantine due to the cops incompetence and when the all break free, the police chases after them with lethal force.

** Token. He’s shot because of Kyle and Cartman fighting and he’s never seen after that. While it’s likely he survived being young, it’s also likely he had to go to the hospital to get the bullet out and seeing what awful shape the hospital was in makes an awful situation (that’s happened to him before before) even worse.

** Wildfires are raging across South Park. Now wildfires are starting to ravage Colorado.

* GeniusBonus: The episode features a pangolin not only because it is a goofy-looking Asian animal, but also because early in the spread of the pandemic pangolins were suspected to be one of the vectors for the spread of the COVID-19 to man.

* MoralEventHorizon: President Garrison makes it clear that he intends to do nothing about the pandemic because it was disproportionately killing Hispanic Americans coinciding with his promise to the American people on how he would [[FinalSolution get rid of the Mexicans if he were elected]]. Worse, when Cartman relents and spares the pangolin, Garrison sets the pangolin and scientist on fire condemning South Park to an unforeseeable future of lockdowns.

** Token. He’s shot because of Kyle and Cartman fighting and he’s never seen after that. While it’s likely he survived it but it’s also likely he had to go to the hospital to get the bullet out and seeing what shape the hospital is in makes an awful situation (that’s happened to him before before) even worse.

* CriticalDissonance: Many critics sites gave the Pandemic Special lukewarm reviews, with IGN being a [[https://www.ign.com/articles/south-park-the-pandemic-special-review prominent example]]. However, audience gave it a much better reception having a review score of [[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10965110/?ref_=ttep_ep_cur 8.6/10 at IMDb]]; It's currently the highest-rated South Park episode in seven years and the number one rated cable broadcast on the evening of September 30, 2020.

* TearJerker: One of the saddest episodes of the show.

** President Garrison fully intends to let the Coronavirus spread so he can kill all the Mexicans and then delays having a vaccine made by killing the scientist and the pangolin at the end of the episode. A day after the special aired, Donald Trump was diagnosed with the Coronavirus. Depending on your political views, it may be HilariousInHindsight.