Randy and Towelie get an idea to sell plant based burgers from leftover marijuana plants after trying an Impossible Burger. Meanwhile, Cartman has a heart attack following the school switching to more sustainable foods.
Tropes:
- An Aesop:
- Foods that taste good are generally going to be bad for you, even if it's plant-based.
- If you want to eat healthy, stick to genuine vegetables and fruits, not plant-based processed "crap" like Impossible Whoppers or Beyond Meat.
- Plant-based foods that are heavily processed to resemble or replace meat is just as bad or even worse than eating real meat and it's damaging your body simply for the sake of the environment.
- And Then What?: Randy proposes eliminating all beef consumption by pushing forward with his Tegridy Burgers. Soon enough, he gets burdened with having to take care of a bunch of cows who aren't wanted for their meat anymore.
- Art Evolution: The cows in this episode look much more lifelike than the ones seen in early seasons, complete with proper walking animation.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: The "Goo-Man" uses a record of Randy killing the cows to invoke this and ruin Randy's business.
- The Bad Guy Wins:
- The Goo-Man turns the entire town against Randy, getting rid of his only competitor, and becomes the sole provider of meat substitutes in South Park. Though, calling Randy the good guy is a bit of a stretch, considering all the shit he's pulled throughout the season.
- Though not really as big as his previous victories, Cartman gets what he wants in the end: eating unhealthy, processed junk. After revealing to the school that he knows what the meat analogues are made of, the vegans look in disbelief as they realize that while they got more ethical food into the menu, it was also far more unhealthy than red meat.
- Batman Gambit: The Goo-Man hires a disgruntled cattle rancher to put all his cows in Randy’s farm, knowing Randy would kill the cows. When Randy does so, he videotapes it, and has the Burger King employee disguise himself as a student protester and show it on the news, turning the town against Randy and ruining his business. The Goo-Man is now free to be the only provider of meat substitutes in town.
- Bait-and-Switch: After Cartman discovers that the lunchmeat he's been eating isn't actually meat but rather processed plants, everyone assumes he's going to throw a fit about it. However, Cartman states that since Incredible Meats are just "processed crap that comes in a box" like what the school used to serve, he doesn't really care and is fine with it.
- Black Comedy Animal Cruelty: The scene where Randy and Towelie slaughter an entire herd of cows manages to avoid looking too morbid solely because the two are completely baked when they do it.
- Call-Back: Tuo Long Kim mentions his wife is his only customer, referencing "Wing" where it was shown musician Wing Han Tsang is his wife.
- "Eureka!" Moment: Randy has one when he eats a "plant based" burger and realizes he can make a lot of money making weed burgers out of his marijuana byproducts.
- Evil vs. Evil: The Goo-Man is very unethical and engages in underhanded business tactics, but he’s up against the equally unethical Randy, who has killed countless people for the sake of profit and didn’t care about putting all the other restaurants out of business. The Goo Man wins thanks to a Batman Gambit that allows him to make the the town turn against Randy.
- Going Commando: Cartman is this throughout the whole episode wearing nothing but hospital gown, exposing his rear without a change of clothes after he was treated by a paramedics on his first "heart attack" without the kids' shock of seeing him going commando throughout the entire time.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: As you’ve probably guessed, Cartman’s "heart attacks" are not realistic in any way.
- Hypocrite: Randy flaunts that his Tegridy Burgers will treat animals better and let them thrive, but after getting cows dumped on him because of how he decimated the demand for beef, Randy resorts to killing the cows not for their meat but because the cows are eating up his weed and defecating all over his farm. He's more than willing to make the cows go extinct and kill them if it means saving his beef-free burger industry.
- Impossibly Delicious Food: The Tegridy Burger. Though that's only because it's made out of weed and gets you high when you eat it. Otherwise, it's just as bad as any other plant-based burger. As summarized by its slogan, "Tastes like shit but you won't care".
- It's All About Me:
- Wendy and the girls resort to forcing everyone in school to convert to a healthier more organic diet instead of actually packing their lunches.
- Cartman, as usual, only cares about his own gratification. He’s vehemently opposed to healthier, sustainable food choices because he loves stuffing his face with the tasty yet unhealthy food he’s enjoyed all his life.
- Jerkass Has a Point: Cartman agrees that people do have the right to free speech, but counters that the right can also lead to ramifications when you're only thinking about yourself. Needless to say, he is the last person in the world to talk about not thinking about others. However, he's not wrong about how using your freedom of speech can lead to serious problems if not exercised properly.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After getting away with all the shit Randy has pulled this season, being caught killing cows unethically comes back to bite him in the rear. It's ultimately short lived however, as the town is back to buying his regular marijuana product by the time of the next episode as if nothing happened.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Killing cows and getting caught in the act is what leads to Randy getting his karma.
- The vegan kids who forced the entire school to eat like they do, find out from Cartman that the food they championed isn't any healthier than the processed garbage they got rid of.
- "Not So Different" Remark: The entire point of the end, as Cartman explains that the "healthier and environmentally friendly" option is actually just as bad or even worse than the food they were eating before.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The Burger King employee's disguise to make himself look like a student consists of an ill-fitting letterman jacket which is open, with his BK uniform clearly visible underneath it, and a blonde wig fitted loosely over his BK cap.
- Running Gag: Cartman having a heart-attack out of anger over the menu changes, then being defibrillated before he flips off Wendy while telling her "Fuck you, Wendy."
- Shout-Out: The "Goo-Man" is Daniel Plainview.
- Smart Ball: To offset production costs, Towelie comes up with the idea of selling Tegridy Farms' marijuana byproducts that would otherwise be thrown out as manure.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Sharon tells Randy to stop wasting money on expensive commercials and parades in South Park to regain the money. Randy, unwilling to consider other, cheaper forms of marketing, sarcastically dismisses her idea as a bad one.
- Stealth Pun: The only male supporter for the menu change is a visibly younger boy wearing a shirt that says "Vegan". Vegan products are often derived from soy products, so in essence, he's a "soy boy".
- Take That!:
- Plant-based meat substitutes, while still considerably ethical to the environment, are still a business and will do anything to get a leg up on the competition.
- While complaining about the new food, Cartman directly quotes LeBron James' then-recent "free speech has a price" remarks where the latter expressed outrage at Daryl Morey's support for the Hong Kong protests for potentially jeopardizing his income from China.
- Additionally, Cartman's closing speech about how free speech is meaningless in the end because consumers are all on the same page without realising it is a comment on how industry profiteers play both sides.
- Wendy's mannerisms that the young generation stand up to the preceding ones about environmental concerns are a take on Greta Thunberg and her activism in climate change.
- Heavily towards Burger King, especially for its Impossible products being just as unhealthy and bad for your health as regular hamburgers only plant-based but heavily processed to have a taste different from what vegetables taste like.
- You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: This is the Burger King employee's reaction towards Tegridy Burgers stealing his customers.
- Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: After Cartman tells the other students he's now fine with the new food because he learned Incredible Meat is highly salted "processed crap that comes in a box", Wendy and the other students who campaigned for it begin to have second thoughts.
