"South Park" is giving President Donald Trump a break.
The animated series' latest episode, "You Like That On Your Face," was the first in quite some time to have nothing to do with Trump or politics whatsoever.
Instead, the episode involved the children of South Park becoming obsessed with "looksmaxxing." The kids get into an app that rates their looks and grow fixated on trying to improve their appearance; Kyle's brother starts taking part in "aura battles" with another kid at school; and Stan's girlfriend, Wendy, tries everything she can to look younger, despite being a child.
That takes her, and many other kids, to Sephora, the back of which is depicted as a creepy liminal space in a spoof of the Backrooms from the horror phenomenon "Backrooms."
Stan's dad even goes to Sephora and comes back looking much younger, so much so that he is forced to go back to school because he looks like a child.
Kyle is the only voice of reason, objecting, "I think we should stop rating looks and coolness so that companies stop preying on people's insecurities." And by the end of the episode, Cartman concludes that "anti-aging creams are bad for young people."
Trump was never mentioned or alluded to anywhere in the episode.
Beginning in 2025, "South Park" became heavily focused on Trump, turning him into an animated character who had storylines in every episode for two consecutive seasons.
But there's been a shift with the latest season, which so far has had less interest in political satire.
The season premiere surprisingly didn't feature Trump himself, though its premise still poked fun at him: In the episode, the town of South Park is renamed South America, parodying Trump's recent rebrandings like changing Lake Ontario to Lake America. Prior to the season, Comedy Central announced the show itself would be renamed "South America."
The second episode of the season also largely had nothing to do with Trump, save for the last few minutes: It ended with a shocking, vulgar scene involving a live-action Trump.
But it now seems as if the animated Trump character may be on hiatus from the show, though his impact continues to be felt: The title sequence continues to feature the cartoon Trump, wiping himself with the American flag.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Does 'South Park' tackle Donald Trump in new episode?
