11 Years Later, South Park Brings Back An Iconic Duo

Published Nov 12, 2026, 10:13 AM EST

Cathal Gunning has been writing about movies, television, culture, and politics online and in print since 2017. He worked as a Senior Editor in Adbusters Media Foundation from 2018-2019 and wrote for WhatCulture in early 2020. He has been a Senior Features Writer for ScreenRant since 2020.

Warning: This article contains SPOILERS for South Park season 29, episode 5, “We Be Clubbin’.”

Although South Park seemingly forgot all about one iconic character pairing for no less than five years, the animated comedy made up for this oversight in season 29, episode 5, “We Be Clubbin’.” The sheer longevity of The Simpsons can sometimes create problems for the cartoon sitcom. As surprising as it might sound, being the longest-running US scripted prime-time TV series of all time comes with its drawbacks.

Apu’s season 38 comeback set up a slew of complicated questions about the ever-changing canon of The Simpsons, where characters never age, but some characters do die permanently, while others can return from the dead without warning or explanation. Although South Park hasn’t been around quite as long, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s series does brush up against similar inconsistencies when it comes to the show’s canon.

When South Park season 29 killed off Kenny, many viewers might have reasonably assumed this would be a temporary setback and Kenny would immediately return in the next episode, since this is what happened in every episode of the show’s first four seasons. Instead, Kenny has remained dead, and it is now unclear when, if ever, he will return. Fortunately, season 29, episode 5, “We Be Clubbin’,” did update viewers on some other fan-favorite characters.

South Park Season 29’s Craig and Tweek Return Ends A Five-Year Streak

After the first few episodes of season 29 focused on the South Park boys and a de-aged Randy Marsh, “We Be Clubbin’” opened with a distraught Cartman realizing that everyone in school forgot Craig and Tweek’s anniversary, including Craig himself. This meta gag was a clever way for South Park to tacitly acknowledge that the beloved duo hadn’t been seen onscreen since 2021’s “South ParQ Vaccination Special.”

In season 19, episode 6, “Tweek x Craig,” Craig and Tweek became an unlikely couple after a trend involving their fellow students creating yaoi art of the pair prompted this relationship to blossom. In the years since, Craig and Tweek turned into a popular pairing in South Park’s online fandom and frequently appeared together in the series, only for their shared appearances to dry up around 2021.

The plot of “We Be Clubbin’” sees the duo struggle with their newfound distance when Craig’s parents sign him up for South America Club Sports, an expensive extracurricular program that turns out to essentially be little more than a money-making racket designed to exhaust parents. In a witty satire of the hyper-competitive, hyper-expensive world of private extracurriculars, Craig and Tweek’s parents drag the duo from venue to venue without the boys ever partaking in any actual sports to speak of.

South Park’s Heated Rivalry Parody Uses Craig and Tweek Perfectly

While the SACS facilitator initially tries to rip off the pair’s parents for all their worth, he changes his turn when he learns that Craig and Tweek are gay. In a parody of the recent spate of high-profile romance novel adaptations like Crave’s Heated Rivalry, the manager promotes Craig and Tweek to “Triple A” tier so he can use their relationship to promote SACS.

Since Craig and Tweek are, at this stage, not speaking due to hurt feelings, this entire plot becomes a clever way for South Park to parody the huge streaming hit. At the same time, the plot of “We Be Clubbin’” also doubles a sweet story about kids finding time to be kids in an increasingly competitive, hyper-consumerist culture.

While South Park has always had fun with this sweet pairing, “We Be Clubbin’” is arguably the best Craig and Tweek storyline since their initial introduction as a couple. The South Park episode’s witty spoof of Heated Rivalry doubles as a reminder that sometimes, hanging out and wasting time together is the best and most valuable extracurricular activity that any kid could hope to find.

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  Trey Parker

  Eric Cartman / Stan Marsh (voice)

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  Matt Stone

  Kyle Broflovski / Kenny McCormick (voice)