"Band in China" is the second episode of the twenty-third season of the American animated television series South Park. The 299th episode overall of the series, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 2, 2019. The episode parodies media censorship in China, and the manner in which the American entertainment industry purposefully compromises its productions to avoid it.
Despite receiving generally positive reviews from American critics, the episode triggered a negative response from China. The Chinese government banned South Park entirely following this episode’s release, a move which in turn drew criticism from the creators of the show.
Plot
As fourth grader Stan Marsh composes a song for his new death metal band, Crimson Dawn, his father Randy announces to the family that he plans to travel to China to expand the family's Tegridy Farms marijuana business. Upon boarding a plane to China, Randy sees many other people, including NBA players and characters belonging to Disney, who are also going there to expand their businesses. He is arrested at a Chinese airport when marijuana is discovered in his luggage, and incarcerated. In prison, Randy witnesses the practice of summary execution, and is subjected to re-education through labor, torture, and Communist Party re-education.
During a Crimson Dawn rehearsal, the band is visited by a music producer who wants to make a biographical film of the band, as traditional music resources such as albums and tours are no longer profitable. Stan, who desperately wants to leave his farm home, is thrilled. When the film's structure is discussed, the bandmates learn that certain aspects of their lives will have to be edited out in order to make the film marketable in China due to that nation's censorship of the media.
In prison, Randy meets fellow prisoners Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, who are there because they were banned in China after Internet memes comparing Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping to Disney's version of Pooh became popular. When Randy is brought before a court, he criticizes the Chinese government for the way it treats its prisoners, accusing them of lacking "tegridy" (his term for integrity). When Mickey Mouse learns of Randy's criticism, he angrily confronts Randy over the Chinese business he is losing because of it, but Randy holds firm in his belief that business should not be conducted on the basis of intimidation, and expresses his marijuana import idea to him. When Mickey and Randy make their case to the Chinese officials, their offer is rejected, which Mickey attributes to the Winnie the Pooh matter. Randy responds by using honey to lure Pooh to a secluded alley and strangling him to death as Piglet watches in horror.
During filming on the Crimson Dawn movie, the censorship continues to the point that Chinese officials are on set to approve its content. The producer asks Stan to rewrite the script "from his heart", but Stan is frustrated by a Chinese censor standing over his shoulder as he writes in his bedroom, erasing passages he disapproves of. Later with his bandmates, Stan realizes that the only film that will even be accepted in China is something "vanilla and cheesy". Stan's best friend, Kyle Broflovski, disembarks from a bus with Eric Cartman following their stay in an ICE detention center in the previous episode. The friends' reunion inspires Stan to re-form his previous band Fingerbang for a new biopic, but he changes his mind during filming, saying that no matter how badly he wishes to leave the farm, he cannot bring himself to compromise for China, and commenting that anyone who does is worthless. Meanwhile, Tegridy Weed has become legal in China. As a dump truck unloads a load of cash at the farm during a family meal, Stan asks Randy why he is covered in honey and blood. When Randy admits that he murdered Pooh, Stan calmly leaves the table to write another song about his father.
Reception and controversy
Reception
John Hugar with The A.V. Club gave the episode a grade of "B", calling it "strong." He compared Parker and Stone's decision to critique the role that the Chinese government plays in the American entertainment industry to past instances in which they displayed similar boldness in their choice of target, as when they commented on media depictions of the prophet Muhammad in past episodes. Hugar thought the arrest Randy suffers as a result of his failure to research marijuana laws in China was among the series' funniest moments. He also lauded the reveal of Crimson Dawn's music and the use of Mickey Mouse, both to defuse tense scenes and as a key part of the story's resolution.