"Back to the Cold War" is the fourth episode of thetwenty-fifth season of the American animated television seriesSouth Park. It is the 315th episode overall of the series, and premiered onComedy Central in the United States on March 2, 2022.^[1]

The episode, which focuses onMr. Mackey's preparation fornuclear war, andButters Stotch's preparation to compete in adressage tournament,^[2][3][4] is the first scripted television episode to reference the2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine,^[2] which was launched six days prior.^[5] "Back to the Cold War" episode also references theCold War-era filmsWarGames,Red Dawn, andRocky IV, as well as other aspects of 1980s culture, such as pianoneckties and largeboomboxes.^[3][6]

At South Park Elementary,Mr. Garrison tells his fourth-graders that he and his boyfriend Rick got into a fight, while the students are worried aboutVladimir Putin.Mr. Mackey enters the class and announces an immediatesafety drill in case of a nuclear bomb as he ends the drill with some "appropriate'80s music".PC Principal tells Mackey to stop his increasing amount of nuclear safety drills as it appears Mackey has become overly nostalgic for the era. Mackey responds by sneaking into Principal's office and taking photographs. At anequestrian facility,Butters Stotch practices his horse-riding skills in preparation of an upcomingdressage event against a Russian student with the last name Solokov, while his parentsStephen and Linda Stotch, who are concerned for Butters' abilities, boo loudly at Solokov. Stephen warns Butters that the dressage event reminds them of theCold War and that Butters needs to defeat Solokov. As Mackey reviews the pictures on amicrofiche machine, Butters asks Mackey for counseling regarding his parents which triggers Mackey to demand to know everything about dressage.

Butters attempts to train his horse, Melancholy, to perform dressage better, but Melancholy constantly defecates and has sexual intercourse with another horse during a practice. Mackey investigates the home of the Solokov family and finds Stephen and Linda in the stable trying to sabotage the horse. Mackey claims that Principal is a Russian spy and the dressage tournament will be a ploy to launch nuclear missiles. Mackey goes to his childhood family home to use a vintagefloppy disk anddial-up modem to infiltrate the computers atNORAD. Mackey usesBASIC commands to hack the root system, emulating a Russian nuclear attack, triggering an escalation toDEFCON-3. The Russians receive notice of the DEFCON change and warn Putin, who has been nostalgic lately. As Mackey prepares to escalate NORAD to DEFCON-2, his mother interrupts and makes him realize the true source of his nostalgia is the fact that he is getting old. She tells him the Cold War era was not a good time nor one he should be attempting to get back to. At the dressage event, just as Solokov is about to win the event, Melancholy has intercourse with Solokov's horse, resulting in Solokov being thrown off the horse. Aboxing referee counts Solokov out and Butters wins the event. The crowd celebrates as Mackey arrives and makes a triumphant speech.

Dan Caffrey withThe A.V. Club gave the episode a"B+", as he appreciated the conversation between Mackey and his mother, stating "On its own, the heart-to-heart between the Mackeys functions as the latest piece of South Park wisdom—a reminder that, when we long for our supposed halcyon days, we're often only remembering the good parts. In that way, 'Back to the Cold War' feels in conversation with episodes like 'Member Berries' (which also used nostalgia as a justification for atrocity) and the now-classic 'You're Getting Old'." Caffrey also commented how Mackey's takeover of the NORAD computer was a plot taken from the filmWarGames.^[6]

• Second Cold War

• "Back to the Cold War" Full Episode at South Park Studios
• "Back to the Cold War" atIMDb

• South Park season 25 episodes
• Russian invasion of Ukraine in popular culture
• Anti-Russian sentiment
• Cultural depictions of Vladimir Putin
• Television episodes about invasions

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