Even when nearing their 20th season, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s South Park remains as topically irreverent and sickly witted as ever. While the 18th season of their beloved, animated Comedy Central sitcom wasn’t without its shortcomings, when it was good, it was most definitely good.

Whether it was tackling the Washington Redskins, the Fappening, the Ebola scare or the Bill Cosby rape allegations, South Park wrapped their twisted logic into anything and everything once again, keeping their political mindsets at bay but still seeping their lowbrow antics in along the way.

Aiding them along the way, though, was a South Park first. Every episode in this season interconnected with one another, which resulted in one long continuous narrative creating in one of the craziest and most satisfying season finales in some time from the program.

With their newest season wrapping up with its tenth episode this Wednesday, there won’t be another South Park on the air until this time next year. Rather than checking the clock until Eric, Kyle, Kenny and Stan come back on the screen, let’s take this time to reflect on the best of this season’s offerings.

Without further ado, here are the top 10 best episodes from this new season. Also, in case it wasn’t obvious, this list — just by the very nature of some episode titles — goes into some NSFW territory. You were warned.

Image courtesy of INFphoto.com

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10. “The Magic Bush”
While by no means a terrible episode, ”The Magic Bush” is just a little too big-minded to generate heat. Trying to tackle everything from the Fappening to the Ferguson trial to America’s newfound fascination with drones, there’s a lot going on here. But none of it, sadly, really gels with one another. While —perhaps by themselves — there’s a really good plot here, together these storylines all are a little too discombobulated.

This is a running problem with South Park in the past, and one that’s pretty apparent in a couple episodes later in this list. Coming from a week recess, this episode is likely the biggest offender of an episode having too much time on the grill. Which is a shame, of course, for when it is funny — particularly relating to the town’s undersold reactions to Craig’s mom and her situation — “The Magic Bush” it earns some solid pure Stone/Parker chuckles.

Here is a prime example:

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9. “Go Fund Yourself”
With its season opener, “Go Fund Yourself,” Parker and Stone come out the gates swinging fast and hard —much to their benefit and chagrin. Tackling the Washington Redskins’ controversy, Kickstarter, ISIS and the new-age entrepreneur, this is about as hit-and-miss of a South Park episode as one can find.

While the details surrounding the coach of the Redskins earn prime laughs, as do the ones surrounding various athletes and sports figures, there are only so many times Parker and Stone can have Cartman, Butters and the other boys saying “go f**k yourself” before it gets pretty tiresome.

If anything, this episode is better appreciated for what it eventually creates in snowball succession than on face value. Much of “Go Fund Yourself”’s highpoints, beyond the storyline involving the actual Redskins, get highlighted upon in future episodes, and lead the way to some pretty special South Park moments for 2014. As far as this episode goes, however, it can safely be called just “pretty good.”

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8. “Gluten Free Ebola
Following up “Go Fund Yourself” was ”Gluten Free Ebola”, an episode that, by no means, is a slam dunk, but is definitely a sign of improvement and, ironically, a great Kickstarter for things to come this season. While the word “Ebola” never is outright said, this episode is clearly tackling two birds with one stone here, wrestling with how society goes bonkers over anything the media says may be on the loose or bad for them at any moment. Those two birds being gluten and, of course, the aforementioned disease.

While, again, not great South Park, this more controlled and loopier endeavor captures the inspired zest known from the creators, while actually finding something constructive and thoughtful to say — even if they have to do so while making characters getting their dicks flying off. This episode is worth a view just for its final 10 minutes alone, where one seemingly minor scene leads up to one of the season’s best episodes.

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7. “Grounded Vindaloop”
I can confidentially say one thing about ”Grounded Vindaloop”: it’s, by and far, the most surreal episode of the season — if that’s a good thing or not is a question I’m still puzzling over. What starts as something of a straightforward parody of virtual realities quickly turns into something far more complex, weirder and off-kilter. Basically, what starts off as something along the lines of Inception quickly jumps into Primer territory by the time it wraps up.

Does it lead up to something ultimately satisfying? Yes and no. Easily the episode’s best feature is sitting back and seeing where this wacky little installment goes. But, one again, centered on jokes about characters saying “f**k you” to one another, in addition to fairly tired stereotype jokes on Indian tech support operators, feels like Parker and Stone going strictly for cheap laughs. Still, the moments where “Grounded Vindaloop” completely goes all the way into crazy town are great, and its end is most definitely clever.

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6. “#Rehash”
Only during this penultimate episode of the season, ”#Rehash” — the first of its eventual two-part finale—does the show finally decide to take advantage of its extended narrative. After weeks of doing nothing more than having characters drinking gluten-free beer and having Randy off-handedly mention he’s Lorde, this is the one finally putting its foot down and deciding to take (almost) all the wacky events of season 18 to its advantage.

The result ends up better in the second episode than the first, as “#Rehash” feels a little sloppy and uneven when incorporating its two subplots into one episode. But it’s hard not to fall for some of the episode’s antics, especially those involving Lorde/Randy’s upcoming anxieties and eventual distress for a live performance. It also brought back one of South Park’s best supporting characters: Michael Jackson, returning from beyond the grave. That’s worth at least a few points in my book.

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5. “Freemium Isn’t Free”
While this season definitely found its footing before this episode, ”Freemium Isn’t Free” was the episode where Parker and Stone finally seemed ready to let themselves loose once and for all. By attacking the blatant marketing behind useless App games taking money from poor consumers, this episode seems to hit pretty close to home for the creators — as Terrence and Philip seem to be stand ins for the show creators, while Canada represents Comedy Central approaching them to host a South Park app — and lets them use their fiery commentary to their advantage.

While there are times where this installment seems just a little too eager to boggle itself down with made-up mumbo jumbo about gaming systems, by the time the third act rolls around and Satan gets in on the action, “Freemium Isn’t Free” finally lets itself fly —literally — to hilarious results. Clever, timely and full of imagination, this is one time this season where its bananas thinking completely paid off.

Also, make sure you check out its hilarious drinking commercial halfway into the episode:

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4. “Cock Magic”
Despite a fairly weak opening, ”Cock Magic” not only found itself as it progressed, but became one of the season’s more off-the-cuff and hilariously insane episode before its final moments. While easily the most immature installment of the season, there is something so refreshingly unrefined about this episode.

You can tell Parker and Stone are freeing themselves loose of political commentary or hard-pressing finger wagging, and are just having fun with the prospect of Randy doing magic tricks with his penis. What’s more, this is the episode where a grown man seemingly cuts his penis off in front of six-year-olds. Whether or not you laugh, you’ve got to admit that takes balls—no pun intended.

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3. “Handicar”
While ”Handicar” isn’t the most focused, emotionally resonant or, perhaps, cleverest episode Parker and Stone ever created, I can’t help but get a kick out of it. Whether or not Nathan and Mimzy are two of your favorite characters or you enjoy seeing parodies of ‘60s cartoon shows, there’s something so absurdly quotable and downright inspired about this episode, I can’t help but enjoy it immensely.

It also doesn’t hurt it brings Timmy back to the front and center of the action. In the scheme of the season’s continuous narrative, “Handicar” has next to no barring on the overarching story. But it’s filled with great moments, and proves easily to be one of the most watchable episodes of season 18, and for good reason.

Including this, one of my favorites scenes this season by far:

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2. “The Cissy”
After two fairly average episodes, there was a real fear Parker and Stone were finally losing their edge, or at least their appreciation for their creations and their crazy animated world. But after their third episode, ”The Cissy”, the show creators provided they’re still more than capable of keeping fresh and inventive in their animated Colorado town.

While tackling a topic as sensitive as transgender identity could very easily have gone against their favor, “The Cissy” turns out to be an oddly sweet examination of one’s sense of self, even if it involves characters trying to find a nice bathroom. In creating a whole unique storyline of a 45-year-old man secretly being a 19-year-old pop singer in drag, South Park still captured their raunchy humor to the T, while finding room to create an unusually winning portrayal of self-worth and one’s struggle to find their place in this world, without belittling their drive or self-worth.

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1. “#HappyHolograms”
It’s rare for a season finale to be the best episode of the season, but sure enough, ”#HappyHolograms” does just that. Even when boggled down with a lot of narrative for one 22-minute episode, this finale feels loose, creative and endlessly enjoyable, with some of the most gut-bustlingly hilarious moments Parker and Stone have created in years.

As it comes to its conclusion, it can get a little sloppy, but — keeping “Grounded Vindaloop” in mind —I think that’s kind of the point. This season isn’t supposed to make all that much sense. After all, it involves a plot where a 45-year-old man is passing himself off as a young teenage girl, with next-to-no-one noticing. But it’s the spirit of “#HappyHolograms” that counts, and that’s where this one excels. It has a message, but isn’t preachy, while still making room for great set ups and hilarious jokes to boot. It’s a splendid episode through and through, and is a wonderful way to end a fairly up-and-down season.