So far, South Park’s 27th season has had one clear goal: to provoke Donald Trump into a tantrum. Every episode has managed to pick on a new and different facet of his authoritarian rule – the silencing of his media critics, his use of Ice agents as an intimidation tactic – while simultaneously telling everyone what a tiny penis he has.

So the anticipation levels were off the charts for this week’s episode, entitled Wok Is Dead, which promised to take on Trump’s tariff policy. And in fairness it did do this, but only in a couple of scenes where a Chinese character with an uncomfortably Mickey Rooney-esque accent complained about them. The rest of the episode just settled for a bunch of jokes about Labubu dolls, as well as calling Donald Trump “Satan” as many times as it feasibly could.

For the most part, Wok Is Dead found itself split in two. The bulk of the episode was taken up with a very traditional South Park storyline about a cultural fad pushed to extremes. Everyone at South Park Elementary has become obsessed with Labubu dolls, a line of vaguely creepy collectible plush dolls sold in mystery boxes. In real life, the Labubu craze has been ramped up to the level of fidget spinners and loom bands before them, prompting the market to be flooded with a rush of carelessly manufactured fakes that potentially pose a danger to children.

In the world of South Park, however, the dolls prompt satanic rituals, with children sacrificing poultry and summoning plagues in their desire to find ever-rarer dolls, much to the dismay of Jesus, who is serving as the school counsellor. And that’s about it for that particular storyline. It’s South Park by numbers: find something newly popular, mock it for 20 minutes, and then go home.

But that isn’t why people have been watching South Park in record numbers this year. No, they’re doing that because of how nakedly aggressive the show has been towards Trump. And this week it chose to achieve this by having as many characters as possible repeat the line: “Donald Trump is fucking Satan.”

This is for two reasons. First, throughout the season it has been evident that the cartoon Donald Trump has literally been having sexual intercourse with the devil, who makes a reappearance after his dalliance with Saddam Hussein in the South Park movie. Second, maybe the writers just wanted to call Trump “Satan” a bunch of times.

In essence, this was South Park pulling the same trick it did with its controversial 2005 episode Trapped in the Closet, in which Tom Cruise locked himself inside a cupboard while everyone around him repeatedly stated: “Tom Cruise won’t come out of the closet.” On one hand, Tom Cruise was literally inside a closet. On the other, it was winking at unproven rumours about his sexuality.

However, Trapped in the Closet had a grander aim, which was to describe the opaque beliefs of Scientologists. And it worked. Not only was it one of the best episodes of South Park ever made, but it changed the way the world talks about Scientology.

Meanwhile, the aim of Wok Is Dead (aside from showing its disdain for Labubu dolls) seems to be to call Donald Trump Satan. Which, compared with the anger and specificity of the episodes preceding it, feels a little lazy. From everything we know about Trump, it feels like the jabs that land the hardest are the ones that undermine his ego, which is why he expends so much effort responding to claims about the size of his hands. Meanwhile, comparing him to Satan – the all-powerful embodiment of evil – feels as if it might actually be taken as a compliment.

Still, the payoff to everybody saying “Donald Trump is fucking Satan” so often is that Satan is now pregnant with Donald Trump’s butt baby, which is bound to play out in future episodes somehow.

If you’re a fan of South Park, then Wok Is Dead’s scattershot cultural satire will have more than passed muster. But for those of us who have been tuning in to watch Trey Parker and Matt Stone take down Trump, it represents the first disappointment of the season. Perhaps it’s a blip, but this week’s episode suggests that Parker and Stone are starting to run low on ammunition, and want to broaden their horizons away from Trump in future episodes.

Still, if that’s the case, the outcome would be a regular South Park season, and there are many worse things than that.

Crash of the historic Elevador da Gloria funicular is one of Lisbon’s deadliest transport accidents in years.

Portugal is holding a day of mourning after at least 17 people were killed when Lisbon’s Elevador da Gloria funicular derailed and crashed.

The Portuguese government said the country would observe a day of mourning on Thursday to commemorate the victims, all of whom have been recovered from the wreckage, according to the emergency services.

The tram, one of Lisbon’s major tourist attractions, came off the rails and hit a building late on Wednesday afternoon. Authorities on Thursday raised the death toll to 17 people, with a further 21 injured.

Officials have not released the victims’ identities or nationalities but initially said some of the deceased were foreign nationals. On Thursday, they reported that at least 11 of the injured were foreign.

The Portuguese government quickly announced the day of national mourning. Officials in Lisbon have declared three days of mourning in the capital city.

“It’s a tragic day for our city … Lisbon is in mourning. It is a tragic, tragic incident,” Mayor Carlos Moedas told reporters at the scene.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed condolences over the “tragedy”.

Investigation

Footage from the crash site showed the yellow carriage lying mangled against a building as firefighters pulled passengers from the wreckage. Emergency crews worked into the night to clear debris from the steep hillside railway.

The president has directed the concerned authorities to swiftly determine the cause of the accident.

“The public prosecutor’s office will open an investigation,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement, according to national news agency Lusa.

It added that the public prosecutor’s office “is carrying out the necessary procedures, within the scope of its powers, particularly for the purpose of preserving evidence, with guidance and in coordination with police agencies”.

The police, national transport safety authority and Carris, the company that runs the Gloria funicular, are also investigating the cause of the accident, according to reports.

Lisbon’s fire department said a loose cable caused the funicular to lose control and slam into a building. The accident took place just after 6pm (17:00 GMT) during rush hour, according to local media.

Images circulating online showed one car flipped beside the rails and surrounded by debris while passengers scrambled to safety. Video footage aired by CNN Portugal captured another car jolting violently on the track with panicked passengers leaping from windows.

The Elevador da Gloria, which first opened in 1885, links the Baixa district with the Bairro Alto neighbourhood, offering sweeping views of the city. Operated by Lisbon’s public transport company Carris, it is one of three historic funicular lines and serves both residents and tourists.

The funicular operates on a counterweight system with two cars connected by a cable and powered by electric motors. While the lower car appeared largely intact, the upper carriage sustained significant damage.

Lisbon has seen a surge in tourism in recent years, and summer draws large numbers of visitors to its narrow streets and historic districts. The Elevador da Gloria is among the city’s best-known attractions, and Wednesday’s crash is one of Portugal’s deadliest transport accidents in recent memory.

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