Why are the AV Club and IGN so cringy?

No.86290128 ViewReplyOriginalReport
I just read each site's review of the latest season of South Park and they seemed to have zero sense of self-awareness about what the show was mocking or why. But it also seemed like maybe they were aware but for some reason wanted to pretend there was something vague about the episode in order not to talk about these things.

In any case, when did these sites become so cringy?