Chickenpox (South Park episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Chickenpox" is episode 210 of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on August 26, 1998.
[edit] Plot synopsis
In this episode, Chickenpox begins to spread throughout South Park, and infects Stan's sister Shelley and Kenny; though the boys are not sickened by it (it's a form of herpes, they discover), the moms begin to think that maybe the other boys should be exposed to it too, so as to get it while they're young and it's easier to deal with. They agree, and the other boys stay over at Kenny's house. Cartman and Stan subsequently get sick, but not Kyle. Then Stan's chicken pox gets so bad he has to be brought to the hospital with Shelley, and around this time Kyle also finds out his mom was trying to get them all infected.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Broflovski, after discovering that her husband and Mr. McCormick had once been close friends, decides to try to patch things up between them. Apparently, Kenny's dad (Stuart) is jealous of Kyle's dad Gerald's success, while Gerald makes a speech to Kyle about how some people need to be poorer than others as part of a capitalist society, what he calls the hierarchy of "gods and clods." This leads Kyle to coming up with a plan to eliminate all the clods in the world to make it a better place, which makes Gerald realize the callousness of his beliefs.
Stan breaks out of the hospital, and all of the boys go to try to get revenge on the adults for what they did; they do this unaware that Stan is so sick that he might die. The parents begin a frantic search, while the boys go see a local prostitute with herpes in her mouth, who they pay to go to their homes and lick, touch and otherwise mess with the parents' stuff to give them all herpes. The parents find them and bring them back to the hospital; at this point Kyle also reports being sick, and then suddenly passes out.
All the boys wind up in the hospital, and the parents get herpes, which they agree was fair punishment for what they tried to do.
[edit] Trivia
- Coincidently, The Simpsons used the "pox party" idea for Season 17 episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog". This was the first of two episodes of The Simpsons Season 17 where "South Park Already Did It" (see "Simpsons Already Did It").
- When the doctor is explaining to Stan's parents what will happen if Stan (who has contracted chicken pox) does not return to the hospital. The doctor tells them that "As he chokes for breath, the pox will move into his inner ear, making him think he's David Duchovny!".
[edit] Kenny's Death
While the viewer assumes that Kenny will live (he's laughing along with the group in a clichéd "everybody laughing" ending), Kenny succumbs to the ravages of chickenpox literally seconds before the end credits start.
| Preceded by: "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" | South Park episodes | Followed by: "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" |
