South Park is one of the most ambitious shows in the history of television, as there was nothing quite like what Trey Parker and Matt Stone had done before. While many would cite The Simpsons as the first example of an animated comedy series aimed at a broader audience, South Park quickly proved to be far more intense and potentially offensive; it was a show that always provoked strong reactions, resulting in many significant controversies that caused viewership to only spike due to the added attention.
South Park episodes typically end on a particularly humorous note, as it is essential to the show that the audience leaves thinking about the issues that are discussed. Although “shock value” is a technique that is often used, Parker and Stone know how to back up their jokes with great writing. Here are the ten best South Park episode endings, ranked.
“The Death of Eric Cartman” – Season 9, Episode 6 (2005)
“The Death of Eric Cartman” ended by challenging the viewers’ perception about the show’s most controversial character, as for a brief moment, it seems as if Cartman might have changed his behavior. Although Cartman does commit some genuine acts of heroism as he attempts to win back the favor of his friends, he immediately retracts any of the growth he has made upon the realization that they were all pulling a prank on him.
Cartman’s treatment of Butters at the end of the episode is particularly funny in a dark way, as he carelessly has Butters sent to a mental health facility. Although Cartman is unafraid to torment many of his friends with a string of cruel insults, the levels of torture that he forces Butters to endure have resulted in some of the darkest, yet most hilarious gags within the entire history of the show.
9
Butters Has an Existential Meltdown
“Simpsons Already Did It” – Season 6, Episode 7 (2002)
“Simpsons Already Did It” has one of the most brilliant premises of any episode of South Park, as it allowed the series to discuss larger issues that affected every adult animated show. The Simpsons had been such a dominant force in popular culture that it has become very hard for any show to take a crack at a gag that hadn’t already been prominently featured in Matt Groening’s groundbreaking series.
“Simpsons Already Did It” shows the challenge of being a truly original artist, as it concludes with Butters having a meltdown when he realizes that all great works of art have taken inspiration from something else. Although Butters’ reaction is emphasized to be as extreme as possible, it does raise some salient points about the challenges that have been faced by the writing staff of South Park as they try to forge an entirely unique series.
8
The Boys Outgrow Imagination
“Imaginationland Episode III” – Season 11, Episode 12 (2007)
“Imaginationland” is the most ambitious storyline in the history of South Park, as it consisted of three individual episodes all set within the fantasy world of the boys’ imagination; in some markers, the three episodes were packed together and edited into a feature length films, which served as an unofficial sequel of sorts to the 1999 modern classic South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut.
“The Imaginationland” trilogy ends with the boys willfully leaving their dream world after saving the characters that inhabited it, including Santa Claus, Jesus, and many Star Wars heroes. While the gag involving Butters waking up is quite funny, the end of the “Imaginationland” adventure also signifies that the boys are growing up, and that they have developed a mature enough understanding of the world to recognize that they can’t spend the rest of their lives playing pretend.
7
Santa Performs an Exorcism
“Woodland Critter Christmas” – Season 8, Episode 14 (2004)
“Woodland Critter Christmas” is easily one of the darkest and most controversial episodes of South Park, as it became so nasty and gruesome that it could basically be considered to be a work of body horror.
“Woodland Critter Christmas” ends with Kyle being inhabited by the Antichrist, and urging the others to perform and exorcism on it before the evil takes over; although Santa nearly kills him, Stan is able to lead the mountain lion cubs that he had encountered to perform an abortion, which allows Kyle to be safe. Although the final moments of the episode are satirically saccharine, as South Park rarely tries to pull on its viewers’ heartstrings, the last-minute arguing between Kyle and Cartman about the way that the story would be remembered helps make “Woodland Critter Christmas” even funnier, even though it didn’t seem like that was even possible.
6
Cartman Declares Wild Casa Bonita Plan
“Casa Bonita” – Season 7, Episode 11 (2003)
“Casa Bonita” is one of the best South Park episodes about Cartman, as it shows how determined he could be if he had his mind set on a very specific goal. After being snubbed of an invitation to attend the Casa Bonita restaurant at a birthday party, Cartman develops an elaborate scheme in order to ensure that he can taste some of the delicious Mexican food.
Cartman’s evil plan gets even more over-the-top as the episode continues, as he causes significant mayhem, belittles all of his best friends, and gets arrested by the police, who threaten to put him in a juvenile detention facility. Cartman’s response that it was all “worth it” because he got to experience the joys of Casa Bonita is perhaps the best representation of what his actual values are; Cartman is capable of hard work and ingenuity if it is for his own selfishness.
5
Stan Exposes Scientology as a Scam
“Trapped in the Closet” – Season 9, Episode 12 (2005)
“Trapped in the Closet” is one of the most memorable episodes of South Park, as it was among the few installments in which controversy over the show stepped over into real life. In an episode dedicated to pointing out the flaws and insidious practices that are inherent to the Church of Scientology, “Trapped in the Closet” ends with Stan proving in no uncertain terms that the entire religion is a scam that has benefitted from its wealthy celebrity backers.
“Trapped in the Closet” ends with a particularly clever gag in which the credit names are replaced with monikers like “John Smith” and “Jane Doe,” referencing the fact that the Church of Scientology will often file lawsuits against those who have attempted to discredit their beliefs. The fact that the airing of “Trapped in the Closet” did result in some legal controversy only makes the point even stronger.
4
Stan’s Depression Is Not Resolved
“You’re Getting Old” – Season 15, Episode 7 (2011)
“You’re Getting Old” is one of the most daring and mature episodes of South Park, as it wrestles with the reality of living with depression and other mental health issues in a surprisingly honest way. After turning a year older, Stan finds that he is no longer able to take joy in the same things that made him happy when he was younger, and begins to grow increasingly isolated from his friends.
“You’re Getting Old” does not attempt to appease the audience with a happy ending, as Stan ends the episode just as miserable as he was at the beginning. While it may have been a bit of a downer for many South Park viewers who were just tuning in to laugh, those who have dealt with similar mental health issues were relieved to see themselves represented onscreen in such a surprisingly accurate way.
3
The Boys Become Addicted and Deformed
“Make Love, Not Warcraft” – Season 10, Episode 8 (2006)
“Make Love, Not Warcraft” is among the most influential episodes of South Park, as it shone a spotlight on the toxicity of gaming culture in a very hilarious way. After Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny become infuriated by a player in World of Warcraft that is constantly killing them, they decide to completely devote themselves to mastering the game and taking out their sworn enemy.
“Make Love, Not Warcraft” examines the dangers of this level of obsessiveness, as by the end of the episode, the four boys have become grossly overweight and completely ignorant of the ways that the world has changed without them. Although the status quo of South Park was preserved within the next few episodes, “Make Love, Not Warcraft” was so scathing in its satire of video game addiction that it actually may have shaped the way that the general public thought about MMORPGs.
2
Kanye West Accepts the Fish Joke
“Fishsticks” – Season 13, Episode 5 (2009)
Although South Park has an extensive history of ruthlessly mocking celebrities, no one was taken down quite as brutally as Kanye West in the episode “Fishsticks,” which was actually written by Bill Hader. After Jimmy creates a joke about “fish sticks” that implies that someone is a “gay fish,” Kanye becomes infatuated when he doesn’t understand the joke, and lashes out at anyone who attempts to pull the punchline on him.
“Fishsticks” ends with a hilarious musical number in which Kanye accepts the joke and sings while he is depicted as an actual fish. It is easy to forget that Parker and Stone are also established composers who won many Tony Awards for their work on The Book of Mormon; the fact that they can continuously add legitimately great songs to South Park is one of the primary reasons that the show continues to still feel so unique.
1
Cartman Feeds Scott Tenorman His Own Parents
“Scott Tenorman Must Die” – Season 5, Episode 5 (2001)
“Scott Tenorman Must Die” is one of the darkest episodes in the history of the show, and proved once and for all that South Park was willing to get far more unnerving than other popular adult animated shows of the time, such as Family Guy or King of the Hill.
The episode focuses on Cartman being tormented by the school bully Scott Tenorman, which leads him to perform an elaborate act of revenge; after inviting Scott to participate in a chili contest, Cartman reveals that the bully has actually consumed his own parents, who had been murdered. Beyond the shocking reveal of the ending, it is particularly hilarious to see how Kyle, Stan, and Kenny react to the knowledge of the capacity for cruelty that Cartman had, and why they should never get on his bad side to avoid a similar fate.
