The Snuke

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South Park episode
"The Snuke"

Episode no.	157
Airdate	March 28, 2007
South Park - Season 11 March 7, 2007 – TBA
With Apologies to Jesse Jackson Cartman Sucks Lice Capades The Snuke

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"The Snuke" is episode 1104 of Comedy Central's animated comedy series South Park. It originally aired on March 28, 2007.

1 Synopsis
2 Cultural references
- 2.1 References to 24
3 Trivia
4 External Links

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The episode begins when a new student is enrolled in Mrs. Garrison's class. He is named Bahir Hassam Abdul Hakeem, a Muslim child whose very presence upsets Cartman to the point that he actually leaves class. Cartman then calls Kyle, who just happened to be home sick, on his cell phone, and Cartman asks him to do a web search for Bahir's background by using Myspace. Kyle finds out that Bahir just recently moved from Chicago, and Cartman figures that he may target Hillary Clinton, who is in town for a political rally. Cartman takes this as a terrorist threat, then proceeds to call the CIA, claiming that he will only speak directly to the president.

A short while later, the school is evacuated via a drill and announcement, and Bahir goes with Butters to hang out. As that is happening, the CIA calls Hillary Clinton's convoy to warn them of a possible threat. They decide to continue the rally, and as she is doing so, her security sends out a bomb-sniffing pig, which finds that there is a nuclear device in Hillary Clinton's vagina. This was referred to as a Snuke (a suitcase nuke designed to fit in a woman's "snizz") in Clinton's "snatch". To find the location of the detonator, Cartman "tortures" Bahir's parents by farting in their faces, to talk on the whereabouts of their son. Cartman gets no response from Bahir's father, so he then injects himself with a syringe full of apple juice which he claims give him "super bad farts." But once hearing that Bahir is at Butters' house, Cartman runs off.

While this is going on, it is revealed that the Snuke was placed by Russian mercenaries who were being paid by Queen Elizabeth II, the purpose being to serve as a distraction while an 18th-century style British fleet made a surprise attack to "put an end to the American Revolution." The Russians abduct Cartman and Bahir, the former for blurting out the attempt on Mrs. Clinton. After Kyle, Stan, the FBI, CIA, ATF, and numerous other agencies raid the mercenaries, the Russians warn the federal agents that the detonator is set to go off when the clock reaches 1:00. However, the power goes out and the clock is reset, blinking 12:00 repeatedly once the power comes back on. The various American enforcement agencies continue the attack and foil the British attack plan (very easily as it was a squad of bombers against muskets), decimiating the British fleet. Upon hearing the news of the attack's failure from the fleet's leader the Queen shoots herself in the mouth. Back in South Park, Kyle tells everybody that the moral of the experience was that one should not be suspicious of just one race of people, "because actually, most of the world hates [America]." Cartman, however, points out that if he had not suspected Bahir due to his religion he would have never called Kyle, and the actual terrorism plot would not have been solved; thus, he points out, "racism and bigotry saved America." When Bahir's father then announces that he and his family are leaving the country, Cartman also claims credit for "getting rid of the Muslims."

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cultural references

The episode draws heavily on contemporary internet culture, the interconnectedness of the web and its information networks as well as how common, widespread and readily available information has become. Every character in the episode, including Cartman, Kyle as well as members of various government institutions such as the CIA and Homeland Security make use of everyday web services to advance their investigations, which include Google Search, Google Maps, MySpace, Craigslist, MapQuest, YouTube, Realtor.com, WebCrawler, eBay, PayPal, AOL, AIM, Ask Jeeves, JDate, Blogs, Drudge Report, and eHarmony. Kyle uses the most up-to-date web sources, like Google and MySpace; government officials, by contrast, use outmoded sources, like AOL message boards and Ask Jeeves.

[edit] References to 24

The entire episode is a spoof of the series 24, including:

The 24 clock with its associated beeping tone appears several times, and is spoofed when the bomb is set to go off at 1:00 (then a couple minutes away), but after a brief power outage it starts flashing 12:00:00 giving much more time to get rid of the bomb.
The 24 spoof sequence is set off by 24's traditional episode beginner, "The following takes place between __(am/pm) and __ (am/pm)", except in the episode, this is modified to say "The following takes place between recess and geography class"
Cartman speaks throughout the entire episode with a tough, gravelly tone similar to Jack Bauer. He makes light of this fact and says, "If I wasn't serious would I be talking like this?... Whispering, but whispering really loudly for dramatic effect."
Split screen technique is extensively used, like it is on 24. At one point, it merges into single view after it turns out that two characters talking on the phone in split screen are actually standing right next to each other.
Kyle, being home sick from school, is entrenched in computer research and "cross-referencing" different people between databases a la Chloe O'Brian. He also maintains constant cell phone contact with Cartman throughout the episode.
The head of the CIA bears a striking resemblance to Bill Buchanan.
Several persons wear CTU-badges.
Cartman tortures Bahir's parents in the episode with apple juice farts. Jack Bauer is known for his extreme methods of torture during interrogation.
Bahir, the new Muslim student to South Park Elementary, never has his nationality mentioned by specific name, much like 24, which never mentions any particular country of origin for Hamri Al-Assad, Abu Fayed, or any other Muslim character.
A technician is named Chase.
Most of the plot of the episode, in particular the suitcase nukes, is based on 24's sixth season.
The telephone ringtones throughout the episode - landline, cellular, or satellite - are all identical to the tone of the CTU office phones.
The shaky camera movements - used to add fast-paced action in the 24 series - are used throughout the entire episode from the moment the 24 clock first appears.
As is common with any season (day) of 24, the direct problem - removal of Hillary Clinton's snuke - is not the ultimate conflict needing resolution, as the oncoming British invasion becomes the main conflict.
The scene where Kyle is superseded by numerous higher powers of authority in a few consecutive seconds is reminiscent of the Department of Homeland Security takeover during Day 5. Indeed the DHS are the first to take control seconds before being circumvented.
The Russian mercenary's lament about dying before he gets paid is reference to the numerous times in the show that people who have helped the terrorists for financial gain are almost always killed by the terrorists upon completing their task.

[edit] Trivia

Hillary Clinton speaking in a Southern accent is a spoof of the speech she gave in Selma, Alabama.
The music played when the Russian mercenary is first seen talking is actually from the video game series Darkstalkers, the theme of the final boss Jedah.