Chickenpox (South Park episode)

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“Chickenpox”
South Park episode

Cartman and Kyle rest after getting "chicken herpes".
Episode no. Season 2
Episode 23
Written by Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Trisha Nixon
Directed by Trey Parker
Production no. 210
Original airdate August 26, 1998
Season 2 episodes
South Park - Season 2
April 1, 1998 – January 20, 1999
  1. Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus
  2. Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut
  3. Chickenlover
  4. Ike's Wee Wee
  5. Conjoined Fetus Lady
  6. The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka
  7. City on the Edge of Forever
  8. Summer Sucks
  9. Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
  10. Chickenpox
  11. Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods
  12. Clubhouses
  13. Cow Days
  14. Chef Aid
  15. Spookyfish
  16. Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!
  17. Gnomes
  18. Prehistoric Ice Man
← Season 1 Season 3 →
List of South Park episodes

"Chickenpox" is the 23rd episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on August 26, 1998.

Contents

[edit] Plot synopsis

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. The boys are less than enthusiastic about spending the night over at Kenny's because he is so poor. The dinner is a meager waffle per person. Strangely enough, Kenny's bedroom has a clapper-activated light (It seems that the rats in the room are trained to switch the light on and off). The next day, Cartman and Stan get sick, but not Kyle. 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 by setting them both up on a fishing trip. However, the trip doesn't work out well and the two men come to blows. 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; unaware that Stan is so sick that he might die. The parents begin a frantic search, while the boys go see Old Frida, a local prostitute with herpes in her mouth, who they pay to go to their homes and lick, touch and otherwise mess with their parents' stuff to give them all herpes. The parents find them and bring them back to the hospital; where Kyle also reports being sick and suddenly passes out, making Sheila realize what a horrible thing she has done.

All the boys wind up in the hospital, and the parents get herpes, which they agree was fair idea for what they tried to do. They all have a laugh about it, and then Kenny dies. There is a brief, solemn pause before everyone starts laughing again.

[edit] Kenny's death

Kenny succumbs to the ravages of chickenpox literally seconds before the end credits start. Kenny dies laughing about herpes.

[edit] Pop culture references

  • This episode makes extensive use of The Monkees' "I'm a Believer" in the montage of Old Frida infecting everything with herpes and also in the ending credits.
  • 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!".
  • On the way to Kenny's house, Cartman sings "In the Ghetto" by Elvis Presley.
  • In the shot of Kyle being the only student in class after Garrison concludes his lesson on how to tell a police officer from a prostitute, a still from the animated short "American History" (done by Trey Parker when he was in college) can be seen on the wall.
  • After arriving at Kenny's house, Cartman wonders if they have a Nintendo system. Kenny's father states, "We don't have a Nintendo. We got a ColecoVision hooked up to the black and white TV"; to the puzzlement of his friends. Kyle went far enough as to say: "Oh my god, this is like a third-world country."

[edit] External links


Preceded by
“Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls”		 South Park episodes Followed by
“Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods”