City on the Edge of Forever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (October 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| “City on the Edge of Forever” | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
 The children are stranded in their bus. |
|
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 20 |
| Written by | Trey Parker Nancy M. Pimental Matt Stone |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Production no. | 207 |
| Original airdate | June 17, 1998 |
| Season 2 episodes | |
| South Park - Season 2 April 1, 1998 – January 20, 1999 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ← Season 1 | Season 3 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"City on the Edge of Forever" (known as "Flashbacks" on the DVD) is the 20th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on June 17, 1998. The episode's title is taken from the Star Trek episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever". It parodies clip shows, program episodes consisting mainly of flashbacks from earlier episodes.
Contents |
[edit] Plot synopsis
The children are on the bus, riding along a mountain. When the bus nearly goes over a cliff, Ms. Crabtree gets out to go for help, telling the kids not to leave the bus, because a big scary monster will eat them. The kids remain there and remember past experiences.
Scenes are shown in the boys' memories from episodes such as "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Weight Gain 4000", and "Death". However, each of these memories are different from what had actually happened. For example, Stan is twice shown kissing Wendy rather than vomiting in panic when she talks to him, Kenny kills Death instead of the reverse, and Mr. Garrison shoots Kathie Lee Gifford because she is some kind of alien. In addition, at the end of all of them, the people in the memory eat ice cream or something happens involving ice cream. After the memory ends, whoever was recalling it says "Now that's what I call a sticky situation!", and everybody laughs). Some of the memories aren't from South Park at all; Fonzie's leap over a series of buses parodies the Happy Days episode "Fearless Fonzarelli." Later, when one kid in a red Starfleet uniform tries to leave the bus, a gigantic black monster (voiced by Henry Winkler, who played Fonzie) really does jump out. After eating him, the monster lays siege to the bus.
Mrs. Crabtree, on her journey, meets a man named Marcus (or Mitch; it keeps changing) who gives her roofies as a date rape drug, but they have no effect. Her screaming rants seem funny to him, and he helps her get a short job as a comedian. She even appears on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno. However, she then quits, but the two remain close. Back in South Park, Mr. Mackey convinces the parents that their children have run away, and they go on TV trying to get their kids to return.
In the final flashback, Cartman recalls the adventure to identify his father, but he remembers it incorrectly with his father being John Elway. When corrected by Kyle ("I thought your father was your mother 'cause she had a penis."), Cartman is angered, and moves to the back of the bus to attack Kyle. This causes the bus to go over the cliff, breaking it in half and causing Craig to fall out into the trench. Then the bus falls into the trench into a tub of ice cream. Cartman suddenly realizes how little sense everything makes and wakes up in his own bed. His mother comes in with breakfast, and Cartman explains his dream to her. She then offers him some beetles for breakfast, and they eat. Just then, Stan wakes up in his bed, and calls Kyle to talk about the strange dream he had. Then the two, plus Cartman and Kenny, go out for burgers.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Crabtree and Mitch enjoy a sunset while sitting next to a pond. He confesses that their entire relationship is the product of an eight-year-old's crazy dream, but Mrs. Crabtree doesn't care, so long as they're together.
[edit] Kenny's deaths
Kenny originally dies when the big black monster tears the roof off the bus, grabs Kenny, and eats him. Not only does he reappear on the bus a couple of times, however, but since the entire episode is a dream, Kenny technically didn't actually die that way. He also dies in a flashback, when Fonzie from Happy Days jumps over a line of buses with his motorcycle but is unable to stop, smashing Kenny's head against a brick wall with the motorcycle. The boys reject that flashback's accuracy since they remember Kenny having been eaten by the monster a few hours earlier.
[edit] Episode notes
- At one time when it becomes day, it instantly changes back to night when the bus starts tipping back and forth.
- After clearly being taken by the monster, Kenny appears a window of the bus (from an exterior angle) as it rocks back and forth on the edge of the chasm. However, after the advertisements, Kenny, along with several other children, are missing from their respective windows.
[edit] External links
- City on the Edge of Forever at South Park Studios Episode Guide
| Preceded by “The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Summer Sucks” |
