| "Butters' Very Own Episode" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| South Park episode | |||
Special title card used for "The Butters' Show". |
|||
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 14 |
||
| Directed by | Eric Stough | ||
| Written by | Trey Parker | ||
| Production code | 514 | ||
| Original air date | December 12, 2001 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
|
|||
| South Park (season 5) List of South Park episodes |
|||
"Butters' Very Own Episode" is the fourteenth and final episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 79th episode of the series overall. "Butters' Very Own Episode" originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central on December 12, 2001. In the episode, Butters survives a murder attempt by his own mother and must travel back to South Park in time for his parents' wedding anniversary at Bennigan's. Meanwhile, Butters' parents join Gary Condit and O. J. Simpson in lying to the press about who murdered Butters.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA in the United States. It is notable for being the first episode to center around Butters.
Contents |
Butters expresses excitement about his parents' upcoming anniversary, which they are going to celebrate at Butters' favorite restaurant, Bennigan's. A few days before their anniversary, Mrs. Stotch asks Butters to spy on Mr. Stotch in order to find out what his gift for her will be. While spying, Butters watches his dad enter first a gay theater and then a gay bathhouse. Upon returning home, Butters reports to his mother about his father's whereabouts, leaving her appalled by her husbands homosexual affairs, becoming visibly distraught and unhinged. Mrs. Stotch then attempts to murder Butters by dumping her car in a river with him inside, though he survives and has no idea that his mother had attempted to kill him.
Hours later, Mr. Stotch enters the home to find his wife attempting to hang herself. He rushes to her side and explains that his homoerotic tendencies stem from chatting with other bi-curious and married men on the Internet. He insists that he still loves her and doesn't want to lose his family over his "addiction." Mrs. Stotch then reveals to her husband to having drowned Butters. He promises that he will not let her go to jail. The next day, the Stotches confront the press about their son, stating that he was abducted by "some Puerto Rican guy". As the media centers in on the "missing child" case, the pair are inducted into a club of infamous, highly-publicized characters whose loved ones have also been "taken from them by Some Puerto Rican Guy", including Gary Condit, O. J. Simpson, and John and Patricia Ramsey.
Butters eventually makes his way home, where he finds his parents' fighting. Upon hearing what the quarrel was about, he scolds them for lying and trying to teach him to lie. Deciding to follow in their son's footsteps, they come clean to the media about the cover-up, revealing many unsettling facts to Butters in the process. Afterwards, Stan, Kyle and Cartman chastise Butters about his unhinged parents. Although he attempts to make light of the situation, Butters admits that he is now probably scarred for life.
Written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, "Butters' Very Own Episode" was rated TV-MA in the United States, and originally aired on December 12, 2001 on Comedy Central. In the DVD commentary, Parker and Stone indicate they planned to make Butters the fourth group member after Kenny was written off the show, and created this episode as a prelude to his assuming a more prominent role in the series.
IGN gave this episode a rating of 8.5, stating, "There are several classic moments in this episode, but it all works so well because of the setup."[1]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||