Tsst

"Tsst" (also known as "The Dog Whisperer") is the seventh episode and mid-season finale of the tenth season and the 146th overall episode of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on May 3, 2006. In the episode, Liane has problems controlling her son Cartman and enlists several reality TV shows to help with his behavior problems.

The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA in the United States, except on syndicated broadcasts, where the episode is censored and has a TV-14 rating, instead. It focuses primarily on Eric Cartman, his mother, and "The Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan.

Plot

Cartman is in Mr. Mackey's office with his mother, Liane, where he is forced to explain why he told Billy Turner that he poisoned his milk, handcuffed him to a flagpole, gave him a hacksaw, and told him that he had to saw off his foot to get the antidote, all because Billy made fun of Cartman's weight problem. When Liane realizes she cannot control her son anymore, she attempts to get help from an expert. At first, she tries to enlist the aid of the nanny from the reality TV program Nanny 911 after Mr. Mackey recommended it to her, but to no avail; Cartman rebels against Nanny Stella but when she tries to reach him, he subjects her to extreme verbal abuse, telling her she is unattractive, and that she would reach menopause before she found a husband. Extremely offended, the nanny quits on the spot. Mrs. Cartman's second attempt is with Jo Frost from Supernanny. Without seeing what Cartman has done, she is shown three days later in a psychiatric hospital, having suffered a total psychotic break. (She is shown eating her own feces and repeating the phrase "It's from hell!)" Liane ultimately recruits Cesar Millan, the "Dog Whisperer", from the show of the same name.

Millan doesn't treat Cartman as a real child, but instead consistently uses dog-training methods on him. He evaluates Cartman as dominant, aggressive, and obese (like a disobedient dog who is given too many treats and not enough exercise). He neglects to acknowledge Cartman's attention-seeking at all, and refuses to even address him by name, calling him "the child" or "it". He teaches Liane to show Cartman she is the "pack leader", while treating Cartman as one would a dog. Millan teaches Liane that dogs nip each other in the neck to show dominance, and in this extreme case, it also works well with children. He, and later Liane, uses two fingers to nip at Cartman's neck to show that they are dominant whenever he shows aggressive or undesirable behavior, and otherwise totally ignores him unless he acts in a submissive or socially-acceptable fashion. Liane continues disciplining Cartman in the way Millan teaches her, showing dominance by going for a walk with Cartman secured on a leash and harness. Then, later, eating KFC before he does. Cartman tries to trick her into believing he has given in, but Millan spots the lie in his stance. This of course predictably angers Cartman and makes him try to run away from home. Millan however convinces Liane that Cartman will be just fine and will return soon enough.

Cartman tries to seek help from his classmates, but none of them are sympathetic to his problem as they were fed up with his bratty antics as well. He ends up sitting in the rain for four hours before he decides to return home. In Cartman's absence, Liane has retaken her favorite hobby of Japanese sumi-e paintings, and Millan is still there. Cartman is then given a completely healthy dinner. In an attempt to regain dominance, he denounces the healthy dinner as "just like Auschwitz" and he threatens to call Social Services. After being "nipped" several times by his mother he reaches a relaxed and submissive state in which he behaves much like a submissive dog. Cartman brushes his teeth when his mother commands him to, and suddenly realises that he's changing - as he sees it, he is becoming weak and losing control. This shocks him.

Later he once again attempts to persuade his friends to help him kill Liane, comparing her dominance to Hitler and claiming that, having lost almost 10 pounds, he now knows how the Jews felt during the Holocaust. When his friends flat out refuse to help him murder his mother, he is so insistent that he decides to carry out his plan alone. Cartman sneaks into the sleeping Liane's bedroom at night, knife in hand, and goes right up to her with it, but has an unexpected struggle in his mind between his long-suppressed conscience and his 'demonic' side. A series of "blue faces" appear out of phase from time and say phrases ahead of Cartman saying them. It has the appearance of the various worm holes Jodie Foster's character experiences in Contact. Finally, he vomits up black bile, drops the knife, and goes through a bizarre static-like inner conflict sequence in the hallway, where he transforms shape as well, bulging and changing color and shape, similar to the ending of the movie Altered States, almost as if a real demon is being dragged out of him. Finally he passes out.

In the morning, a surprised Liane finds the knife, but also sees that Cartman is already awake, dressed, and ready for school. He has even made his own healthy breakfast and is studying before school starts, which astounds her. At the same time, Millan comes to have a final check. Liane thanks him for converting her son into a good child and being her new friend, and tells him she has tickets for the two of them to see Madame Butterfly together. Cesar politely informs Liane that he only sees her as a client, and now that his work is done, he must leave. Losing her only friend, a desperate Liane promises to take Cartman to KFC and get him a Mega Ranger from Target, as long as he spends time with her. Cartman asks if he could have two Mega Rangers and Liane quickly agrees, going so far as to tell him "you can have whatever you want". As Cartman hugs his mother and smiles innocently, a choir sings the theme "Ave Satani" from "The Omen."

Reception

IGN rated this episode an 8 for impressive and said "While not among the terrific episodes that began the season, this was a very fun installment of the show, and a nice spotlight on Cartman and what it might take to finally make him obey."^[1]

When asked if he was offended by his caricature on the episode, Cesar Millan stated that he thought it and the entire episode was "fantastic". ^[2]

Censorship

During syndicated broadcasts on Comedy Central before 9PM EST, the shot where Jo Frost is eating her own feces at the mental hospital is cut. However, the silhouette of her doing it through the window on her door is kept intact.

References

As of this edit, this article uses content from "Tsst/Trivial", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

External links

• Tsst Full episode at South Park Studios
• Tsst Episode guide at South Park Studios