Going Down to South Park 06.19.08: Chickenpox

Posted by Jerome Cusson on 06.19.2008

Shelley is an evil person. Maybe it's just the name that's evil based on experience.

This week’s episode dealing with the kids getting the chicken pox and how the parents react to it is probably one of my least favorite of the season with the exception of one sequence where the boys gets their parents back. It all starts at the hospital as Stan’s sister Shelley has the chicken pox. It’s part of an epidemic. The chickenpox gets more and more serious as people get older. We also learn that this disease is a form of herpes. Interesting little factoid that pays off with hilarious results later on. Shelley still finds time to beat her brother up.

Stan’s mom talks with Kyle’s mom and Cartman’s pop about how sick Shelley is. They decide to have their children play with a boy or girl who already has chickenpox so their kids can get the disease while they’re young. Kenny of course already has the disease so Cartman, Stan, and Kyle are sent to his house for a slumber party. Wait a second. Boys don’t have slumber parties. Those are for sissy girls. Off they go to the wrong side of the tracks.

Kenny’s parents answer the door and almost the reason for this slumber party out. The other boys find out Kenny has herpes on his face too. They sit down to enjoy some waffles for dinner. Cartman wants to know what the side dishes are as Kenny’s dad asks Kyle if his dad is still making big money as a lawyer. See the two of them used to be friends until Kyle’s dad got promoted at a job they used to work at and then he went off to a community college. He cites Kyle’s dad being Jewish as the reason. Kenny’s mom cites him his husband as being a drunken alcoholic retard.

Kenny and his brother actually have to split the waffle since things are so bad. Cartman has had enough. Kenny sneezes on Cartman as this plan to get all the kids chickenpox continues to hatch. We also find out that Stan and Kyle have Terrance & Phillip sleeping bags while Cartman has an Urkel sleeping bag. That’s just lame. The boys see a rat, but Kenny reassures them by saying something undecipherable and off to bed they go.

The next day, Stan has a fever and his mom is actually happy. He now has the pox. Cartman also has chickenpox and is not happy. He begins to use the calamine lotion to make the itching go away. Too much can make you sick. Mrs. Broflovski asks Kyle if he even stayed at Kenny’s since he isn’t infected. Kyle then has to go Kenny’s house again. He then talks with his dad about his relationship with Kenny’s dad. Then a hilarious conversation takes place where Kyle’s dad explains to his son the ways of the world and how humans actually work. Good stuff to be sure. Gods and clods should have been the next great catchphrase.

Stan’s chickenpox are getting quite bad, and he has to be brought to the hospital. He gets into an argument with his sister about one of them possibly dying from the disease. The two can’t even decide what to watch on television. The doctor wants to monitor Stan and tells the parents they suck because of what they did. FINALLY, a doctor that provides some real damn honesty.

Back at Kenny’s house, Mrs. Broflovski encourages Kenny and Kyle to play some more even though it’s been eight hours and they don’t really have anything else to do. Kyle’s mom suggests playing a game called “Ooky Mouth.” That’s just wrong. Then the parents talk about their husbands and how they were best friends. The moms make a decision to get their former best friend husbands together as Kyle and Kenny continue having trouble with “Ooky Mouth.”

Cartman is still not liking this whole chickenpox thing, and he wants more lotion for himself. Terrance and Phillip make some choice cancer jokes. Cartman gets the lotion and jumps in the tub of pink liquid. Mr. Broflovski and Mr. McCormack go fishing and have some awkward moments. Mr. Garrison tries teaching the class, but Kyle is the only one without chickenpox. Stan gets homework to work on as his parents go off to enjoy burgers and milkshakes.

Kyle is busy working on his paper for Mr. Garrison, but then he hears his mom talking to the doctor about being perfectly healthy and Kyle really not having the chicken pox. This is where Kyle was blind but now he sees what the deal is. He learns of the plan his parents hatched to get them all chickenpox. Explanations don’t work out very well. The former best friends are not having very much fun on their fishing trip because they’re just two different people at this point.

Kyle bursts into Stan’s hospital room while Stan is writing a paper about Knight Rider being the greatest show ever. I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I could think of far better. Kyle tells Stan what the parents have been doing to them. The two boys go over by Cartman’s house and tell him the same thing. Cartman’s paper is about wanting to live on Endor. It’s a parental conspiracy and time for revenge.
Mr. Broflovski and Mr. McCormack get into a fight about their lives. Stan must be returned to the hospital because if he doesn’t return soon, he could die. Mr. Broflovski finds out his wife set the fishing trip up and then yells at her for trying to get their son the chicken pox. After reading his son’s paper, Mr. Broflovski realizes the horrific thing he done. The boys knock on Chef’s door to find out about herpes. Old Freida is hired by the boys to give their parents herpes. Just by touching stuff and putting her mouth on various objects is good enough. The montage where we see this is quite funny too.

The kids are all in one place, and the parents walk in. Kyle gets the chickenpox at last and he ends up in the hospital with everyone else. All the parents? Herpes by their mouths. The kids have a good laugh at this. Mr. Broflovski and Mr. McCormack also make up too. Everyone learns a valuable lesson and we’re out.

The “Screw You Guys, I’m going home” for best line/moment of the episode: Mrs. McCormack referring to the love she has for her husband.

Oh hell no, he’s a nugget of deer terd.

What a fine relationship those two must have.

The Pip moment for worst line/moment of the episode: These are collectively the worst parents ever.

The “Oh My God, they killed Kenny!” moment: Kenny dies of the chickenpox of course.

Before I end this review, I wanted to promote a very candid and insightful interview with independent wrestling superstar Tyler Black. If you're an ROH fan or just a fan of him through IWA-MS, PWG, or FIP, then please check out his interview HERE.

The 411: I'm not sure if parents actually do this, but if they do then that's just plain sick. If you want your kid to get chickenpox, let the process happen naturally. If not, then don't worry about it. This was kind of a disturbing episode from that perspective, but it also had some great moments too. Having the hooker put her herpes on some household items was damn funny. More good stuff.

Final Score:  7.0   [ Good ]