The first four seasons of South Park have a charm that goes away immediately from Season 5 on. Now, Season 5 may be the second-best of the series (Season 8 is number one), but as great as it is it’s still missing those early days trailblazer vibes. It was also when the show got a little more complex in its narratives, e.g. with Cartman going through a whole elaborate revenge scheme against Scott Tenorman instead of the Ed, Edd n Eddy-esque scam-focused plotlines of Season 4 or the more scatological nature of the first three years. And that includes Season 2, was the final year where the show’s plotlines were extremely basic, and charming for that very reason.
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Now, Trey Parker and Matt Stone don’t like the first three seasons of the show all that much, finding them unfunny and juvenile. And, of those three, they consider Season 2 to be the main culprit. Even though it was so early in the series’ run they stepped away quite a bit when it came to the writing, which was something they came to regret. But there’s really nothing to be embarrassed about here, because for the most part it’s a knock-out year, especially if you’re the nostalgic type, with a ton of charming low-concept narratives and hilariously bizarre characters. But, of its 18 episodes (making it the longest in the show’s run), which one is the very best?
18) “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson”
Some South Park one-off characters should come back. Charles Manson isn’t one of them.
Parker and Stone’s retrospective complaint that the early seasons were trying too hard to be edgy makes full sense when it comes to this episode. The whole running joke is that Manson, one of the most despicable monsters to ever live, actually has a sweet guy who loves Christmas specials lying somewhere beneath the rough, tattooed exterior. It’s a pretty lame joke to build an entire episode around. That said, meeting the Cartman family is a true treat.
17) “Prehistoric Ice Man”
It’s really odd how they went with the dullest of 18 episodes to close out the season, but that’s exactly what “Prehistoric Ice Man” is. Everything right down to the boys’ insults to one another feels like it was rigidly adherent to a formula and wasn’t even trying to add anything new to it.
There aren’t many upsides to this one. Basically, just its summarization of ’90s music as Ace of Base and Marilyn Manson and the moment a federal agent looks down at the “little monkey guy” next to Mephesto and, in the middle of a spoken sentence, just stares. But even that’s indicative of the main problem. It’s a great joke, but it was already done in the previous year’s “Starvin’ Marvin.” The rest of the episode is just the repeated quasi-joke of how the Crocodile Hunter is going to jam his thumb under various wild animals’ buttholes.
16) “City on the Edge of Forever”
“City on the Edge of Forever” was the 20th episode of South Park overall. To put it differently, it was way too early for a clip show.
But it’s a testament to South Park that it’s clip show isn’t just a clip show. In fact, it’s mostly new material, with half the narrative focused on the South Park Elementary School trapped on a bus and hunted by a “big scary monster” while the other half focuses on Ms. Crabtree trying to save the kids only to find herself perceived as a great comedienne even if she’s really just yelling at folks. In other words, the new material is just so-so at best.
15) “Terrance & Phillip in Not Without My Anus”
In a way, no episode has ever captured South Park‘s spirit better than “Terrance & Phillip in Not Without My Anus.” The first season of the show absolutely blew up and, when it ended on a cliffhanger regarding Cartman’s father, a ton of people were very eager to learn the man’s identity. Cut to Season 2’s opening, which promised to answer that question, and instead fans were given an episode that didn’t so much as feature any of the boys.
It angered fans. It betrayed them. If that doesn’t encapsulate the rebellious nature of its creators (who once tripped on acid at the Academy Awards while wearing dresses), then what does? As for the episode itself…it’s fine? It really comes down to whether you think the two title characters and their one-note personalities are enough to sustain a 22-minute narrative.
14) “Cartman’s Mom Is Still a Dirty S**t”
After “Terrance & Phillip in Not Without My Anus,” Parker and Stone made good on their promise to reveal Cartman’s father, which ended up being his mother. Well, until it was retconned in Season 14.
The first part of this two-parter was fine, but this second part was far better. All of the stuff with the film crew being trapped in a snowed-in studio and ultimately eating Eric Roberts (because “Nobody gives a sh*t about Eric Roberts”) is perfect. The same goes for how Cartman can’t hear the start of Styx’s “Come Sail Away” without speed-singing the rest of it.
13) “Summer Sucks”
Stories with simplistic plotlines are the easiest to rewatch. That’s why Season 2 can be viewed over and over. And, when it comes to simplistic narratives, it doesn’t get much more wonderfully straightforward than a giant fireworks snake threatening to turn South Park into ash.
“Summer Sucks” is just Stan, Kyle, and Kenny playing recorders as part of a 4th of July celebration, Cartman getting into a swimming pool and being worried about kindergartners peeing in it, and Mr. Garrison off on a search for Mr. Hat. None of it is in-depth stuff, and it’s peak simplicity. Plus, “Simultaneous” is easily one of Chef’s best songs.
12) “The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka”
South Park has made good use of Jesus over the years, but there’s really no beating making him the host of Jesus and Pals, where he was essentially Jerry Springer if Jerry Springer was being forced to make his show a display of human depravity and dishonesty. It’s also always fun to see Jimbo and Ned hanging out, and their public access show Huntin’ and Killin’ is a great opportunity to do so.
However, while both of those shows within a show are funny, the real comedic highlight is Jimbo and Ned’s recollection of Vietnam, which amounts to a trip to Busch Gardens. This is also the episode where we learn Saddam Hussein is down there in Hell with Satan, which would become important in both South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and Season 4’s “Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?” and “Probably” (it’s a dynamic still being referenced in the most recent episodes featuring Satan and another controversial political figure).
11) “Gnomes”
The Underpants Gnomes are like Mr. Hankey and Towelie in that they’re early South Park characters who really broke out, to the point there was plenty of merchandise featuring their faces. But the irony is that the Underpants Gnomes were barely even in their episode.
Instead, this one focuses on Mr. Tweak, whose coffee business is being threatened by Harbucks. It’s an early example of how South Park took trending news topics (the Starbucks boom) and made episodes out of it. It also comes equipped with hilarious jokes like the Harbucks rep offering Tweak just a briefcase for his entire business and, upon having that offer rejected, then offers him the brief case with $500,000.
10) “Cow Days”
When an ultra-cheap carnival comes to South Park, the boys learn that one of the prizes at a game booth is a set of Terrance and Phillip dolls. Naturally, they have to do everything they can to win those, even if it means Cartman rides a bull until a nasty fall makes him talk exactly like the sex worker in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.
All of the stuff with the boys is excellent, but they’re not at the heart of its best joke. That would be the two random people who go on a game show and, instead of winning something nice and useful, get a trip to South Park for the dumb carnival (and they win it by answering what the skin on a particular area of a penis is called). They never even get to enjoy it, either, not just because the carnival is lame, but also because they’re accused of stealing a massive statue, at which they’re put into a jail cell, are forgotten about, and get devoured by rats.
9) “Conjoined Fetus Lady”
There’s a nice message in “Conjoined Fetus Lady” about seeing people for who they are beneath, and that’s not uncommon for South Park. Its detractors, most of whom have never seen the show, fail to realize that it’s not just a gag parade like Family Guy, it has things to say. That was applicable even in its early days, even if not in every episode.
“Conjoined Fetus Lady” is a case of the A-plot being great while the B-plot is one-note enough to keep the whole episode from entering the top tier. It’s fun to watch the kids play dodgeball, sure, and the Chinese announcer bits are pretty solid, but none of it is truly great comedy.
8) “Ike’s Wee Wee”
We’re now in the realm of South Park greatness. And one of the many things that is great about “Ike’s Wee Wee” is that it branched away from having the focus be mostly if not entirely on the boys. In this case, Mr. Mackey’s the real star of the show.
The plot from which the episode gets its name is touching, with Kyle learning to accept his brother even if he is adopted, but it’s really Mackey’s B-plot (which is just as much a focus as the A) that soars. After all, this is where we got “Drugs are bad, Mm’kay?”
7) “Chef’s Chocolate Salty Balls”
South Park has had plenty of fantastic movie references, but only once has it taken on the entire Sundance Film Festival. And, while Season 2 wasn’t entirely written by Parker and Stone, it’s stone cold obvious this one was all them.
Their full contempt for the industry part of the entertainment industry is on full display, which constant jokes about tofu-scarfing yuppies and Robert Redford drowning in feces abound. This was also where we caught up with Mr. Hankey, and his scream as Redford throws him into a brick wall may be the funniest moment of the entire season.
6) “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods”
“Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods” doesn’t have the nicest title of all the South Park episodes, but it may actually be the most rewatchable of the entire series. Like “Summer Sucks” it’s so charmingly simple it’s hard to resist.
We have the four boys and their classmates dragged to the locale planetarium which is owned by an exceptionally creepy man with a bone disease that makes him pronounce it “planah-tear-ium” with stops and starts. He’s brainwashing people into becoming unwitting employees, and it works especially well on dimwits like Officer Barbrady. As for the B-plot, it’s just Cartman trying to become a spokesperson for Cheesy Poofs, which results in some hilarious back-and-forths with his mother about picking his nose. Oh, and then there’s the part where Kenny’s head explodes after his peers send him into the planetarium to figure out what’s wrong with it. Because of course it does.
5) “Chef Aid”
Narratives where a beloved character gets screwed over always have a way of cutting to the core, and “Chef Aid” is no different. The narrative follows Chef as he learns that a big record producer has repurposed a song he wrote decades ago as the newest Alanis Morissette hit.
Chef was one of the early seasons’ integral characters (perhaps most important throughout the first two years). It didn’t take long for fans to fall in love with him, so to watch such a kindhearted man get sued by someone who flaunts their riches all because the good person is just looking for credit they in fact deserve hits hard. But by episode’s end we have a big smile on our faces because we learn that Chef has touched the lives of iconic musicians like Elton John and the late Ozzy Osbourne (who play themselves alongside others such as Rick James), and now they’re here to use their talents to get him out of this pit. Not to mention, Johnnie Cochran’s “The Chewbacca Defense” is pure comedy gold.
4) “Chickenlover”
One of Season 2’s best one-off characters had to be the puffy red-haired bookmobile driver who just so happens to also be the chicken…lover. But while it’s hysterical that he has intercourse with clucking farm animals just to get Officer Barbrady to start reading, that’s not the highlight of the episode.
Instead, this was the originator of Cartman as a cop (in a clear homage to Cops). To that point, this is where his most famous line, “Respect my authoritah!” came from. Were it not for Season 2, South Park wouldn’t have some of its most iconic stuff, and that line is just one example.
3) “Chickenpox”
It’s always nice when an episode lets things come full circle. Furthermore, one of the definitive strengths of the first seasons of South Park was when an episode’s narrative entirely hinged on the boys misunderstanding something. “Chickenpox” is a combination of those two.
As to the latter part, the boys’ moms want them to have a sleepover so they’ll all get chickenpox before they’re too old. It’s a tactic employed by many a parent. But the boys don’t see it that way because they don’t really know what chickenpox is, much less that it gets worse when you get older. They just see it as their parents getting them sick. So, what do they do and how does it all come full circle? They hire a sex worker to use their parents’ toothbrushes, giving all but Cartman’s mom herpes (she already had it…somewhere else).
2) “Clubhouses”
As mentioned, Season 2 isn’t rife with deep narratives. “Ike’s Wee Wee” has a bit of earnest attempts to pull at the heartstrings, but it’s really “Clubhouses” that pulls it off all the way through the episode. It really does stand out amongst the pack.
It’s a tale of divorce, and Stan’s increasing feeling that his parents breaking apart is somehow his fault. Fortunately, the episode doesn’t forget to be funny, either. For instance, when Randy has a visitation with his son it couldn’t be clearer that he would rather be out partying, which is signified beyond a shadow of a doubt by him speeding off in his new sports car as soon as Stan is out of it. Then there’s a thin-skinned man Sharon starts dating, who constantly screams at Stan to cut more firewood even though they have a ridiculously large surplus of it as is.
1) “Spookyfish”
If “Summer Sucks” or “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods” isn’t the most compulsively rewatchable episode of Season 2, “Spookyfish” definitely is. It’s also one of the best displays of narrative progression in South Park‘s entire history.
We see Stan and Shelley’s great aunt Flo arrive and give her niece a TV/CD player/home theater while Stan gets a little goldfish. He’s already not in love with the thing but then we see it start to threaten him, e.g. by writing against the edge of its bowl with its body and then breathing against it like it’s a bathroom mirror so Stan can read it. Then it starts killing random people, apparently finding itself able to escape its bowl and drag people back to Stan’s room.
And, hilariously, when Stan’s mom discovers the bodies, she immediately accepts her son is a murderer and just disposes of body after body (a list which, of course, ends up including Kenny). On top of all that we get the parallel universe versions of the boys, most notably “Evil Cartman” who is actually just a version of Cartman with kindness in his heart. Perfection.
What is your favorite episode of South Park‘s sophomore year? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
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