Story

Description

Butters' Parents' anniversary is right around the corner. Wanting to see what present her husband is getting her, Butters' mom asks Butters to follow his dad around town. Butters does this, and reports back to his mother that his dad had spent the evening seeing a movie (Fisting Fireman 9), and then going to the gym (a place called the White Swallow Spa").

Butters doesn't understand the implications of his father's actions, but his mother does, and immediately has a psychotic breakdown.. First she drives Butters to a lake and rolls the car into the water with her son still in the front seat. Then she goes home to hang herself. But before she does, her husband comes home, apologizes and says he still loves her and wants to change his ways.

Then they decide cover up their son's murder by saying their car was carjacked by "some Puerto Rican guy" with Butters inside. But Butters isn't dead. The car floated miles downstream before hitting some rocks, allowing him to get out in the middle of nowhere. Then, slowly -- driven on by the fact that his parents had planned to take him to eat at Bennigan's -- he makes his way back to South Park.

He gets home in time to surprise them on their anniversary. After regaining their composure, they tell Butters he has to say that a Puerto Rican man dropped him off. Taken aback, Butters gives an impassioned speech about how lying is wrong. It affects his parents so deeply that they call a press conference and admit that not only was his dad having random sex with strange men, but his mom actually tried to kill him. This of course horrifies Butters, but on the bright side he still gets his dinner at Bennigan's.

What I Learned Today

"I really wish I didn't know that stuff. I guess I learned that sometimes, lying can be for the best. Yup."

Memorable Quotes

• "Sometimes telling a little white lie is okay. Like, for instance, when you catch your father jacking off in a gay men's bath house." Stephen Stotch
• "I could use some God-damned poontang myself right now." Butters
• "Wow dude, your dad's a perv and your mom tried to kill you." Stan
• "Inspector Butters is on the case, ma'am!" Butters
• "He went in there and wrestled with all kinds of guys. He wasn't too good though. This one black guy had him pinned down for fifteen minutes straight!" Butters
• "Paint Must paint Everything clean. Everything new " Linda Stotch
• "It looks like the car is fillin' up with water. Yeah, I think maybe now might be a good time to come back inside the car and drive, mom." Butters
• "Oh, nutsack." Butters
• "I ain't grounded, am I?" Butters

Characters

Butters Stotch

Herbert Garrison

Busy Beaver Truck Driver

Officer Barbrady

John Ramsey

Patsy Ramsey

Gary Condit

O. J. Simpson

Stan Marsh

Eric Cartman

Character Debuts

This is the first time we get a really good look at Butters' parents, Chris and Linda.

Linda Stotch

Stephen Stotch

The Old Gas Station Worker is also introduced. We see him again in "Asspen" and "Marjorine", and each time, he dispenses some spooky, mythical knowledge about the areas around South Park.

Mechanic

Body Count

Nobody

Locations

I Am Siam Thai Cuisine

Rob's Sassy Ladys

Studcat Theater

The White Swallow

Original Songs

Butters gets royal treatment in this episode, with his very own campy theme song for "The Butters Show".

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

After killing off Kenny in the previous episode, "Kenny Dies", Matt and Trey did an entire show about Butters to "introduce" him as Kenny's replacement.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

While walking along a deserted road, Butters is for some reason targeted by a three-dot laser site that's exactly like the one used by the aliens in the Predator movies.

In Butters theme song, there's a picture of Butters and Bronco's quarterback John Elway. A line in the song also mentions, "He loves John Elway".

Butters' dad's cozy, wholesome office is an homage to Beaver's Dad's home office in Leave it to Beaver.

Jingle Bell Rock plays on the radio while Butters' mom sends her son and car into the lake.

Bennigan's, a now-bankrupt family restaurant chain, is the driving force behind Butters getting home. He loves the eatery, a love that he will mention again in the future.

The Butters case attracts the attention of John and Patsy Ramsey, O.J. Simpson, and Congressman Gary Condit - all people involved in famous murder cases. They initiate the Stotches into their support group with the chant "One of us! One of us! Gooble Gobble! Gooble Gobble!". This is a parody of the classic horror movie Freaks.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

This particular episode is treated as if it really was a show about Butters. It even has its own intro and theme music. A similar approach was taken with "Starvin' Marvin in Space". Also, a headline on a newspaper being read by Butters' dad says "Towelie Ban Lifted." It refers to a joke in "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants".

This won't be the last time that Butters' parents think their son is dead and resort to drastic measures. In "Marjorine", they actually try to bring him back from the dead

Season 5

e1 Scott Tenorman Must Die

e2 It Hits the Fan

e3 Cripple Fight

e4 Super Best Friends

e5 Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow

e6 Cartmanland

e7 Proper Condom Use

e8 Towelie (episode)

e9 Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants

e10 How To Eat With Your Butt

e11 The Entity

e12 Here Comes the Neighborhood

e13 Kenny Dies

e14 Butters' Very Own Episode