Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!"

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is the 29th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on December 9, 1998.

Plot

In this episode, Stan asks permission to go to Cartman's grandmother's house in Nebraska and he is denied. He is sent to his room for complaining further. So he runs off to Cartman's house, cursing his parents as he escapes. Along the way to Grandma's house, Cartman and his mother sing, driving the other boys crazy. They also see a sign for an appearance of Mr. Hankey in a mall near where Cartman's grandmother lives. When he gets to Grandma's house, Cartman hopes to receive a cool present, instead he gets a new shirt. All of Cartman's relatives are there: hilariously, they all share Cartman's mannerisms. At dinner, they meet Cartman's Uncle Howard, live via satellite from the state prison. Later that night, the boys hear someone breaking into the house; it is Uncle Howard and another inmate, Charlie Manson.

Charlie is ready to enjoy his new freedom but becomes distracted by a Christmas holiday special. The boys want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hankey, but no one in the family will take them. Cartman is asked to keep an eye on his cousin Elvin. Looking for action, Charlie offers to take the boys to the mall. At the "Mall of Nebraska" Kenny goes off with Charlie to a secluded part of the mall. Cartman disciplines his cousin Elvin. Meanwhile, Charlie has become obsessed with holiday specials and takes time out to watch The Grinchiepoo. Kyle and Stan meet "Mr. Hankey", whom Kyle exposes as a fake and a riot breaks out. The boys (and Charlie) escape from the mall when the riot police recognize Charlie. Charlie and the boys get into a televised high speed chase with the police.

Charlie gets everyone back to the Cartman house, where he and Uncle Howard hold everyone hostage. Stan's parents arrive and express their disappointment in him. Stan asks to make an escape with Uncle Howard and Charlie. Uncle Howard says he can, but Charlie talks to him about the meaning of family, which makes him change his mind. Kenny holds out a white flag showing the surrender and the cops shoot him. Charlie and Uncle Howard surrender and sing a holiday-special style song. Stan's parents agree that they don't deserve to punish Stan for running away, as they were unreasonable when denying him a Christmas with his friends, so they tell him to come back home for Christmas.

Kenny's Death

Kenny is shot dead by trigger-happy police after showing them a white flag, and then Charlie Manson says: "Oh my God! They killed the little orange-coat kid!". Afterwards, the police continue to beat on his corpse.

Cultural References

• The title is a play on a line in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the famous Peanuts special.
• The Chase sequence parodies the "Escape from the Hospital" scene of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, when the main characters are chased by the T-1000
• The "Mall of Nebraska" is a clear play on the Mall of America which is located in Bloomington, Minnesota.
• The Grinchiepoo is a play on the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
• The number on Charles Manson's prison jumpsuit is '06660', referring to the Number of the Beast.
• When Cartman wakes up after his uncle and Charlie Manson break in, he is wearing a 'Beef Cake' t-shirt referring back to the episode Weight Gain 4000
• At the end of the episode, Manson's jail cell has books on a shelf created by him, and one was called "Are you there God? It's me, Manson" which is a reference to the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.

Trivia

• Cartman's brown hair is shown for the first time.
• Cartman is shown sleeping in his "Beefcake" shirt and supposedly wears it under his jacket.
• There is a reference to Mr. Hankey also being at the Crossroads Mall, a mall in Omaha Nebraska.
• Just before Mr. Hankey is revealed as a fake, Craig, Bertha, Clyde, Kevin, and Butters are clearly visible in the line of children at the shopping mall in Nebraska. Of course, this episode was created before either Craig or Butters had become main characters, and even before Butters had been named. Also, it's a strange coincidence those characters would be in a mall in Nebraska at that time.
• Cartman's grandparents have yellow skin just like Cartman in their self-portrait.
• During the car-chase, after the Snacky S'mores commercial, Manson's tattoo changes briefly from a smiley face to a Visitor's head.
• During the mall scene Charlie Manson says he redid his tatoo, from a svastika to a happy-face, even though during the Helter-Skelter trials he cut it into himself, making it a scar, not a tatoo.

Goofs

• During half of the episode, everyone says that Nebraska is 6 hours away from South Park, then during the other half they say 9 hours.

plus at the dinner table when the family is eating thanksgiving dinner, Great-Grandma Florence is shown wearing a bright colored dress, then when they all grab at the food it is gone and her legs are bare.