History WhamEpisode / SouthPark

* "Sponsored Content:" Principal Victoria wasn't fired at all, but replaced, and she, Mr. Garrison and Caitlyn Jenner are heading back to South Park because something dire is about to happen. Also, Jimmy has an ability to distinguish sponsored content, ads that have adapted to bring ad-blocked by disguising themselves as news, from actual news stories, and it's revealed that [[spoiler: Leslie and PC Principal are not people, but ''ads that have taken human form'']].

* After the boys spent the first 3 and a half seasons in third grade, they enter fourth grade in the episode "Fourth Grade" where they remain as of season 22.

** Butter's sub-plot in this episode can be considered this too. Butters meets a girl named Lexi who works at the Raisins restaurant after she was nice to him (she was only doing her job, though.) Butters spends the rest of the episode obsessing over her, thinking she was his girlfriend, eventually learning the hard truth that she never liked him at all. He then sits in the rain, wallowing in his "beautiful sadness", as he puts it.

** "The Damned": [[spoiler: Cartman and Heidi, off the grid, become best friends and implicit lovers. Freja Ollengard, Gerald's most recent victim, commits ''real suicide'', in turn spurning the nation of Denmark to retaliate against the trolls, and Gerald is found out by an anonymous stalker.]]

* Long before all of that, "Scott Tenorman Must Die". It's pretty much [[ItWasHisSled his sled]] by now, but when the episode aired the aforementioned murder of Scott's parents was a major [[MoralEventHorizon turning point]] in Cartman's characterization, as he went from being a naughty, immature, and somewhat idiotic 8-year old kid, to being a sadistic, [[MagnificentBastard manipulative]] psychopath.

* The episode "The Return of Chef" is the clearest example to qualify. The whole episode is DarkerAndEdgier than any other episode of the series, and is mostly PlayedForDrama. The plot: Chef is transformed into a pedophile and [[NightmareFuel dies horribly]]. Worse, The Super Adventure Club revives him as a cyborg, even as a pedophile. [[CruelTwistEnding That's the kind of ending for this episode.]]

* "Sponsored Content:" Principal Victoria wasn't fired at all, but replaced, and she, Mr. Garrison and Caitlyn Jenner are heading back to South Park because something dire is about to happen. Also, Jimmy has an ability to distinguish sponsored content, ads that have adapted to bring ad-blocked by disguising themselves as news, from actual news stories, and it's revealed that [[spoiler: Leslie and PC Principal are not people, but ''ads that have adapted into our physical environment'']].

* "Naughty Ninjas": Officer Barbrady gets fired, ISIS wires money to the boys thinking they joined ISIS, the entire PC movement in South Park is exposed as a plan to destroy the town and everyone in it, and it's revealed [[spoiler: PC Principal is Leslie's father]]

* "Naughty Ninjas": Officer Barbrady gets fired, ISIS wires money to the boys thinking they joined ISIS, thwe entire PC movement in South Park is exposed as a conspiracy to destroy the rtown and everyone in it, and it's revealed [[spoiler: PC Principal is Leslie's father]]

* "Naughty Ninjas": Officer Barbrady gets fired, ISIS wires money to the boys thinking they joined ISIS, and it's revealed [[spoiler: PC Principal is Leslie's father]]

* The episode "The Return of Chef" is the clearest example to qualify. The whole episode is DarkerAndEdgier than any other episode of the series, was played several times for the drama, Chef is transformed into a pedophile and [[NightmareFuel dies horribly]]. Worse, The Super Adventure Club revives him as a cyborg, even as a pedophile. [[CruelTwistEnding That's the kind of ending for this episode.]]
* The episodes "200" and "201" of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' were major examples. Cartman discovers the DNA tests to determine who his father was were tampered with, then finds out that his father was [[spoiler:Jack Tenorman, whom Cartman had, much earlier in the series, killed along with his wife and made into chili to get back at his son Scott for [[DisproportionateRetribution stealing $16.12 from him]]. So he had killed his OWN father, made his half brother a cannibal, and Cartman is still more upset about being related to gingers than any of the other events.]]

* ''You're Getting Old'' is another example. The last few episodes have been typical South Park humor, but then this episode comes along. It seems all fun and games, they're going to get better by the end of the episode.. [[DownerEnding It doesn't]]. [[spoiler:Stan is breaking off from his friends, and his parents have divorced]] and it gets worse when [[spoiler:the following episode "Ass Burgers" reverts everything [[StatusQuoIsGod back to the way it was]], defeating the entire purpose of the previous episode, with one noticeable difference: Stan is fully aware the status quo sucks, and is powerless to change it.]]

* "1%": Cartman's toys wind up murdered, and the culprit winds up being Cartman himself, destroying his childhood.

* "1%": Cartman's toys wind up murdered, and the culprit winds up being Cartman himself, destroying his childhood.
* "The Hobbit": After being pressured by the adults and students around her that her anti-Photoshopping stance makes her a "hater" and simply jealous, Wendy tearfully alters a photograph of herself to send to all the other students.

* "Raisins" and "1%"

* The episodes "200" and "201" of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' were major examples. Cartman discovers the DNA tests to determine who his father was were tampered with, then finds out that his father was Jack Tenorman, whom Cartman had, much earlier in the series, killed along with his wife and made into chili to get back at his son Scott for [[DisproportionateRetribution stealing $16.12 from him]]. So he had killed his OWN father, made his half brother a cannibal, and Cartman is still more upset about being related to gingers than any of the other events.

* ''You're Getting Old'' is another example. The last few episodes have been typical South Park humor, but then this episode comes along. It seems all fun and games, they're going to get better by the end of the episode.. [[DownerEnding It doesn't]]. [[spoiler:Stan is breaking off from his friends, and his parents have divorced]].
** That's not even the worst of it... [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking Kyle and Cartman are becoming friends!]]
** And it gets ''even worse'' when [[spoiler:the following episode "Ass Burgers" reverts everything [[StatusQuoIsGod back to the way it was]], defeating the entire purpose of the previous episode. With one noticeable difference: Stan is fully aware the status quo sucks, and is powerless to change it. Making it a real DownerEnding.]]

* The episode "The Return of Chef" is the clearest example to qualify. The whole episode is DarkerAndEdgier than any other episode of the series, was played several times for the drama, Chef is transformed into pedophile and [[NightmareFuel dies horribly]]. Worse, The Super Adventure Club revives him as a cyborg, even as a pedophile. [[CruelTwistEnding That's the kind of ending for this episode.]]

* The episodes "200" and "201" of ''SouthPark'' were major examples. Cartman discovers the DNA tests to determine who his father was were tampered with, then finds out that his father was Jack Tenorman, whom Cartman had, much earlier in the series, killed along with his wife and made into chili to get back at his son Scott for [[DisproportionateRetribution stealing $16.12 from him]]. So he had killed his OWN father, made his half brother a cannibal, and Cartman is still more upset about being related to gingers than any of the other events.

* Long before all of that, "Scott Tenorman Must Die". It's pretty much [[ItWasHisSled his sled]] by now, but when the episode aired the aforementioned murder of Scott's parents was a major [[MoralEventHorizon turning point]] in Cartman's characterization, as he went from being a naughty, immature, and somewhat idiotic 8-year old kid, to being a sadistic, [[CompleteMonster monstrous]], [[MagnificentBastard manipulative]] psychopath.