Line #2 WhamEpisode/SouthPark


1	!!''WesternAnimation/SouthPark''
2	A WhamEpisode is an episode where things take an irreversible turn. There are many of these in this series.
3	----
4	* After the boys spent the first three and a half seasons in third grade, they enter fourth grade in the episode "Fourth Grade" where they remain for the rest of the series (as of 2023).
5	* "The Return of Chef". The whole episode is DarkerAndEdgier than any other episode of the series up to that point, and is mostly PlayedForDrama. In summary: Chef is brainwashed by a pedophile cult known as the Super Adventure Club, and is eventually killed in [[NightmareFuel a gruesome manner]]. Afterwards, he's brought back to life as Darth Chef, still brainwashed (although this would be largely ignored and eventually retconned by ''[[VideoGame/SouthParkTheStickOfTruth The Stick of Truth]]'').
6	* The episodes "200" and "201" 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.]]
7	* "You're Getting Old" is a subverted 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]]. Stan breaks off from his friends, and his parents have divorced and it gets worse when the following episode "Ass Burgers" reverts everything [[StatusQuoIsGod back to the way it was]], [[SubvertedTrope 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.
8	* 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, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative]] psychopath.
9	* The Season 5 episode "Kenny Dies", in which Kenny is dying from a disease, and rather than his death being played for laughs like normally, it's played for drama. [[KilledOffForReal And his death was permanent this time]], a majority of Season 6 was about the boys coping with Kenny's death and trying to bring him back. [[spoiler:He finally came back at the end of the season.]]
10	* "Raisins": Wendy dumps Stan due to him not spending time with her. The plot is complicated by the fact that neither Wendy or Stan care to talk themselves and instead send friends to do so, leading to more poor communication getting in the way. Stan attempts to win her back, only to see that Token has started dating her. He falls into a depression and goes goth, up until some encouraging words from Butters cause him to go back to his normal lifestyle. It ends with Stan calling Wendy a bitch, and flipping off her and Token. Wendy and Stan wouldn't get back together until "The List"- a full four seasons later. To even show that Wendy's relationship wasn't reset and that things wouldn't be so easy, the animators had her and Token paired together in the background in "The Jeffersons" while "Follow That Egg!" ended in a dejected Wendy walking away upset after Stan insulted her.
11	* "1%": Cartman's toys wind up murdered, and the culprit winds up being Cartman himself, destroying his childhood.
12	* "Tweek x Craig": When South Park's official website requested for Craig/Tweek fanart, the fandom went out into a bust. This episode was, needless to say, extremely surprising. Craig and Tweek's relationship has continued throughout the series, such as being the focus of "Put It Down".
13	* "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 and Leslie are connected in some way]].
14	* "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 is not a person, but ''an ad that has taken human form'']].
15	* Nearly every episode of Season 20 is a Wham Episode in its own right.
16	** "Member Berries": Skankhunt_42, a {{Troll}}, is actually none other than [[spoiler: Gerald Broflovski, not Eric Cartman.]]
17	** "Skank Hunt": Due to Skankhunt_42 forcing Heidi into committing [[spoiler: a Twitter account deletion]], the boys minus Kenny deal with the innocent [[spoiler: Eric Cartman. After their destruction of his electronics proves fruitless, the girls retaliate by ending every relationship in school, only missing Craig, Tweek, Kyle, Cartman, and Timmy in the wake of the massive breakup.]] All the while, [[spoiler: Gerald is happy about it.]]
18	** "The Damned": [[spoiler: Cartman and Heidi, off the grid, become best friends... and more. Freja Ollengard, Gerald's most recent victim, commits ''actual suicide'', in turn spurning the nation of Denmark to retaliate against the trolls, and Gerald is found out by an anonymous stalker.]]
19	** "Wieners Out": [[spoiler: Butters and Charlotte break up after Charlotte hears about the girls' rebellion, causing Butters to revolt against the girls in a fruitless fight. Initially the [[{{OnlySaneMan}} only boys who aren't a part of the movement]], Stan and Kyle eventually join the boys' army, after it becomes clear to Kyle that because he is dating Heidi, Cartman is no longer interested in his old tactics. All the while, Gerald joins a small team of trolls, while Denmark begins to put in the motions to destroy the trolls.]]
20	** "Oh, Jeez": Mr. Garrison is elected President, and as the show's resident Main/{{Trumplica}}, remains in the Oval Office for the next three seasons.
21	** "Members Only": [[spoiler: Trolltrace is discovered to be part of a plot orchestrated by Denmark to TakeOverTheWorld, and the member berries reveal their plan to bring back the Stormtroopers. Not those [[Franchise/StarWars Stormtroopers]], the [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany real ones]].]]
22	** "Not Funny": [[spoiler: Lennart Bedrager, the head of Trolltrace, is revealed to not even be Danish, but an American troll seeking to pull [[ForTheEvulz the biggest prank of all]] by starting WorldWarIII.]]
23	* "Tegridy Farms" from season 22. Needing an escape from the events of previous episodes, Randy and his family move to a weed farm, and stay there permanently. Tegridy Farms is the subject of many later episodes (taking up most of season 23, and playing a major role in the specials), and Stan's frustration with living there is still present in episodes like "Band in China".
24	* "Time to Get Cereal" and "Nobody Got Cereal?" This two-parter reveals that the oft-ridiculed Manbearpig is real, attacking and possibly killing Ned[[note]]He shows up at the end of the season in poor condition but still alive[[/note]], and destroying much of the town in its rampage. The second part has Satan fight Manbearpig, only for Satan to [[spoiler:get KilledOffForReal in the fight]]. On a meta level, it's one of the first times the show has ever taken climate change seriously rather than ridiculing its activists, casting one of the most famous episodes of the show [[HarsherInHindsight in a whole new light.]]
25	* "The Coon Trilogy" reveals some serious HiddenDepths about Kenny, spurning some CharacterDevelopment regarding his self-sacrificial attitude and compassion. First, it's revealed that Kenny is the true identity of local superhero Mysterion. Second, Kenny's ability to die and return the next episode is retconned into a Lovecraftian curse, the result of his parents attending a cult meeting while his mom was pregnant, and Kenny actually feels pain from every death.
26	* "The Vaccination Special" is much more dramatic than the previous "The Pandemic Special" with long-term consequences. Mr. Garrison returns from the presidency and fights off his worshiping [=QAnon=] supporters, in the process bargaining [[AuthorPowers reality-warping force]] that turns [[spoiler:Mr. White]] into a ForcedTransformation and turns Mr. Garrison's new servant, Mr. Service, into [[spoiler:the long-gone Mr. Hat]]. Meanwhile, the four boys realize they've grown apart and tragically split up their friendship to venture off with other groups.
27	* Season 25's "The Big Fix" reveals that Token's actual name is "Tolkien", named after ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheHobbit'' author Creator/JRRTolkien. The Marshes and the audience never knew this and thought it was Token not only because of the similar pronunciation but also because Cartman and Mr. Garrison spelled his name incorrectly. Additionally, this episode introduces the rival Credigree Weed farm, which becomes the focus of the season finale.
28	* Season 25's "City People" has Liane Cartman get a job as a real estate agent in response to rising rent prices, requiring her to shift some of her attention away from her son. In response, Cartman browbeats her into quitting, and making Liane unable to afford the rent and requiring them to move into a cramped hot dog stand. This also has the effect of severely and possibly irrevocably damaging Cartman's relationship with his mother. The story arc of the Cartmans "living in a hot dog" continues for the rest of the season and most of the next season, with multiple episodes after this one showing the Cartmans still living there and/or feature Cartman coming up with a ZanyScheme to be able to move out of there as part of their plot. While they do eventually end up moving back to their old house (thanks to Butters), it's made pretty clear that Cartman's relationship with his mother will never be the same.
29	* Season 26's "[=DikinBaus=] Hot Dogs". For one thing, this is the episode that concludes the "Cartman lives in a hot dog" arc that started last season. More importantly, Liane's relationship with Cartman is shown to be irreparable, as the end of the episode shows Cartman having a VillainousBreakdown and Liane just walks away, and Butters is given a very good reason to despise Cartman after the events of this episode. Put simply, if there was ever an episode that proved that Cartman's fate as a drunken, screaming hobo (shown at the end of "The Return of COVID") was a ForegoneConclusion, it's this one.

Context WhamEpisode / SouthPark