Oh my god! They killed Cartman!
Original air date: 9/30/1998A couple wins a vacation to South Park on a game show. Meanwhile, Kyle uses Cartman for a bullriding contest and the South Park cows worship a statue.
"Cow Days" contains examples of:
- A Fool and His New Money Are Soon Parted: The boys' initial plan is to simply keep mining the $5000 to keep playing enough to earn the dolls. The game attendant, aware he's dealing with kids who don't realize the value of money, suggests simply "trading" the money for the dolls; the kids fall for it, outright asking "When did you get so cool all of a sudden?"
- Accidental Misnaming: Stan accidentally calls Barbrady "Buttbaby". When Barbrady calls them on it, the boys laugh. Could be a subversion, as early episodes had the boys mock Barbrady's name to his face.
- Artistic License – Medicine: Liane Cartman would've been called to come to the hospital since Cartman's minor and there's no explanation on how they plan to pay for his hospital stay.
- Asian Hooker Stereotype: Cartman when he thinks he's Ming-Li due to head trauma.
- Borrowed Catchphrase: After Cartman is thrown off the bull and doesn't respond to Kyle and Stan's jeers, Kenny says "Oh my god! They killed Cartman!"
- Butt-Monkey: The couple, who end up getting an undesirable prize that ends up leading to their deaths.
- Comical Overreaction: The townsfolk treat the Running of the Cows as a dangerous tradition that has claimed many lives in the past. When the event starts, however, the cows are too docile to even move outside the fence and its townsfolk that gets themselves killed due to fearing the harmless cattle while ignoring their surroundings.
- Contrived Coincidence: The game attendee deliberately gives oversized balls to ensure nobody wins his prizes. The moment Kyle summons Officer Barbrady to declare shenanigans, only then does he grab the smaller ball. Then, after Barbrady leaves, he then declares they had to win seven consecutive times to earn the dolls, all but implying he's simply running a paid scam. It's outright confirmed when the attendee "agrees" to give them the dolls for the $5000 they win.
- Crappy Carnival: The Cow Days carnival. It has terrible rides and food that are all ripoffs. It ends with shenanigans being declared and a riot. Its Chamber of Farts ride provides the page image.
- The Determinator: Kyle really wants those Terrence and Phillip dolls and nothing will stop him. Not even one of his friends suffering serious head trauma and amnesia. So needless to say, when the dolls are revealed to be cheap knockoffs, he is not happy.
- Driven to Suicide: The cows when the FBI tries to make them stop worshipping the cow clock.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: Leonardo DiCaprio's limo is being driven by a Visitor.
- Groin Attack: Kyle throws a snowball at the bull's groin to set it off.
- Identity Amnesia: Cartman thinks he is an Asian hooker due to head trauma.
- Irony: Kenny says “Oh my god! They killed Cartman!” when Cartman falls off the bull. It is actually Kenny who dies instead.
- Jerkass:
- Stan and (especially) Kyle for making Cartman ride a bull, even when he had a serious injury and needed rest and thought he was a Vietnamese prostitute. Ironically, Kyle is the one hesitant to force Cartman onto the bull while in the hospital, but once at the rodeo, it's Stan who is having second thoughts.
- The Ball-Throwing Game Attendant, due to having a game that's intentionally rigged and tricking the boys into giving him the $5000 they won for cheap knockoff Terrance and Phillip dolls.
- Jimbo accuses Tom & Mary of stealing the cow memorial and has them arrested. He also ends up indirectly responsible for a mass cow suicide.
- Kangaroo Court: The couple is arrested for "stealing the cow memorial" when the only evidence they had was they arrived in town shortly before the memorial was taken.
- Karma Houdini:
- The Mayor, Jimbo and Officer Barbrady all get away with locking up an innocent couple and then leaving them to starve and die. Though they realized their mistake, but kept it under wraps for Barbrady's sake.
- Stan and Kyle get away with causing serious injury to Cartman to the point that he thought he was a Vietnamese prostitute. Though they did regret it, they get everything they want that episode. Even though Cartman was a Cartman, he still didn't really do anything in this episode to warrant his treatment.
- Noodle Incident: When the cows are committing mass suicide, the FBI agent mentions that it's the first mass cow suicide he's seen in eight months.
- Right on Queue: The boys wait in line for an interminable length of time to go on a ride of an unidentified nature. They finally make it to the head of the line to discover no ride waiting for them; it turns out that the line itself was the "ride".
- Shout-Out: The mass cow suicide by jumping off a cliff on their respective holiday with Jimbo shouting "Oh the humanity!" is a clear homage to the legendary "Turkey Drop" scene from WKRP in Cincinnati.
- Something We Forgot: Played with. Officer Barbrady forgetting about the innocent couple behind bars... until they've already starved to death.
- Space Whale Aesop: As Stan eloquently puts it, "I'm starting to think it's wrong to put someone who thinks they're a Vietnamese prostitute on a bull."
- Stepford Smiler: The couple try to make the best out of their crappy prize trip. Even to their deaths.
- Stupid Evil: Not only are the carnival workers crooked as hell, but once the townspeople declare shenanigans, the carnies call them "screwy" right to their faces. What did they think was going to happen?
- They Killed Kenny Again: Kenny is killed by being gored on the horn of the bull Cartman was riding to win the $5000.
- Undesirable Prize: The trip to Cow Days for the couple. It only goes From Bad to Worse.
- The game attendee reveals his "prizes" are actually Barbie pocket mirrors and Bon Jovi toothpicks, which one would have to collect seven of to redeem for the dolls.
