Recap / South Park S 3 E 2 Spontaneous Combustion

Original air date: 4/14/1999

Randy must solve the problem when citizens start spontaneously combusting. Meanwhile, Cartman plays Jesus in a "Stations of the Cross" play and ends up stuck on the cross, and Kyle tries to find a "nerection" for his dad.

"Spontaneous Combustion" contains the following tropes:

• All Just a Dream: Subverted. Cartman is tied to a cross for a crucifixion re-enactment, but his friends forget about him and left him up there. A couple of days later, Chef finds him and takes him off the cross. The following conversation is from the car ride home.
  Chef: Eric, I have to tell you something and it's really gonna bum you out.
  Cartman: What?
  Chef: It'll really piss you off.
  Cartman: What, tell me!
  Chef: This is just a dream, you're still up on that cross.
  Cartman: (he wakes up, still on the cross) Oh, dammit!
• Artistic License: Global warming had made it so hot that people were in a t-shirt and shorts, yet there was still plenty of snow on the ground.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Cartman demanded that he get to play Jesus in the play. He's all happy about it until Stan and Kyle leave him on that cross outside of town... and completely forget about him for about three weeks.
• Borrowed Catchphrase: When Randy tries to figure out what caused Kenny to spontaneously combust by having some adults reenact the scene to no success, the man playing as Cartman eventually loses patience and storms off saying "Screw you guys, I'm going home."
• Brick Joke: Randy has a couple imagine spots about being praised for saving the day, which end with a beautiful woman saying, "Make love to me, Randy, please!" When this finally happens in reality, though, it's a senior citizen saying it to him.
• Closest Thing We Got: Randy's a geologist, but he's still hired to find out what's causing people to spontaneously combust because he's the only scientist in South Park (or at least Mayor McDaniels seems to think he is, despite Dr. Mephesto also living in the town and having a far more relevant area of expertise).
• Continuity Nod: It's mentioned that Kenny's been spending a lot of time with his girlfriend, who he hooked up with in Rainforest Schmainforest.
  • It's not the first time Stan has attributed a Star Trek quote to Jesus.
• A Day in the Limelight: Randy is the main character of the episode.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: While he has his moments, Randy is much, MUCH saner than in many of the later episodes featuring him as a main character, which may come as a shock to fans who got into the later seasons of the show.
• Exposed to the Elements: Cartman is left crucified on a snowy hill for three weeks wearing nothing but a loincloth and a crown of thorns, yet doesn't suffer any ill effects from cold weather. Funnily enough, he only ever complains that it's getting really hot, but isn't shown suffering from heat exposure either.
• Foreshadowing: Cartman, still tied to the cross, complains that it's really hot outside. Stan and Kyle have noticed it's gotten hot lately.
• Get Out!: A store clerks tells the boys to get out of his store when Kyle asked if he carries a "nerection". And it wasn't the first store they were kicked out of.
• Heavy Voice: Inverted. Skinny Cartman has a slightly higher voice.
• Hope Spot: Cartman spends almost the entire episode tied to a cross. Eventually Chef discovers him and rescues him, only for the Chef part to turn out to be a dream.
• Imagine Spot: Randy dreams up a montage of him, Stan, and Kyle looking for a way to solve the both the problem farting and ozone layer problems, which eventually turns into a bizarre Scooby-Doo homage of them being chased by a guy in a monster mask.
• Insane Troll Logic: Thinking what Gerald needs is a "res-erection", Stan and Kyle leave Cartman on that cross so he can die, come back, and give it to Gerald.
• Manipulative Bastard: Priest Maxi guilt trips the town for not attending church more often and manipulates Kyle into attending church despite being Jewish.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: People have been spontaneously combusting. Scientist Randy Marsh discovers that this was caused by people holding in their farts, so he tells people not to hold it in. Unfortunately, the constant release of flatulence begins to cause global warming. Mephesto, angry that he lost the Nobel Prize to Randy, specifically condemns him on TV while as a guest on Jesus & Pals where Jesus talks about the global warming.
• Raging Stiffie: The subplot is Kyle's dad being unable to get an erection, he finally gets one after seeing two young girls wanting to sue Randy take their clothes off to show him some skin damage.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Cartman threatens to do so while he, Stan and Kyle have to do the Stations of the Cross, tries to once he's left on the cross for a few weeks and Randy's friend who is dressed up as Cartman does it.
• Shout-Out: Stan convinces Randy to help by telling him how Jesus said "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few."
  Kyle: Dude, that was Star Trek again.
• Something We Forgot: Kyle and Stan crucify Cartman early in the episode and only remember that they never took him down when three weeks have passed. When the two go see him, he's still alive, having lived off all the fat in his body, and he's really pissed off.
• Spontaneous Human Combustion: It's right there in the title, and is the primary focus of the episode.
• Status Quo Is God: Cartman finally does manage to lose most of his weight and is reduced to Nothing but Skin and Bones. But by the next episode, he's as fat as he's ever been.
• That Came Out Wrong: Kyle's naivete about what an erection is makes a lot of his innocent statements sound...not so innocent.
  Kyle: I just want an erection so I can give it to my mom.
  Passerby: What?
• They Killed Kenny Again: The episode's main plot is kicked off by Kenny spontaneously combusting. Notably, this is Kenny's fastest death in the series to date; he dies slightly earlier in "Pinkeye", but he is quickly resurrected as a zombie (twice).
• Toilet Humor: The episode is all about how people are spontaneously combusting from not farting heaps.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: We never hear about Kelly again after the beginning of the episode.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: Kenny managed to survive the previous episode thanks to his girlfriend's efforts. He dies at the beginning of this episode due to holding in his farts from spending so much time with her.