YMMV / South Park S 1 E 1 Cartman Gets An Anal Probe

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Do the aliens really not care about Kyle wanting his baby brother back, or do they just don't understand what he's saying?
  • Did Cartman really not notice the many signs of Alien existence, or was he delusional to push the memories of his abduction out of his mind? The fact that his go-to "argument" was to restate that they didn't probe him (even when that hadn't been brought up) implies the latter, especially considering how he slips back into the "it was all a dream" mentality after being abducted and molested again.
  • Did Wendy really join the mission to rescue Ike out of genuine altruism, or did she just want to get out of her awkward date with Stan because he kept puking on her?
• Crosses the Line Twice: Child abduction and molestation by itself isn't funny. A kid getting abducted twice by aliens, getting shoved a probe up his butt (which makes him fart fire), and then abducted again and this time given pinkeye by Scott Baio, with nobody around him caring, is, especially when that kid is Eric Cartman.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • Considering how unashamed Cartman's mom is to speak of dirty subjects around her son ("I know of a certain kitty-kitty who's sleeping with mommy tonight") and taking into account that she'll later be established as a notorious crack whore, it's no wonder Cartman has the word "dildo" engrained in his mind despite not understanding what it's use even is.
  • It's possible that Kyle's Cluster Bleep-Bomb towards the aliens was inspired by Ms. Crabtree's repeated rants directed at the kids during other school trips, since it wouldn't be out of character for her to swear at the kids (especially him, as shown in this episode).
  • Kyle's fear of his parents (and especially his mother) in this episode (which clouds his genuine care for his brother's predicament for most of the episode) could be interpreted as Foreshadowing for when Sheila is introduced in South Park S 1 E 6 Death as The Dreaded for Kyle due to her Hair-Trigger Temper.
  • Stan's apathy towards Ike’s kidnapping situation makes more sense when you realize he already knows about the visitors’ routine, so he probably knows that they just release you afterwards, like they do with Cartman at the end.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: The ending had a joke saying David Caruso's career has gone downhill. Five years later he would undergo a Career Resurrection starting in CSI: Miami.
• Jerkass Woobie: Who would know that Cartman of all people would be introduced as this? As much of an asshole as he's shown to be, the boy is abducted, sexually assaulted, made to fart fire (which is implied to have been quite painful), briefly brainwashed, tied to a tree, abducted again, and given pinkeye by Scott Baio. All the while his "friends" either laugh at his misery or simply turn a blind eye to his predicament.
• Karmic Overkill: While Cartman is an idiot and a bully, and would go on to become one of the most infamous examples of a Jerkass in Western Animation, his treatment in this episode was a bit too much for many fans, since he gets sexually assaulted by aliens while his friends either ignore or laugh at his pain. The episode ends with him being abducted again after being used as bait and given a disease, all the while his friends ignore his pain again. If this episode had had a different tone, it would've served as a pretty valid Freudian Excuse for Cartman's treatment of Stan, Kyle, and Kenny in later seasons.
• Squick: Stan throwing up out of nervousness when his crush is around, even vomiting on her face when she tries to kiss him. Wendy must be the most patient girl in the world.
• The Woobie:
  • Poor Ike gets put through hell in this episode, all because he wanted to follow his older brother to school.
  • Also Pip, who gets set on fire by Cartman's flaming farts. It's even worse in the unaired cut, which makes a Running Gag out of him getting insulted and beat up by his peers, culminating in him bashing his head against a slide in the playground.

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