Line #38 Recap/SouthParkS6E2Asspen


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/asspen.png]]
2	'''Original air date:''' 3/13/2002
3
4	In this episode parodying teen ski films from the 1980s, the boy's families all take them to Aspen for two days after getting a great deal on the hotel room and Stan gets into a fight with a skier who challenges him to a race. Meanwhile, the parents attend a time-share presentation only to be pursued and harassed by the persistent advertisers.
5
6	!!This work includes examples of:
7	* AccidentalMisnaming: Thumper mishears Ike saying his name and refers to him as "Mike."
8	* AmusingInjuries: Ike slamming into a cabin while skiing.
9	* BettyAndVeronica: Played straight twice over. The dorky-but-hot girl as the Betty and Heather as the Veronica to Stan's Archie.
10	** Stan himself is the (unwilling) Betty to Tad's Veronica and Heather's Archie.
11	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: Tad and Heather (blonds), Stan and Thumper (brunettes), Kyle and the dorky-but-hot girl (redheads).
12	* BondVillainStupidity: Subverted; after the adults are told about the vast timeshare conspiracy, it sounds like it's going to lead into this, but it only leads into yet another sales pitch.
13	* TheCatCameBack: The adults' subplot has them trying to get away from the timeshare salesmen several times only to end up in a similar conference room with the same salesmen who continue their pitch relentlessly.
14	* DefiedTrope: The main plot of the episode (the homage to Eighties extreme sports comedies) notably has Stan trying repeatedly to get out of it. He makes clear that he doesn't cares about anybody else's plights, points out that he's an inexperienced skier and after the first time he and Tad race he even says, "You are the better skier, this is all the proof you needed, ''leave me the hell alone''." The only reason Stan decides to agree to race at the climax is because Tad is just ''that'' relentless of a bully.
15	* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: PlayedForLaughs. Tad is an excellent skier, and Stan is about as good as you'd expect a nine-year-old who's been skiing for a single weekend to be (that is, he isn't). So naturally, after he gets a commanding lead in the race to the bottom, Tad stops multiple times to try and hinder Stan, including cutting down a tree with a handsaw, throwing sawdust in the path, and releasing a bunch of hamsters. Stan's top speed is already so slow that all he does is walk over the obstacles, barely being slowed down at all. Had Tad tried to ski fairly (as he did the first time), it would have been an easy blowout.
16	* DistractedByTheSexy: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. We are led to think this is how Tad lost when a girl distracts him by flashing her breasts, but it is soon revealed that the girl's breasts are two [[Film/TotalRecall1990 Kuato]]-esque monstrosities.
17	* EarlyBirdCameo: During the credits, Trey Parker sings an 80's pop song in Mr. Slave's voice.
18	* ExcusePlot: Stan at first doesn't care about the bully, his girlfriend, or even the fact that the youth center is being demolished. Once he is challenged to a ski run down the most dangerous mountain in Aspen, however, he suddenly and inexplicably starts caring about them for no discernable reason (which he even vocalizes to Kyle!).
19	* FaceDoodling: One of Cartman's pranks on Butters is giving Butters a Hitler (which involves Cartman sticking his finger up his butt and wiping it on Butters' upper lip to give him a Hitler mustache).
20	* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: The adults try escaping the timeshare salespeople only to fail every time.
21	* FanDisservice: We do get to see the dorky-but-hot girl's breasts...and they're revealed to be hideous Kuato mutants straight out of ''[[Film/TotalRecall1990 Total Recall]]''.
22	* FatAndSkinny: The two police officers summoned by the parents when they get completely fed up with the timeshare meeting.
23	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Part of the reason Kyle is so concerned about Stan racing on the K-13 is that, if Stan dies, Kyle will be forced to hang out with just Cartman and Butters.
24	* GovernmentConspiracy: When the adults call the police to try to get out of buying a timeshare, the police hold them at gunpoint as they find out the timeshares are a conspiracy that goes all the way up to ''the US president.''
25	* GracefulLoser: Stan didn't give two fucks about losing the race to Tad, though that more has to do with the fact he never wanted to race in the first place.
26	* IndianBurialGround: The K-13 mountain was used as a burial ground by a tribe of vampire Wichita Indians who ate the flesh of children with no eyes. Stan winning the race to save the youth center somehow causes the Indian spirits to finally rest in peace.
27	* InstantlyProvenWrong: The Stotches happily tell the other parents they are so happy Butters is becoming close friends with Stan, Kyle and Cartman. Cut to the living room, where Stan calls a sleeping Butters a douche bag and Cartman pisses on him while the other two indifferently let him.
28	* ItsPersonal: Stan is ultimately willing to risk his life to beat Tad all because Tad won't stop following him around and bothering him.
29	* JerkJock: Tad. He constantly mocks Stan and rubs his superior skiing skills in his face for no apparent reason other than to be an ass.
30	* LampshadeHanging: Stan defends facing Tad on the K-13 by saying the guy has Heather. Kyle points out that Stan doesn't even know Heather.
31	* LetMeGetThisStraight: One of the cops says this while meeting with the parents and the timeshare salesmen.
32	* LighterAndSofter: In terms of pure content, anyway: this is one of the few episodes of the series to be rated TV-14 on its original airing, instead of the usual TV-MA.
33	* MaliciousMisnaming: Tad calls Stan "(Stan) Darsh" throughout the episode.
34	* MilkmanConspiracy: The timeshare people have connections all the way up to ''the president of the United States himself'' and essentially [[WeAreEverywhere own all of the authorities]] that would care about the complaints the adults have about their pestering. They use this immense power... to force people to sit down, listen to their entire timeshare pitch, and buy it.
35	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Tad very easily had won Heather's hand and upstaged Stan in the first race, and his rich father was set to tear down the Aspen Youth Center with impunity (all of which Stan didn't care about), but because he continued to harass Stan for no reason and then pulled a DickDastardlyStopsToCheat instead of easily skiing to victory in the second race, he ends up losing everything. Completed self-inflicted faceplant on his part.
36	* NoNameGiven: The redheadded girl that coaches Stan is never given a specified name.
37	* OutsideGenreFoe: Tad is very much your standard JerkJock villain of an Eighties film, an unrelenting bully that constantly wants to show off. He not only is from outside the genre, but he also constantly tries to force the plot to be ''his'' genre.
38	* ParodiesForDummies: During the training montage, the dorky but hot girl reads Stan a book called "Skiing for Dumbasses".
39	* PoliceAreUseless: The police, the government, and even the president is in on the timeshare scam. The boys' parents call in the police to escape the timeshare scammers, only to find that the police are really TheDragon to the scammers and point guns at the ''parents'' to sit down, listen and buy the scam!
40	* RuleOfFunny: TheReveal at the very end, which not only occurs without any {{foreshadowing}}, but also conflicts with the episode's otherwise mundane tone (by ''South Park'' standards). Viewers that haven't seen ''Film/TotalRecall1990'' aren't going to get the ShoutOut, either. However, it's precisely because of this that it works so well as a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] to DistractedByTheSexy, and not knowing the reference makes the {{punchline}} that much more startling and impactful.
41	* SavingTheOrphanage: The "saving the youth center" subversion appears in the kids' subplot. Interestingly enough, Stan really doesn't care about saving it, but he's been forced into the role anyway.
42	* SelectiveObliviousness: Everything Stan said, Tad intentionally interpreted as a challenge for the sake of showing off.
43	* ShoutOut: "[[Film/TotalRecall1990 Quaid, start the reactor!]]"
44	* SkiResortEpisode: The episode has boys go skiing while their parents are trapped in a timeshare meeting.
45	* StupidEvil: In the climactic race of the episode, Tad is definitely the better skier and manages to make it halfway down the mountain before Stan has even made it out of the starting lane. He then decides to make sure of his victory by utterly overkilling it with stuff to slow Stan down (including cutting down several trees), which does nothing to actually slow Stan when he reaches that spot (he would have wiped out ''if'' he had been skiing, but as he is just walking with his skis, he is capable of climbing over all of the obstacles) and then stand around to watch. The result: Stan catches up, and when Tad tries to rush to the finish line, he gets distracted and loses.
46	* TitleDrop: Cartman makes a pun on Aspen calling it Asspen when Butters smells the shit Cartman smeared under his nose.
47	* TrainingMontage: Notable for featuring the "Montage" song, which is more famously known for being in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice''.
48	----
49	-> Okay, you see what he did? He troped when he should have pizzaed! You trope when you pizza, you're gonna have a bad time!

Context Recap / SouthParkS6E2Asspen