Original air date: 12/11/2002
In this 2002 holiday special, Cartman convinces Santa to bring Christmas to Iraq in order to get on his "nice" list, but things backfire horribly when Santa is captured, forcing the boys to seek out Jesus for help.
Examples:
- All for Nothing: In the end, Santa gifts Cartman with the Haibo robot dog the latter really wanted and which served as the impetus for him to convince Santa to spread Christmas joy to the Middle East. However, Santa also gives Stan and Kyle Haibo dogs as well, meaning Cartman can no longer enjoy his present because he wanted the boys to be envious of him.
- An Ass-Kicking Christmas: Once Santa gets shot down, shit gets real.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- Kyle Schwartz explains that with all the naughty stuff Cartman's done he'll end up owing thousands of presents to Santa. When Cartman asks what sort of nice thing he could do in such a short time Kyle tells him that if he managed to quickly discover the cures to both cancer and AIDS... he would still owe 2 presents.
- In one of the many scenes parodying Black Hawk Down (see below) Santa has a gun trained on the man who tortured him but appears to pull the gun away and fire it into the air, stating that "He couldn't do it." It then shows the man's corpse with several gunshots in his head, and Santa adds that "he just couldn't let him live" after what he did to Santa's balls.
- After their escape, it seems like Santa is about to rain missiles on Iraq for retaliation to what they did to his... uhm, balls. But it turns out the missiles from Santa's sleighs rains Christmas presents.
- One cut back to Jimmy's continuing to sing "The Twelve Days of Christmas" shows him finishing up the "Partridge in a Pear tree line". It's then revealed he only now managed to finish the second verse and still has ten more to go.
- Kenny's revival subverts both the permanent death he experienced at the end of the prior season and the mini-arc of Cartman being possessed by him, which had absolutely nothing to do with Kenny coming back to life.
- Behind the Black: Kyle asks where Kenny has been, to which Kenny replies, "Oh, I've just been hanging out." while pointing off-screen.
- The Bus Came Back: Kenny returns after being absent for an entire season after his death back in the previous one.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: The Iraqi man holding Santa captive electrocutes his testicles and forces him to drink crude oil.
- Continuity Nod:
- Kyle's cousin Kyle Schwartz from "The Entity" is Cartman's "naughty and nice" accountant.
- The Underpants Gnomes work at the North Pole.
- Groin Attack: The Iraqi torture technician spends most of his time shocking Santa's balls.
- He's Back!: Kenny shows up in the very last scene of the episode, signifying the end of his "permanent" death that had been in effect for the whole season.
- Hypocritical Humor: Santa Claus tells Cartman that the naughty or nice list is still open on Christmas Eve because kids try to cram in last minute good deeds so they get on the nice list. Cartman scoffs at the idea as being stupid, although that's exactly what he's doing.
- Kung-Fu Jesus: Jesus takes names and kicks ass to rescue Santa.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: After meeting up with Kenny, the boys remark that everything is back to normal.
- Mistaken Nationality: The Iraqis torture Santa so they can find out what America's plans are, even though Santa tells them he's from the North Pole and not American.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Santa's efforts to spread Christmas into the Middle East gets him shot down and captured by Iraqi nationalists who accuse him of propagandizing Westernization of their Islamic lifestyle.
- Overly Long Gag: The entire B-plot consists of Jimmy taking forever to sing all of "The Twelve Days of Christmas" because of his stutter.
- Sacrificial Lion: Jesus is killed in this episode, and actually remains dead all the way until Season 11's "Fantastic Easter Special."
- Shout-Out:
- The backup reindeer are all named after daytime talk show hosts like Montel
. - Santa's workshop is The Fortress of Solitude.
- Anytime a kid gets a present, they take on the same facial expression as the kids from the stop motion Rankin Bass specials.
- The backup reindeer are all named after daytime talk show hosts like Montel
- Spoof Aesop: Santa tells the people of South Park that Jesus gave his life to rescue Santa, so Santa decrees that every Christmas they remember Jesus and the sacrifice he made.
- This Is Gonna Suck: When it takes Jimmy numerous tries just to finish the first verse, Mr. Garrison can be seen quietly saying "Oh no..."
- "Oh no! Not Santa's balls!"
- This Is Unforgivable!: "He shocked Santa's balls!"
- Took a Level in Badass: Jesus' prior portrayal as an ineffectual Nice Guy permanently drops the "ineffectual" part starting with this line:"My children, you should know something. *pulls out a knife* I'm packing."
- Troubling Unchild Like Behavior: Cartman mentions one of the positives of the Haibo robot dog is that you can starve it to death.
- Unexplained Recovery: Played for Laughs when Kenny suddenly appears alive and well again in the last scene, despite his permanent death in the previous season... though it's kind of hinted that Santa may have had something to do with it.
- Villain Has a Point: Subverted. The Iraqi officer that tortures Santa points out that his attempt to spread joy to the children of Iraq was little more than imposing Western customs on them, rather than trying to understand Iraq's definition of happiness. Turns out that Santa really did want to spread joy to Iraq.
- Wham Line:Kenny: (muffled) Hey guys, what's going on?
- What the Hell, Hero?: Kyle rightfully calls out Cartman for convincing Santa to bring Christmas to Iraq, which gets him captured after nearly dying, just for a toy.
- Whole-Plot Reference: To Black Hawk Down.
