Scott Tenorman Must Die (South Park)
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 "Do you like it, Scott? I call it, "Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman Chili." - Eric Cartman
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"Scott Tenorman Must Die" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 69th episode of the series overall. Going by production order, it would be the 1st episode of Season 5 instead of the 4th. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 11, 2001. In the episode, 9th-grader Scott Tenorman makes Cartman believe that buying pubic hair from him will make Cartman reach puberty. Realizing that he had been tricked, an angry Cartman plots revenge on Scott.
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone point to this episode as a milestone in the series. The episode introduced significant changes in the characterization of Cartman, setting the standard for his psychopathic antics in the following seasons; it also prompted the creators to only focus on one plot within an episode, as opposed to the show's earlier episodes, which involved several loosely related subplots. "Scott Tenorman Must Die" was written by Parker, and directed by animation director Eric Stough. English rock band Radiohead guest star in the episode as themselves.
"Scott Tenorman Must Die" received widespread acclaim, with Parker and Stone listing the episode as one of their favorites on multiple occasions, and it is considered by critics to be one of the best episodes of the entire series.
Why It Doesn't Deserve to Die
- The iconic "I made you eat your parents" scene that is likely one of the most iconic scenes of the entire show!
- Cartman going so far to try to ruin Scott Tenorman's life was pretty understandable since Scott embarrassed Cartman.
- Eric is at his most diabolical but it manages to be so hilarious and manages to make his character see a drastic change from being a foul-mouthed boy into a hilarious psychopath.
- Not to mention that he did venge himself in a very smart way, since he did a really complex plan for making Scott eat his parents.
- Tons of funny moments such as Cartman thinking he actually got pubes, Cartman constantly trying to get his money back and the ending, which is priceless itself.
- Scott proves to be a decent and clever villain in this episode and he proves to be smart by managing to scam Cartman out of his money.
- Kenny's death in this episode was hilarious.
- Stan and Kyle are still good characters in this episode.
- Phenomenal ending: This is probably South Park's most iconic ending as we see Cartman's true colors show and teaches many people in South Park to never mess with Cartman. Not only that, but it manages to have a fantastic plot-twist that happens in "201".
- The disturbing tone in this episode is pretty hilarious and stays true to South Park as a show in general.
- Radiohead's cameo in this episode was great and well timed.
Bad Qualities
- Despite the episode's acclaim, some do feel it was too mean-spirited and disturbing, even by South Park standards. For instance, YouTube animation reviewer PhantomStrider included this in his now deleted list of top 10 worst South Park episodes, mainly for this reason.
- Cartman does go overboard in his revenge on Scott due to him making Scott eating his own parent. Not to mention that he did this for $16 but that might be justified since Scott burn them and also embarrassed Cartman in front of everyone.
Reception and Impact
"Scott Tenorman Must Die" is one of the most acclaimed episodes of South Park, and, according to Stone, is one of the show's most notorious episodes. On IMDb, "Scott Tenorman Must Die" has the highest user rating of any South Park episode and one of the highest user ratings of any television episode. It was named one of the best sitcom episodes of all time by Vulture, one of the best sitcom episodes since 1990 by The A.V. Club, and one of the best TV episodes of the 21st century by The Plain Dealer. It has also topped several best-of lists for South Park episodes, including those by IGN, Variety, Kotaku, Boston.com, and The Ringer. The episode was included in the top five of lists of the best South Park episodes published by The Telegraph and TechRadar, and was called one of the show's best episodes of all time by Time and The Verge.
Digital Spy and Special Broadcasting Service listed "Scott Tenorman Must Die" as one of the most controversial South Park episodes. Rolling Stone listed Cartman feeding Scott Tenorman his own parents as the second best South Park moment, calling the episode "the perfect high-low amalgamation of the show's ability to be both shocking and brilliant at the same time", and IGN named Cartman describing Scott Tenorman's tears as "yummy" his best line from the show. Parker and Stone chose the episode as one of their eleven favorites in 2003, and one of their ten favorites in 2006. Fans voted the episode into the 2nd place in a major 2011 South Park vote held under the "Year of the Fan" promotion.
The events of this episode are given new meaning in the season fourteen episode "201," in which Scott returns as the leader of the Ginger Separatist Movement, revealing to Cartman that, while researching his revenge upon Cartman, Scott learned that his own father Jack Tenorman (a fictional Denver Broncos right tackle) had fathered Cartman with Cartman's mother Liane. This means that Cartman is responsible for his own father's death and feeds him to his half-brother in "Scott Tenorman Must Die."
In the 2009 video game South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, the player has to fight Scott Tenorman in a boss fight. In the 2012 game South Park: Tenorman's Revenge, the player is able to control the four main characters of the show, who have to battle Tenorman and his army of gingers, as the kids travel through time.