22 Years Later, This Is Still the Most Depressing South Park Episode

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Life in the small town of South Park, Colorado is rarely peaceful. Strange and terrible things constantly happen there, from giant guinea pig attacks to gang violence and alien encounters. Despite all the chaos, Stan Marsh and his friends somehow manage to return to their everyday lives – or, more accurately, they seem to forget everything that’s happened. Time loses meaning in South Park, and while the specific events change, the town always ends up back where it started.

Even with the adults of South Park finding surprising success – Randy starting a marijuana farm and Mr. Garrison becoming president – the town’s kids often end up facing the toughest situations. They sometimes even turn against each other, reflecting a harsh and competitive environment. One child, in particular, struggles more than the others, and their story is at the heart of South Park’s saddest episode.

Butters Stotch Finally Joins the Cool Kid Club in South Park Season 7

The main characters in *South Park* – Stan, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick – are almost always together, facing whatever crazy situations the show creates. They’re close friends, but often annoy each other, particularly when Cartman throws a tantrum. Despite being only ten years old, Cartman frequently bullies his friends, especially Kyle, with whom he constantly clashes. In Season 7, Episode 11, “Casa Bonita,” Cartman’s behavior catches up to him when Kyle invites Stan, Kenny, and Butters to go to the Casa Bonita restaurant – deliberately excluding Cartman, which understandably infuriates him.

Cartman tricks Butters into hiding in a bomb shelter by falsely claiming a meteor is about to hit Earth. This causes concern throughout town and postpones a trip to Casa Bonita. Cartman eventually gets his way and goes to the restaurant, even though his lie is quickly revealed – he’s just thrilled to finally go cliff diving. Meanwhile, Butters experiences a really upsetting situation after believing he’d finally earned Cartman’s respect. It’s devastating for a child to feel abandoned by a friend, and Butters goes through that, sadly continuing to trust Cartman despite everything.

Cartman Is Still Taking Advantage of Butters All These Years Later

Cartman often relies on Butters when he needs someone to manipulate, knowing Butters just wants to be accepted and will likely agree to anything. Cartman frequently gets Butters into trouble – he even faked his own death with the other boys in the episode “Marjorine.” Another episode highlights Cartman’s disregard for Butters: after annoying everyone by eating the skin off all the KFC chicken, Cartman is ostracized. When his parents remove the toilets as punishment, Cartman dramatically pretends he’s dead, which is typical behavior for him.

Butters refuses to play along with Cartman’s scheme, and instead of figuring out what’s happening, Cartman spirals further into his fantasy. This leads to a hostage situation in South Park, where Cartman makes Butters help him “rescue” everyone by secretly leading the hostages to safety while Cartman pretends to be a ghost. Though the plan succeeds, it was a risky maneuver. Butters will likely remain involved in the show’s saddest storylines until he understands that Cartman is a bad influence and deserves friends who genuinely care for him.

South Park is streaming on Paramount+.

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2025-09-15 21:18