It was a few years ago that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly in which they picked their favorite and least favorite episodes of the long running show. I couldn’t find an active link for that interview, but it’s covered in various other places on the web and part of the reason why is because the two shared a somewhat controversial take on the first three seasons of the show: they stink. Parker went so far as to say he wishes those first three seasons could be permanently erased from existence. They did select one season two episode as being one of their favorites, but it was the Terrance and Philip episode that was basically a giant troll job by the show (viewers tuned in expecting a resolution to a cliffhanger, only to get an episode about two Canadians who fart a lot). Even though the first three seasons are pretty juvenile and raunchy for the sake of being raunchy, it must not be that aspect that Parker and Stone take umbrage with since they’re still sticking with that Season Two stinker.

Despite what the creators think, I think there’s plenty of good stuff to be found in the early days of South Park. I would agree it’s not as consistent and there probably are more duds in those seasons than what followed in the next three, but that’s hardly atypical for any long-running show. The Simpsons needed to figure things out in its first three seasons too before hitting a stride that wouldn’t let up for several years. South Park had a similar run and long-time fans like me probably feel like the show fell off at some point. As reliant on being “random” and offensive as the first three seasons were, other later era South Park episodes became so fixated at parodying something in the news that they often felt forced.

Season Two of South Park can be a bit of a slog at times. I like some episodes in it, but even back in the 90s it felt like the show lost a little steam during the second batch of episodes. And who could blame it? South Park struck hot and Comedy Central demanded more episodes while the parent company set its sights on a feature film. Parker and Stone, responsible for the bulk of the writing, direction, and voice acting, were working on a television show and a movie simultaneously. The writers on The Simpsons described a similar situation as being truly exhausting when that show made a movie to the point where most never want to do it again, and that was a movie with about a dozen writers.

Perhaps then it comes as no surprise that the show’s second Christmas episode isn’t the most beloved. Is it the show’s worst Christmas episode? Honestly, it might be, though part of that depends on how much you like the musical that follows in Season Three. It’s an episode that takes a somewhat generic Christmas plot about someone finding the true meaning of Christmas, and applies it to a truly wretched human being. That’s the sort of stuff early South Park did for shock value as who wouldn’t be taken aback watching the convicted murderer Charles Manson sing a Christmas carol? It’s about as subversive as making a Santa-like being a literal piece of shit, and now we’re going to turn another piece of shit into a Christmas devotee.

The episode begins with the conventional, Season Two, opening. When the song is over, we find young Stan Marsh (Parker) in his living room in the midst of an argument with his mother (Mary Kay Bergman). Stan has been invited to travel with his friends to Nebraska where Cartman’s grandmother lives for the weekend. Stan’s mom understandably doesn’t want him to go since it’s the holidays or something (it’s hard to pinpoint the exact day here), and looks to her husband for some help. Only she phrases it poorly and instead directs her son to ask his dad if it’s okay and Randy (Parker) predictably doesn’t care and says it’s fine. Stan’s mom still says “No” so Stan tells her off and heads for his room. Once there, he grabs his backpack and mutters how he doesn’t need his stupid family and exits out the window.

Outside Cartman’s house, Kyle (Stone) and Kenny (Stone) are being dropped off by their parents as they apparently got the okay to travel to Nebraska with the Cartmans. Kyle’s family doesn’t care about it interfering with Christmas since they’re Jewish while Kenny’s family is just hoping he can smuggle home some turkey for them. Stan then shows up to the surprise of the other boys who somehow found out he couldn’t go, or they just expected his mother to say “No.” Stan, understandably, wants to get moving so he just heads straight for the car. Cartman then goes to hop into the front seat, but finds Kenny already there which pisses him off because he’s a spoiled little piece of shit. He tries to tempt Kenny to vacate the shotgun position by saying there’s a sale on orange jackets down the street and also by claiming there’s an elephant parade taking place. When neither works, Cartman pulls a dollar out of his pocket and tosses it like a kid playing fetch with a dog. That works and Cartman smiles at himself for his fast thinking and also calls Kenny a poor piece of crap. As the car pulls away, an elephant parade can be seen taking place in the background.

With the car in motion, it dawns on the kids to ask how long it’s going to take to get there. Cartman’s mom, Liane (Bergman), informs them it’s about six hours to grandma’s house and the kids are immediately dismayed. Cartman’s mom suggests they could pass the time by singing and Stan enthusiastically responds in the negative to that idea, but Cartman and his mom just start singing “Over the meadow and through the woods to grandmother’s house we go,” as we head to a break. When the break is over, we find out 4 hours have passed with Cartman and his mom just singing the same two lines over and over. Kyle starts to quietly ask them to please stop, but since they can’t hear him he just kicks Cartman’s seat so hard it sends him into the dashboard. Neither he nor his mom realize what happened and they blame it on the road while the boys in the backseat are relieved for the momentary silence. I’m left to wonder what’s in this for Stan and Kyle? Surely they can’t imagine a trip with the Cartmans to Nebraska is going to be something special.

Cartman’s mom announces they’re about to enter Nebraska and when they do the background goes from snow to brown crops and a slow, twangy, banjo, theme enters. The boys are unimpressed, but Cartman’s mom tries to explain Nebraska’s local agriculture until her son rudely tells her to shut up. The boys soon have their attention sapped away by a billboard advertising Mr. Hankey at a local mall. Apparently, the events of last year’s Christmas special have raised his profile considerable so Mr. Hankey isn’t just a Christmas icon in South Park, but the whole country. The kids all want to go and Cartman’s mom is happy to inform them that Cartman’s grandma lives near that particular mall. Cartman then asks his mother why his grandmother has to live so far away? He doesn’t like driving six, god, damn hours to get a present and would rather they just stick grandma in a nursing home close to them. His mom tells him they need to get him out of his grumpy mood and she knows the best way: through song! The two begin singing their awful song again, much to the chagrin of the boys in the backseat.

The long ride finally ends and the boys practically run out of the car to get away from Cartman and his mother’s singing. Unfortunately for them, things aren’t really going to get any better. Cartman goes racing up to the front door shouting “Grandma!” over and over. A large, old, man who basically looks like Cartman answers the door and soon Cartman’s grandma (Bergman) appears as well. She informs him that she got him a present and the little boy starts rubbing his hands together. When she says it’s inside, he shoves her out of the way and off the stoop and barges in. The rest of the crew follows and Cartman’s mom introduces the boys to the Cartman family. They basically all look like Eric Cartman, just older and fatter. Great Grandma Florence (Parker) then hobbles over and mistakes Kyle for Eric and gives him a big hug. He manages to wriggle away and informs Stan she smells like pee and vitamins.

With the introductions out of the way, it’s time for Eric’s present. His grandma hands him a box and he rips into it only to discover it’s a shirt. His grandma tells him she thought it would look really good on him, but Cartman is not to be consoled. He angrily cries out that he drove 9 hours through butt-fuck nowhere for a god damn shirt! He then tells his mom grandma has gone senile and demands that she be stuck in a nursing home! No one reacts to Cartman’s outburst though as they seemingly all enable his awful behavior. I do question the wisdom of his grandma though to get him a shirt for Christmas. My grandmother was always keenly aware that kids do not want clothes, she she would give us the clothes first and then the toys. Maybe Cartman’s grandma knows he’s a little piece of shit and this is a troll job.

We hard cut from that to a dinner scene. All of the Cartman’s are seated along a long table, including Eric who is in his new shirt. Cartman’s grandfather mentions how the holidays are a time for family which Stan angrily objects to. When they ask him why he says his family is dead! Cartman’s mom apologizes to Stan for the death of his family while Kyle is smart enough to ask a follow-up question to which Stan replies “they’re dead to me,” which should clear things up a bit. Eric, meanwhile, can’t believe he got a shirt for Christmas and his mom apparently made him wear it to dinner.

Cartman’s mom then asks Kyle if he wouldn’t mind holding Grandma Florence’s catheter bag at dinner. He is understandably repulsed by this and the bag is quite full. Normally, people just strap those things to their leg or something. Cartman’s grandfather (Parker) then draws attention to the fact that everyone is present, including Cartman’s Uncle Howard (Parker) appearing live via satellite from prison. The boys are pretty surprised by this and Cartman confirms he does this every year. His grandma remarks to Howard that he looks good and he just shouts back “No I don’t!” He’s probably right. Cartman’s cousin Elvin, a toddler who has a taste for Fudgsicles, throws his tasty treat at the TV seemingly not supportive of his uncle being here. Cartman’s grandma then asks her mother, Flo, if she could say “Grace.” Flo responds, “God damnit, why the hell do I always have to say ‘Grace’? If one more person asks me to say ‘Grace” I’ll be like, ‘Hey!, I’m not saying ‘Grace,’ and if you ask me again I’ll kick you straight in the nuts!'” She holds up a fork in a threatening manner for added emphasis, and when her rant is over Cartman just says “Amen,” and the rest of the family follows. They all dig in and start eating like savages, which the boys can scarcely believe. Jimmy, the family dog, then starts begging beside Grandpa who goes into a “No Jimmy, that’s my pot pie,” echoing a familiar refrain we’ve seen in the past with Eric. The whole family joins in telling Jimmy that’s Grandpa’s pot pie all in the same Cartman way. Stan confesses he doesn’t know how much more of this he can take. Meanwhile, Kenny is seen stuffing food into a paper bag.

That night, we find the boys asleep in the basement. Kyle wakes up screaming and when the others ask what’s wrong he says he had a nightmare that he was trapped in a house full of Cartmans. When Stan tells him that he is trapped in a house full of Cartmans he resumes screaming. His screaming is interrupted by a crashing sound. Stan pinches Cartman to make sure he isn’t dreaming, then to be sure Kyle punches him in the face to doublecheck. Eric is getting pissed off and then Kenny punches him too. The boys soon realize they’re not alone and Eric turns on the light to find it’s Uncle Howard. He apparently busted out of prison which the boys think is pretty cool. He tells them not to let the rest of the family knows he’s there and informs them that they’ll be hanging out in the basement with them. When Eric asks who “they” refer to by asking if he has a turd in his pocket (a zinger he’s used before), his question is answered by another fellow entering through the window. He’s a haggard, bearded, man with a swastika carved into his head and a prisoner number of 06660. He introduces himself as Charlie Manson (Parker) and we get some thunder and lightning for dramatic effect.

The next morning, Manson is itching to get out and raise some Hell, but Howard cautions him to relax and just watch some TV. He sits down and turns on It’s a Wonderful Life, only it’s a little different. The one scene we’re treated to is George (Parker) admonishing Mr. Potter calling him a little bitch and asking if he’d like to suck it? The boys wake Cartman up, who sleeps in his Beefcake tanktop, because they want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hanky. They all head upstairs and Cartman asks his Uncle Stinky (Parker) if he can take him and his friends. Stinky, and the rest of the family, are all heavily invested in a football game and when Cartman insists that the elder Cartman take them he’s told “No” and to “Respect my authori-tay!” This is the Code of the Cartmans as Eric doesn’t challenge his uncle and instead walks off angrily muttering about him and his god damn authority.

A news bulletin interrupts the football game and it’s to inform the public that Charles Manson is at large. It’s interspersed with actual footage of Manson while the news anchor (Stone) implores the public to punch his face in and kick his ass if they see him, and then call the police. When the bulletin is over the rest of the family finds out that they missed an incredible comeback in the football game causing them all to shout out “Lame!” In the hall, Eric’s grandma asks him if he can look after cousin Elvin for a bit as a favor to her. Eric just sighs and demands ten dollars and his grandma gives in without another word. Downstairs, It’s a Wonderful Life is nearly over and it’s not making Charlie feel any more in the spirit of the holidays. Quite the opposite, actually, as he sees Christmas as just another attack on him. The boys enter and Cartman brought his uncle and accomplice some sticky buns. They’re pretty happy to have them as the boys lament their current situation. When Charlie finds out about it he volunteers to drive the boys to the mall on account of the fact that he wants some action. Kyle tells him “Good for you,” while Howard thinks it’s bad a idea. Charlie will not be swayed though and he tells the boys he’ll hotwire the car and take them. Stan is a bit apprehensive about trusting this guy, and it’s become clear the boys have no idea who he is, while Cartman tells him he needs to start trusting people.

In the driveway, we’re treating to “The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy” as Charlie hotwires the car and the boys all pile in, including Cartman’s cousin Elvin. Meanwhile, back in South Park Stan’s parents have realized he’s missing. Stan’s mother is pretty certain where he is, but Randy tries to caution her that maybe he just ran away or got kidnapped or something. She picks up the phone and calls the Cartman house where Cartman’s mom answers. She’s surprised to hear from Sharon Marsh since Stan told her she was dead. She confirms that Stan is with her though and Sharon hangs up telling the family they’re going to Nebraska!

At the mall, the boys are stuck in a very long line to meet Mr. Hankey. Manson is just standing there with them too seemingly unafraid to be out in a very public setting wearing a prison jumpsuit and sporting a pretty hard to miss swastika tattoo. Kyle is super excited to see Mr. Hankey again, while Cartman notices that he’s also adertised to be appearing at another nearby mall. He questions how he could be in two places at once, but Kyle isn’t swayed and dismisses it as magic. Kenny is shown just staring at Manson who in turn is staring at him. He asks the boy if he would like to head to a more secluded section of the mall and Kenny can be heard saying through his coat, “Okay!” The two walk off and Stan announces that he really likes Charlie. Elvin then realizes he’s finished his Fudgsicle and starts crying. Cartman, having no idea what to do, grabs a club like object and bashes him over the head. It works as he stops crying, but one of his eyes is drawn as a circle instead of a dot and he’s no longer making any sound. Cartman actually looks a bit concerned.

In a not so secluded area of the mall, Charlie is giving Kenny a sermon of sorts on the subject of his ruthlessness. He sounds like he’s about to go on a rampage, but then gets distracted by another Christmas special. It’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas, only all of the characters have been replaced by poop. It’s the part where the Grinch is shoving the tree up the chimney and is interrupted by little Cindy Lou Poo. I could see the estate of Dr. Seuss not appreciating this beloved, children’s, classic getting represented as shit onscreen, but they let Mike Myers play The Cat in the Hat so I have no sympathy for them.

Back in line, it’s now Kyle and Stan’s turn to meet Mr. Hankey. They’re lead to Hankey’s throne by a woman (Toddy Walters) in an elf costume with smears of poop all over her. It’s pretty gross, though hopefully it’s just makeup. The boys are rather surprised when they meet Mr. Hankey (Dian Bachar) and find he’s adult-sized. It’s clearly a human in a costume, but the boys need to prod a bit before confirming such. When they finally unveil their skepticism in full, the kid in the costume tells them it’s just an act and there are a bunch of Mr. Hankeys like him at every mall in the country and to just go with it. When he adds that Mr. Hankey isn’t real, it sets Kyle off. He mimics his own mother with a “What! What! What!” and hops up to unmask the imposter. A group of children (one of them being Craig for some reason) are all shocked to find out that this man is posing as Mr. Hankey. A riot breaks out as the kids start trashing the place. One little girl (Bergman) calmly informs her mother she’ll never forget her lies. This is some heavy trauma, right here. The kids start setting the set to fire while some security guards can be seen nonchalantly remarking “They’re rioting again.” I think one adult may be dead.

At the electronics store, Charlie and Kenny are watching the end of the Grinch show. It features the Grinch Poo carving the roast poo so I guess they’re cannibals or something. Charlie finds the ending touching because the Grinch started off evil, then became good. Before he can reflect further, a wall is smashed in by some Police vehicle that looks like it could have come from RoboCop. A bunch of riot cops stream in and are soon overrun by angry children. The kids get tear-gassed and mayhem ensues. Kyle and Stan then rejoin the others seemingly oblivious to everything going on around them. Kyle is still fuming over the Hankey situation, while Charlie has a new tattoo to show off. He was so touched by the holiday special that he had his swastika converted into a smiling face. Cartman seems to think it’s cool, surprisingly, and Elvin somehow got another Fudgsicle and seems to be fine now. Then some cops finally notice that Charles Manson is among them and everyone is forced to run while Cartman and Elvin lag behind for obvious reasons. They make it to the car, but the cops give chase and even open fire on the vehicle containing children. Cartman is shocked while Kyle is still just pissed off about the fraudulent Mr. Hankey.

At the Cartman house, everyone is still watching TV when news breaks about Charlie Manson’s run from the law. Grandma notices the car on television being driven by Manson resembles her husband’s, but doesn’t take it a step further. In the car, the cops are gaining on the boys until Elvin tosses his Fudgsicle out the window. The cops cry out “Fudgsicle!” and try to avoid it causing a pile-up to Elvin’s delight. The someone screams out the name of a harmless object only for it to lead to mayhem is a common joke for South Park (“Peeps!”). Even with Elvin’s assistance, there are still a ton of cops after them. Charlie pulls the car into the driveway of the Cartman residence and Grandma is outside to greet them for some reason. He barks at her to get in the house as the cops come flying in.

When Charlie and the boys get inside, the family is shocked to see Charles Manson. Howard emerges from the basement to more surprise and also sporting a shotgun. Everyone is fairly calm about the whole thing and Grandma is even happy to see her son. The cops form-up outside along with a news crew as they demand that Charlie Manson come out so they can shoot him. Another cop has to correct the one on the bullhorn that they won’t shoot him, or he’s just telling him to say that while they fully intend to shoot him. The Marsh family then arrives and Sharon marches right up to the cop with the horn and demands to know if this is the Cartman residence. When he tells her that it is, she grabs the bullhorn and starts screaming at Stanley. Everyone in the house looks at him nervously with the convicts even expressing some relief that they aren’t him right now. When Sharon finishes her tirade there’s a still frame of the exterior of the house and we hear Stan call meekly from inside “Sorry!”

Howard is trying to form an escape plan while Charlie would rather watch Christmas specials with the family. He also calls out Howard for pointing a gun at his mother and Howard expresses confusion about this new attitude being displayed by Manson. Howard’s dad tells him he can try to escape out the bathroom window on the back of the house. They’ll have to move quickly as the cops have promised to storm in and create a bloodbath after one of the cops finish counting to 100 marshmallows. The two head for the bathroom, but are surprised when Stan tries to join them. He wants to flee from his parents and Howard doesn’t really have time to discuss it so he tells him it’s fine if he wants to come along. Charlie, on the other hand, sees the error for what it is. He talks about his old family, the Manson Family, and how they weren’t really his family. He encourages Stan to go back to his family because they love him otherwise why would they drive nine hours to Nebraska? Stan is convinced and he thanks “Uncle Charlie” with a hug. Howard just implores him to move it, but Charlie informs him that he will not be running away this time.

Charlie returns to the living room and apologizes to the Cartman family who are all still seated in front of the TV seemingly unbothered by all of this. Charlie tells them he intends to surrender and asks if anyone has a white flag they can wave. Outside, we see the cops as they’re nearly ready to march on the house, but the front door opens. A white flag appears and it’s being held by, you guessed it, Kenny. The lead cop (Stone) shouts out “He’s holding a white flag!” as they all take cover and open fire. Kenny is riddled with bullets prompting Charlie to remark, “They killed the little orange coat boy.” Kyle finishes it off with a “You bastards!”

The house empties with everyone holding their hands up, even Howard who apparently decided not to try and flee. The cops approach and Charlie lets them know he’s surrendering. Howard too, though he doesn’t seem too happy about it. Charlie is then allowed a moment to explain what he’s learned, that the holidays are a time for happiness. This resonates with Kyle who decides to get over the whole Mr. Hankey thing while Stan seems to come to appreciate his family more, or something.

Now it’s time for Charlie to sing a song. Remarking he feels like he’s in his own Christmas special, he breaks into an original. The chorus is basically “Happy Holidays,” and everyone joins in. He ends the song with “Happy Kwanzaa too, from me to you!” The cops arrest him, and Charlie understands he deserves it and that he belongs in prison. Grandma remarks it was nice to see Howard while his dad tells him to watch his ass in prison (you didn’t think we were getting out of here without a prison rape joke, did you?). Howard tells him he always does and then thanks Eric for all of his help. Cartman sarcastically thanks him for being a great role model. Randy announces they should forget about what Stan did and head home and Sharon agrees. Stan is pretty excited by this news until his dad says they’ll punish him after the holidays. Newscaster Robert Pooner (Parker) reports that everything appears to be all wrapped up here, and rather than insert another insensitive message from a sponsor (a running gag with the news broadcasts in this episode), simply offers up a “God bless us, everyone.”

We cut to find Charlie back in prison surrounded by other prisoners. He’s reading from a book, one of his own he apparently finished writing, and reflecting on what he’s learned this holiday season. When he closes it we can see an actual picture of Charles Manson on the cover and the smiling face tattoo has been added to his forehead. When he asks the other inmates what they think one tells him it sucks just like all his other books. We get a quick glimpse of them on a shelf, one of them being “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Manson.” Charlie gets into bed and wishes the others a Happy Holidays, but they tell him to shut up. After the lights are out, there’s a commotion. Charlie turns the lights back on to see the entire Cartman clan, plus the boys, as they all cry out “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” You know what follows as they break into “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” with Eric Cartman sounding very loud and terrible. They sing until Stan turns to Kyle and finally acknowledges that, “Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here!” It’s a Christmas tradition!

That is how the episode ends. Parker and Stone decided to take real world mass murderer Charles Manson and insert him into his own Christmas special, just as the character recognized. He was obviously selected because of his name being similar to Charlie Brown and he was also still alive at the time of the episode’s creation. As the writers pointed out, it is a pretty fucked up premise and that’s the point. There isn’t a message here that anyone can be reformed or that Christmas has special healing powers for the soul, it’s just weird to see an actual murderer being the subject of a Christmas special. I think that’s why they had the TV announcer be so hostile towards Manson so that we, the audience, wouldn’t think Parker and Stone liked the guy or something.

That’s the plot for basically the second half of the episode. The first chunk is the Cartman family. I can see the humor in imagining that Eric Cartman comes from a family where everyone talks and acts like him to some degree. He’s just even more selfish, but otherwise the same. I have no idea why Stand and Kyle wanted to go along with this and I can only assume Kenny did for the free food. It felt like the episode could have done more with the Cartmans. We don’t really know any of them, and the boys being trapped in the house could have been a plot all its own. Instead, we got the mall detour. I guess they wanted to make sure to include Mr. Hankey in some form and provide Kyle a distraction from all of the ridiculous stuff going on with Manson and Uncle Howard. The episode was clearly counting on indifference from the boys as being a driver for humor in this one. It works to a certain degree, but I’m kind of over it once it becomes clear they have no idea who Charles Manson is.

The resolution of the plot is basically pure Christmas cheese. There isn’t really a twist to it other than the main benefactor is real world villain, Charles Manson. There’s humor to be found there, but it’s basically all shock value. Once that wares off, the viewer is basically just watching a mediocre Christmas special come the final act. Albeit one that does kill an eight year old boy in a savage manner, but that’s every episode of South Park in this era.

All that is to say that yes, this Season Two Christmas episode of South Park isn’t anything special. It’s mostly a one-trick pony and that trick doesn’t hold up on repeat viewings. It does feel like a real outlier among the other Christmas episodes and that’s partly due to the setting being so unique. I suppose it’s that uniqueness that keeps me from passing it over when I rewatch the South Park Christmas episodes every year. If you want to take it in, you may be able to catch it on cable this month or you could view it on Max. This episode is also on the complete second season DVD release as well as the Christmas Time in South Park DVD that’s probably close to 15 years old by now. One advantage of watching it on Max is that the bleeps have been removed while they were in place for the DVD releases.