Mystery of the Urinal Deuce
Encyclopedia
"Mystery of the Urinal Deuce" is the ninth episode of the tenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 148th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central
in the United States
on October 11, 2006. The episode focuses on the 9/11 conspiracy theories
, which is brought up by Cartman
.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker
and is rated TV-MA L in the United States.
in a urinal, Mr. Mackey searches for the boy responsible. Cartman
begins to rant that it was a conspiracy, "just like 9/11", which he had been ranting about for a while. The others, however, simply brush him off, claiming that he, and others that believe in a 9/11 conspiracy
, are all "retarded". Meanwhile, Mr. Mackey continues to protest the fact that someone defecated in the urinal, and the rest of the town inexplicably decides the two are probably related. When the police decide they can be of no further help, they hire the Hardly Boys to discover the results of the urinal incident.
Cartman performs an investigation, which he presents to his class in a presentation where, based on numerological
interpretation, he claims that the true culprit behind the 9/11 attacks was Kyle
. Cartman believes that Kyle is the culprit, because Kyle got a 91% on his spelling test
twelve days after 9/11. Despite the obvious invalidity of Cartman's claims, he nonetheless manages to convince everyone that Kyle is guilty. Kyle tries to rebut this, but nobody listens to him. When Kyle tells his mother that everyone thinks he is the 9/11 culprit, she calls a town meeting, arguing that children do not understand enough about the September 11th attacks. However, many of the townspeople also believe 9/11 might have been the result of a conspiracy.
Kyle enlists Stan
's help, and they leave South Park to find an organization that can prove Kyle's innocence. The group they find, however, believes that the United States government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. The representative that they meet is wearing a 911truth.org T-shirt (reference to Dan Nalven, the Webmaster and owner of the website). The conspiracy organization have bottles of anthrax
, which they use as "evidence" of the attack. As Kyle is holding them, a SWAT
team attacks and takes Kyle, Stan, and the leader of the conspiracy organization for questioning. They are then taken to the White House. Presidential officials, along with President George W. Bush
, quickly admit that the government actually is behind 9/11. Bush explains the incredibly convoluted method of how they pulled the attacks off, which seems to greatly dishearten Kyle. Once Bush has admitted this information, he decides to kill Stan, Kyle, and the conspiracy leader, to conceal the conspiracy. The head of the conspiracy group is then executed by Bush. Dick Cheney
tries to kill the boys with a crossbow
, but misses, and the pair makes their escape. Meanwhile, Clyde is caught for the urinal incident, and while he admits to it, his parents tell Mr. Mackey he had a colostomy
at the age of 5.
Later, in Chicago
, Stan and Kyle run into the leader of the conspiracy group alive and well outside of a McDonald's
. After a short chase by Stan and Kyle, he is cornered in a back alley and shot dead by the father of the Hardly Boys, who reveals that his sons discovered that all the conspiracy websites are false and run by the government. Stan, Kyle, and the Hardly family congregate at the Hardly house as the Bush Administration arrives, and eventually admits that the government was not behind 9/11. He explains that the government actually runs all the websites that claim they were responsible, making the conspiracy theories actually a government conspiracy themselves. The point, Bush explains, is that, since one-fourth of Americans are "retarded" and will believe conspiracies, the government wants them to believe that it is all-powerful and could get away with the worst terrorist attack in history, while they tell the other 75% of the country the truth—that 9/11 was caused (in Stan's words) by "a bunch of pissed off Muslims
."
When the father of the Hardly Boys questions why everyone knew they were at the Hardly house, a gun is put to Kyle's head. When the camera shifts, it is Stan holding it. He admits that he was the one who defecated in the urinal. The whole point of going with Kyle on this strange mission, he explains, was so they could get the "proof" that the government was behind 9/11, and the urinal incident, which the government was willing to go along with if it made people think they were all-powerful. Thus in the end, the fundamentalists are concluded to be responsible for 9/11, the government admits to Stan, Kyle, and the Hardly family that they wanted people to believe the government was in full control of everything. Soon after Stan receives his punishment for defecating in the urinal: cleaning the urinal, while Mr. Mackey lectures him (much to Stan's amusement).
gave the episode a rating of 7.7/10, calling the episode "topical and humorous", but felt the subplots involving the titular urinal deuce and the Hardly Boys were "awkward and really unfunny".
South Park (season 10)
Season 10 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 22, 2006. The tenth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 15, 2006...
of the American animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, and the 148th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 11, 2006. The episode focuses on the 9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories are theories that disagree with the widely accepted account that the September 11 attacks were perpetrated solely by al-Qaeda. These theories arose because of what proponents of the conspiracy theories believe to be inconsistencies in the official conclusions or some...
, which is brought up by Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and is rated TV-MA L in the United States.
Plot
When someone at South Park Elementary defecatesDefecation
Defecation is the final act of digestion by which organisms eliminate solid, semisolid or liquid waste material from the digestive tract via the anus. Waves of muscular contraction known as peristalsis in the walls of the colon move fecal matter through the digestive tract towards the rectum...
in a urinal, Mr. Mackey searches for the boy responsible. Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
begins to rant that it was a conspiracy, "just like 9/11", which he had been ranting about for a while. The others, however, simply brush him off, claiming that he, and others that believe in a 9/11 conspiracy
9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theories are theories that disagree with the widely accepted account that the September 11 attacks were perpetrated solely by al-Qaeda. These theories arose because of what proponents of the conspiracy theories believe to be inconsistencies in the official conclusions or some...
, are all "retarded". Meanwhile, Mr. Mackey continues to protest the fact that someone defecated in the urinal, and the rest of the town inexplicably decides the two are probably related. When the police decide they can be of no further help, they hire the Hardly Boys to discover the results of the urinal incident.
Cartman performs an investigation, which he presents to his class in a presentation where, based on numerological
Numerology
Numerology is any study of the purported mystical relationship between a count or measurement and life. It has many systems and traditions and beliefs...
interpretation, he claims that the true culprit behind the 9/11 attacks was Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
. Cartman believes that Kyle is the culprit, because Kyle got a 91% on his spelling test
Spelling test
A spelling test is an assessment of a person's ability to spell words correctly. Spelling tests are usually given in school during language arts class, to see how well each student has learned the most recent spelling lesson...
twelve days after 9/11. Despite the obvious invalidity of Cartman's claims, he nonetheless manages to convince everyone that Kyle is guilty. Kyle tries to rebut this, but nobody listens to him. When Kyle tells his mother that everyone thinks he is the 9/11 culprit, she calls a town meeting, arguing that children do not understand enough about the September 11th attacks. However, many of the townspeople also believe 9/11 might have been the result of a conspiracy.
Kyle enlists Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
's help, and they leave South Park to find an organization that can prove Kyle's innocence. The group they find, however, believes that the United States government orchestrated the 9/11 attacks. The representative that they meet is wearing a 911truth.org T-shirt (reference to Dan Nalven, the Webmaster and owner of the website). The conspiracy organization have bottles of anthrax
Anthrax
Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals...
, which they use as "evidence" of the attack. As Kyle is holding them, a SWAT
SWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
team attacks and takes Kyle, Stan, and the leader of the conspiracy organization for questioning. They are then taken to the White House. Presidential officials, along with President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, quickly admit that the government actually is behind 9/11. Bush explains the incredibly convoluted method of how they pulled the attacks off, which seems to greatly dishearten Kyle. Once Bush has admitted this information, he decides to kill Stan, Kyle, and the conspiracy leader, to conceal the conspiracy. The head of the conspiracy group is then executed by Bush. Dick Cheney
Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney served as the 46th Vice President of the United States , under George W. Bush....
tries to kill the boys with a crossbow
Crossbow
A crossbow is a weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles, often called bolts or quarrels. The medieval crossbow was called by many names, most of which derived from the word ballista, a torsion engine resembling a crossbow in appearance.Historically, crossbows played a...
, but misses, and the pair makes their escape. Meanwhile, Clyde is caught for the urinal incident, and while he admits to it, his parents tell Mr. Mackey he had a colostomy
Colostomy
A colostomy is a surgical procedure in which a stoma is formed by drawing the healthy end of the large intestine or colon through an incision in the anterior abdominal wall and suturing it into place. This opening, in conjunction with the attached stoma appliance, provides an alternative channel...
at the age of 5.
Later, in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Stan and Kyle run into the leader of the conspiracy group alive and well outside of a McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
. After a short chase by Stan and Kyle, he is cornered in a back alley and shot dead by the father of the Hardly Boys, who reveals that his sons discovered that all the conspiracy websites are false and run by the government. Stan, Kyle, and the Hardly family congregate at the Hardly house as the Bush Administration arrives, and eventually admits that the government was not behind 9/11. He explains that the government actually runs all the websites that claim they were responsible, making the conspiracy theories actually a government conspiracy themselves. The point, Bush explains, is that, since one-fourth of Americans are "retarded" and will believe conspiracies, the government wants them to believe that it is all-powerful and could get away with the worst terrorist attack in history, while they tell the other 75% of the country the truth—that 9/11 was caused (in Stan's words) by "a bunch of pissed off Muslims
Islamic extremism
Islamic extremism refers to two related and partially overlapping but also distinct aspects of extremist interpretations and pursuits of Islamic ideology:...
."
When the father of the Hardly Boys questions why everyone knew they were at the Hardly house, a gun is put to Kyle's head. When the camera shifts, it is Stan holding it. He admits that he was the one who defecated in the urinal. The whole point of going with Kyle on this strange mission, he explains, was so they could get the "proof" that the government was behind 9/11, and the urinal incident, which the government was willing to go along with if it made people think they were all-powerful. Thus in the end, the fundamentalists are concluded to be responsible for 9/11, the government admits to Stan, Kyle, and the Hardly family that they wanted people to believe the government was in full control of everything. Soon after Stan receives his punishment for defecating in the urinal: cleaning the urinal, while Mr. Mackey lectures him (much to Stan's amusement).
Reception
IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode a rating of 7.7/10, calling the episode "topical and humorous", but felt the subplots involving the titular urinal deuce and the Hardly Boys were "awkward and really unfunny".
External links
- Mystery of the Urinal Deuce Full episode at South Park Studios
- Mystery of the Urinal Deuce Episode guide at South Park Studios