Story

Description

Humans from the year 3045 use a time portal to visit our century in search of employment. But the "Goobacks" (so named because they arrive covered in goo) work so hard and so cheaply that they take tons of jobs away from South Park residents. In a matter of days, the boys lose their snow-shoveling gigs to migrants who do the same work for only 25 cents, and Stan's parents hire a Gooback housekeeper for ten cents an hour.

The townspeople are growing uneasy with the exploding Gooback populace -- many folks are now unemployed, and even more are just plain pissed off. Mr. Garrison is even forced to teach his class in both English and "Future Speak," the native language of the Goobacks.

Things come to a head at the local fast food joint Wendell's Burgers, when Stan can't get the immigrant workers to understand his order. After several attempts, he loses it and calls them "f***ing Goobacks." His parents overhear this and ground him for being an ignorant "timecist."But when a Gooback replaces Stan's dad at work, Randy becomes equally pissed off.

In an effort to stop the Goobacks, the local males form a well-thought-out plan: turn gay, so that future generations of job-takers will never be born. They go to Little Future (the Gooback part of town) and proceed to start having sex with each other in a big, sweaty, man pile.

Stan suggests that perhaps instead of everyone turning gay, they should try to work for a "better future." That way, the Goobacks won't need to come back in time. This strikes a chord with the man pile.

With the help of a montage, South Park residents start planting trees, recycling, giving food to the poor, and being all-around good people. It seems to work, as one-by-one the immigrants vanish into thin air.

There's just one problem. Stan and Kyle suddenly realize that all this save-the-world stuff is even gayer than the big orgy of man sex. The men agree, quickly take off their clothes, and return to the man pile.

What I Learned Today

"I think it's wrong to call them Goobacks because they're no different from us. They're just humans trying to make their lives better. Look, it sucks that the immigrants' time is so crappy, but the cold hard truth is that if we let them all come back to our time, then it's just gonna make our time crappy too. Maybe the answer isn't trying to stop the future from happening, but making the future better."

Memorable Quotes

• "They took 'er jobs!" South Park Residents
• "Ouch, ma'am, please let go of that tight grip you have on my balls." Cartman
• "You're breakin' my balls, ma'am." Cartman
• "I want a godddamn cheeseburger and some goddamn fries you fucking Goobacks!" Stan
• "If we can get everyone to turn queer, then there won't be no children to have no children, and the people from the future won't exist to take our jobs!" Darryl Weathers
• "We're trying to turn everyone gay so that there will be no future humans! Present-day America number one!" Randy
• "All you ever do is talk about your balls!" Kyle
• "Stan Marsh, how dare you use that time-bashing slur!" Randy
• "We're not raising our son to be an ignorant Timecist!" Sharon Marsh
• "Which kind of verb is this? 'The sad girl puts balls in her mouth' -- or in future speak, of course, 'Guack guack balls goack goack.'" Mr. Garrison
• "We can't understand you, asshole!" Cartman
• "This is even gayer than all the men getting in a big pile and having sex with each other." Cartman

Characters

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Darryl Weathers

Randy Marsh

Brad Morgan

Christina Nylon

Harrison Moore

Goth Girl

Character Debuts

The Goobacks, all of whom are a hairless, uniform mix of all races. They're skin color is a "yellowy light brownish whitish color," and they all speak a guttural-sounding mash-up of all Earth's languages.

Goobacks (group)

Mr. Nelson (Goobacks)

We also meet Mrs. Gwakr, the Marsh's immigrant cleaning woman, as well as Aging Hippie Liberal Douche.

Rednecks

Darryl Weathers (aka "pissed off, white-trash redneck conservative"), the now-unemployed redneck that leads the charge against the Goobacks. He can be seen again in Season 13's "W.T.F." and "Margaritaville."

Locations

Park County Community Center

Original Songs

The happy-go-lucky tune "The Future Begins With You and Me" plays over a montage of present-day Americans making the world a better place. This turns out to be gayer than expected.

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

"Goobacks" serves as a satire of illegal immigration, and mocks both sides of the debate concerning it. The episode is widely remembered as the origin of the catchphrase "They took our jobs!".

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

At one point, an unemployed man suggests encouraging global warming in hopes that it will cause a massive, sudden climate shift in the future. He's told that something so drastic could never happen overnight -- a subtle dig at the 2004 disaster flick The Day After Tomorrow, which hinged on the premise that a new ice age could overwhelm the world in just a few days. Fast food chain Wendy's bravely employed the first Gooback, and Wendell's Burgers (a McDonalds spoof) is seen later in the episode with a whole staff of Goobacks.

Broadcast journalist Aaron Brown, lead anchor for CNN (at the time), is used throughout this episode.

Pwn'd

Conservative talk show host Bill O'Reilly. He holds a televised debate about the pros and cons of time migrants between a "pissed off, white-trash redneck conservative" and an "aging liberal hippy

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

For the second time this season, Cartman inexplicably says that newcomers from Austria are the last thing South Park needs. He made this remark once before in "The Jeffersons".

In the beginning of the episode, while dodging vehicles on the highway, the Gooback narrowly avoids being hit by several vehicles, including a Busy Beavers Moving Company truck (last seen in Season 5's "Butters' Very Own Episode"), and an Uncle Joe's Fresh Turkey truck (the same company responsible for nearly killing Gobbles in Season 4's "Helen Keller! The Musical").

This is the second time Cartman has threatened to kick Kyle's ass, only to wind up with a bloody nose -- the first being in "It's Christmas in Canada" . Also the Goobacks can be seen cleaning a store display on South Park Avenue with the "John Elway Doll with Karate Chop Action" and Okama Gamesphere from that same episode.

The portal that brings the Goobacks to the 21st century is said to operate by Terminator rules -- that is, all trips are one-way. It's specifically stated that it doesn't work like the Back to the Future movies (which allow two-way travel) or the obscure film Timerider, which is "just plain silly."

A Visitor can be spotted on top of a building in Little Future.

Season 8

e1 Good Times With Weapons

e2 AWESOM-O

e3 Up the Down Steroid

e4 The Passion of the Jew

e5 You Got F'd in the A

e6 Goobacks

e7 The Jeffersons

e8 Douche and Turd

e9 Something Wall Mart This Way Comes

e10 Pre-School

e11 Quest for Ratings

e12 Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset

e13 Cartman's Incredible Gift

e14 Woodland Critter Christmas