Story

Description

This episode tells the story of Pip's life before he came to South Park -- a life that bears a striking resemblance to the plot of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations. A poor, orphaned blacksmith's apprentice from the village of Dratfordshire Upon Topsmart, he takes a job at the Havesham estate as a playmate for Estella, the daughter of Ms. Havesham. Estella verbally and physically abuses Pip, who falls in love with her.

An unknown benefactor gives Pip the cash to travel to London to become a gentleman. Afterward he returns to the Havesham estate, where Ms. Havesham tells him that he should let Estella know how he feels about her. Pip does this, only to discover that the love of his life now has a 17-year-old boyfriend named Steve.

Devastated, Pip discovers that Ms. Havesham intentionally broke his heart, because she uses the tears of brokenhearted males to power her "Genesis Device," which will allow her to meld her soul with Estella's body, restoring her youth. Pip is then attacked by robot monkeys and barely escapes with his life.

Pip returns with reinforcements, confronting Ms. Havesham just as she's about to activate her Genesis Device, powered solely by the tears of Estella's numerous ex-boyfriends. He pulls Estella free of the machine, turning Ms. Havesham into a pile of ashes. Estella expresses her passion for her "small-testicled love," and the two embrace. The narrator assures us they live happily ever after. Which is, of course, not the case.

What I Learned Today

"Well, I've certainly learned a lot. That being a gentleman doesn't mean learning to dance, or proper table manners. It means being a gentle man. Gentle to everyone."

Memorable Quotes

• "We're going to play a little game called 'Smack the Blond Boy In the Head With A Large Log." Estella Havesham
• "Stop dreaming about me you slow-witted rectal belch!" Estella Havesham
• "Oh, what a gay time we shall have, and I do mean gay as in festive, not as in penetration of the bum." Pocket
• "As for you, Pip, my robot monkeys should take care of you!" Ms. Havesham
• "Oh, hello! Why, you look like an escaped convict." Pip Pirrup
• "That's a lot of money woney!" Pip Pirrup
• "And the story ends, Pip, with me suggesting that one should never pull out their wee wee and check it for scabs whilst at the table." Pocket
• "Right-o!" Pip Pirrup
• "Pip, you must know that I have no heart." Estella Havesham
• "Not so fast you ugly, ancient bitch!!" Pip Pirrup
• "Not at all, I'm sure!" Pocket

Characters

Pip Pirrup

Character Debuts

Mrs. Joe, Pip's mean older sister, and Joe, the blacksmith.

Mrs. Joe Gargery

Joe Gargery

Estella, the young blond girl whom Pip falls in love with.

Estella Havesham

Miss Havesham, the mean old bitch with a broken heart.

Miss Havisham

Pocket, Pip's young roommate and friend.

Herbert Pocket

Steve, Estella's teenage boyfriend.

Steve

The Escaped Convict, whom is indebted to Pip for his kindness.

Body Count

The kind-hearted Escaped Convict has his face melted off by Miss Havesham's acid-goo saliva. Shortly after, Ms. Havesham is vaporized by the Genesis Device. Also, 25 baby bunnies have their necks broken by Estella before she finally tires of it. Everyone else lives happily ever after. Well except for Pocket, who dies of Hepatitis B.

Miss Havisham

Herbert Pocket

Adorable Bunnies

Locations

Behind The Scenes

A live-action introduction by Malcolm McDowell (who identifies himself only as "an English person") was added so that viewers understood up-front that they wouldn't be seeing any of the regular South Park characters. But this worked out great, because McDowell shared plenty of awesome anecdotes about Stanley Kubrick and the making of A Clockwork Orange.

Where Did The Idea Come From

For years Matt and Trey had toyed with the idea of doing a Great Expectations adaptation. Their version sticks pretty close to the spirit of the book -- until the end, when the robot monkeys and Genesis Device are deployed.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

The Genesis Device is the name of a machine pivotal to the plot of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn.

Pwn'd

For some reason former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is identified at the king of England.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

This is the first episode in which neither Kyle, Stan, Cartman nor Kenny appears.

Vivaldi's string masterpiece "Spring" from The Four Seasons plays over the opening and closing credits.

Over the course of the episode, Joe (the blacksmith) makes a metal firepoker, a metal orange, a metal newspaper, and a pair of metal fuzzy dice. It's in the metal newspaper that they find Ms. Havesham's want ad.

Season 4

e1 Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000

e2 The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000

e3 Quintuplets 2000

e4 Timmy 2000

e5 Pip

e6 Cartman Joins NAMBLA

e7 Cherokee Hair Tampons

e8 Chef Goes Nanners

e9 Something You Can Do With Your Finger

e10 Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?

e11 Probably

e12 Fourth Grade

e13 Trapper Keeper

e14 Helen Keller! The Musical

e15 Fat Camp

e16 The Wacky Molestation Adventure

e17 A Very Crappy Christmas