Story

Description

Cartman and Stan are playing in a docked speedboat owned by Cartman's Uncle Roy when Cartman dares Stan to drive. Stan succumbs to pressure and immediately loses control of the boat, accidentally crashing it into the world's biggest beaver dam. The dam explodes and floods the nearby town of Beaverton. Once the two desperately swim to shore, Cartman announces the boat doesn't actually belong to anyone he knows.

As word of the disaster gets out, the boys decide to keep their involvement a secret. The media falsely reports that Beaverton has descended into violence, rape, and cannibalism while the public falsely blames George Bush and Al Qaeda for causing the flood. While mass hysteria spreads, no attempt has been made to rescue Beaverton's residents. The survivors, forced onto their roofs by the high water, begin to feel bored.

Stan's dad Randy attends a statewide meeting of scientists to discuss the cause of the flood, and they conclude that global warming is the culprit. They determine global warming is going to unleash an attack "two days before the day after tomorrow" which turns out to be that day.

The townspeople of South Park panic at the news, running away from global warming as if it is a physical being. They barricade themselves inside the community center. Randy informs the townspeople that the heating of the atmosphere has triggered a new ice age, and that the outside temperature will soon fall to "over 70 million degrees below zero."

Well aware that global warming has nothing to do with the Beaverton flood, Stan confesses his involvement to Kyle, much to Cartman's dismay. The three leave the community center and head to Beaverton to help its residents. They ram their boat into Beaverton's oil refinery instead, which starts a fire encircling the town.

Stan calls his dad, still unable to confess, and pleads for a rescue. With the help of Stephen Stotch and Gerald Broflovski, the dads dress in extreme cold weather attire and journey outside. They make it about halfway through town before they overheat and collapse.

Meanwhile, the boys try to escape the burning oil refinery. Cartman pulls a gun on Kyle and demands he hand over his bag of "Jew gold", an item Cartman repeatedly accuses him of having. Kyle vehemently denies its existence. Wanting to escape however, Kyle eventually surrenders and reveals a bag filled with gold from around his neck -- first a decoy bag, then the real bag. He throws the real bag into the fire, escaping past an upset Cartman. The US Army finally arrives in Beaverton and airlifts the survivors and the boys to safety.

Back at South Park, the public is informed by the Army that global warming didn't cause the flood -- Crab People did. Frustrated, Stan finally confesses he was responsible for breaking the dam. But the townspeople believe he implies everyone is responsible for what happened. One by one, the citizens step forward to say "I broke the dam" while ignoring Stan's blatant admissions of guilt.

What I Learned Today

"Stop it, stop it! First it was terrorists, then George Bush and global warming and now you're all blaming crab people for something that's very simple! It's my fault! I broke the dam."

Memorable Quotes

• "Global warming is going to strike two days before the day after tomorrow." Scientist
• "All Jews carry gold in a little bag around their necks. Hand it over!" Cartman
• "We weren't here. This didn't happen. Okay? We were both at my house all afternoon playing Tea Party." Cartman
• "What's important is figuring out whose fault this is." Randy
• "I'm afraid us adults let you children down. We didn't take care of our Earth and now you've inherited our problems!" Randy
• "IT"S COMING! HERE COMES GLOBAL WARMING!!" Townspeople
• "Within the hour the temperature outside will fall to over seventy million degrees below zero." Randy
• "You can't go out there. You'll freeze to death!" Townspeople
• "If we survive this, I don't intend to live in poverty. Give me your Jew gold now!" Cartman
• "I broke the dam." Townspeople

Characters

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Butters Stotch

Tom Pusslicker

Randy Marsh

Sharon Marsh

Gerald Broflovski

Sheila Broflovski

Mr. Mackey

Stephen Stotch

Janet Garrison

Jimbo Kern

Thomas Tucker

Geologists

Officer Barbrady

Character Returns

This episode marks the third mention of the infamous Crab People, who were first deployed in Season 7's "South Park is Gay" . They were also briefly discussed (but not seen) in Season 8's "Quest for Ratings" .

Also, in the ensuing chaos after global warming is unveiled, we see Nurse Gollum (from "Conjoined Fetus Lady") and Mr. Derp (from "The Succubus") all fleeing the school in horror.

Mary Gollum

Mr. Derp

Body Count

The death toll in Beaverton was reported as being in the hundreds of millions, which is particularly devastating since Beaverton only has a population of about eight thousand. Even worse, Fox News reported that over 600 billion people were killed by global warming in Chicago alone. Also, Ms. Garrison suffered a broken leg and leaky boob.

Locations

Beaverton

Beaverton Oil

Jefferson Lake Recreation Area

Park County Community Center

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

The episode was inspired by the Hurricane Katrina relief effort -- or more accurately, the lack thereof. It also fulfilled Trey and Matt's longstanding desire to do a global warming episode that skewered the 2004 disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow, which they consider one of the worst films ever made.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

The moment in which the townspeople declare "I broke the dam" is a parody of a scene from 1960's Spartacus, in which the title character's followers all proclaim "I'm Spartacus."

Obviously, a number of scenes from The Day After Tomorrow are directly parodied here, including the scene where Randy addresses a clich assembly of scientists and politicians. When Randy is challenged, he even says, "With all due respect, Clich Dissenting Republican, the economy isn't going to matter The Day After Tomorrow."

While locked away in the community center, the townspeople all work themselves into a frenzy by watching endless reports by Fox News.

The penis Stan's dad unwittingly draws on a map of America refers to a widely publicized National Weather Service wind distribution map for Hurricane Rita, which looked like a wiener. It also references a map scene from The Day After Tomorrow.

Pwn'd

The line "George Bush doesn't care about beavers" references rapper Kanye West's accusation: "George Bush doesn't care about black people." He made this statement on live TV during the Concert for Hurricane Katrina on NBC. West will get a lot more attention in Season 13's "Fishsticks."

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

During Stan's dad's global warming speech, the audience repeatedly says "peas and carrots." This is something that movie and TV extras sometimes mutter to make it look like they're carrying on a meaningful conversation. Also, in one crowd scene a bystander wears a hat that reads "John Denver Experience." This references a carnival ride seen in Season Four's "Cartman Joins NAMBLA."

A number of entities are accused of causing the Beaverton flood: global warming, George Bush, communists, Chinese radicals, terrorists, and Al-Qaeda (who apparently bombed the dam with WMDs).

According to Cartman, all Jews carry "Jew gold" in a little bag around their necks. In fact, they also carry fake bags of gold around their necks to keep the real bags of gold safe. Turns out he was right.

Season 9

e1 Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina

e2 Die Hippie, Die

e3 Wing

e4 Best Friends Forever

e5 The Losing Edge

e6 The Death of Eric Cartman

e7 Erection Day

e8 Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow

e9 Marjorine

e10 Follow That Egg!

e11 Ginger Kids

e12 Trapped in the Closet

e13 Free Willzyx

e14 Bloody Mary