The Poor Kid
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"The Poor Kid" is the fifteenth season finale of the American animated television series ''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'', and the 223rd episode of the series overall. It first aired on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on November 16, 2011. In the episode,
Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant ...
and his
brother A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...
and
sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares one or more parents with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to ...
are sent to a
foster home Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
after police discover a
meth lab A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine.Staff writerMethamphetamine, meth-lab assessment and clean-up" ''Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies Inc.'' Retrieved on 2009-02-14. Ro ...
in their house. As a result, Cartman is left with feelings of loss, since he no longer has someone to ridicule for their poverty. The episode was written by series co-creator
Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...
and is rated
TV-MA The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the television industry and the Federal Communications Commission, federal commun ...
LV in the United States. It lampoons
Pabst Blue Ribbon Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, the cu ...
,
agnosticism Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
, and the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years ...
.


Plot

Kenny's parents are arrested for having a
meth lab A rolling meth lab is a transportable laboratory that is used to illegally produce methamphetamine.Staff writerMethamphetamine, meth-lab assessment and clean-up" ''Forensic Applications Consulting Technologies Inc.'' Retrieved on 2009-02-14. Ro ...
at their home, an event documented on the reality show ''White Trash in Trouble''. As a result,
Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant ...
and his two siblings,
Kevin Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant '' Kevan'' is anglicized from , a ...
and
Karen Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand ** Karen languages or Karenic l ...
, are put into the
foster care Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
system. Their caseworker, Mr. Adams, who insists on making constant jokes about the Penn State sex abuse scandal, places them with the Weatherheads, a militantly
agnostic Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
couple living in Greeley that forbids their numerous foster children from expressing any notions of certainty. Their agnosticism manifests itself in a number of peculiar ways, such as their edict that the children can only drink "agnostic beverages" such as
Dr Pepper Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink. It was created in the 1880s by pharmacist Charles Alderton in Waco, Texas, and first served around 1885. Dr Pepper was first nationally marketed in the United States in 1904. It is now also sold in Euro ...
, because no one can be certain as to what flavor it is, and hypothesizing that
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
could be "a giant reptilian bird in charge of everything". Because of Karen's sadness and fear over their new living situation, Kenny attempts to protect and comfort her by adopting his superhero persona of Mysterion, whom she comes to see as her guardian angel. While searching for a new target for his taunts now that Kenny is gone, Cartman is horrified to discover, through Butters' research, that he is now the poorest student in school. He fears that Kyle will start making fun of him now. Despite Kyle's lack of interest in this endeavor, Cartman begins compulsively telling poor jokes about himself to beat
Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
to the punch. Cartman complains to
his mother ''His Mother'' is a 1912 American silent film produced by Kalem Company. It was directed by Sidney Olcott with Gene Gauntier and Jack J. Clark in the leading roles. It was one of more than a dozen films produced by the Kalem Company filmed in Ir ...
, but she says that she is already working two jobs and cannot do more because of the
economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
. Wishing he were in a foster home like Kenny, Cartman frames her for running a meth lab, and despite her protests of not having done drugs in a long time, she is arrested, which is again documented by ''White Trash in Trouble''. Despite anticipating being sent to an idyllic setting like Hawaii, Cartman is placed with the Weatherheads and attends the same school in Greeley as Kenny, where he is elated to discover that the poorest student there is not he or Kenny, but a boy named Jacob Hallery, whom Cartman takes delight in ridiculing. After Kenny, as Mysterion, dispatches a bully who was harassing Karen, she and the other foster kids report what they saw to the Weatherheads, who torture one of the children by hosing him down with Dr Pepper for expressing such certainty. In response to the Weatherheads' cruelty, Cartman reports them to Child Protective Services. Mr. Adams comes to the children's rescue, as does Mysterion, who plants
Pabst Blue Ribbon Pabst Blue Ribbon, commonly abbreviated PBR, is an American lager beer sold by Pabst Brewing Company, established in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844 and currently based in San Antonio. Originally called Best Select, and then Pabst Select, the cu ...
in their refrigerator, on which the Weatherheads get drunk. They are then arrested for being unfit guardians, as documented on ''White Trash in Trouble''. Cartman is also arrested on the show for filing a false police report, and Adams urges the police to return all the foster children to their parents, as the foster care system has been embarrassed. Kenny and Cartman return home, but on their first day back at South Park Elementary, a giant reptilian bird, as Mr. Weatherhead conjectured, rips open the school's roof and eats Kenny, prompting Cartman to burst into tears, as he is once again the poorest child in school.


Production

In the creator commentary for the episode, Trey Parker said they went through several ideas of the foster family, rejecting ideas of sending Kenny to a rich family or a family in it for the money before settling on the "militant agnostics." This is the first episode where Kenny's siblings are named. The episode prominently features the soft drink Dr Pepper, which commentators have noticed is often featured in the show's background.


Reception

Ryan McGhee of ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'' graded the episode a " B−". While he thought the Mysterion-Karen plot gave the episode true pathos, he thought Adams' jokes seemed recycled, and the parody of agnostics were funny but par for the course in terms of ''South Park'''s treatment of religion, and not very relevant. Katie McGlynn of ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'' and Aly Semigram of ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' enjoyed the episode's take on the
Penn State child sex abuse scandal The Penn State child sex abuse scandal concerned allegations and subsequent convictions of child sexual abuse committed by Jerry Sandusky, an assistant coach for the Penn State Nittany Lions football team, over a period of at least fifteen years ...
, complimenting the show's creators on satirizing the matter without coming across as insensitive, and for mocking not only the scandal, but the manner in which Cartman rebuked the jokes for merely recycling old Catholic jokes. Lindsey Bahr of
SplitSider ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'' ...
also thought initially that the Penn State and "Yo mamma" jokes were lacking, and the plot jumpy and convoluted, but then perceived that to be the point of the episode, opining that the final act was "poignant", and the episode the most self-reflective since the mid-season finale. Johnny Firecloud of
CraveOnline Mandatory (formerly CraveOnline Media) is a lifestyle website based in Los Angeles with sales offices in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco. The site is owned by media company Evolve Media, LLC. Mandatory focuses its contents into the male- ...
gave the episode an 8 out of 10, feeling that it was an improvement over the previous episode, and said of its treatment of the Penn State matter: "Parker & Stone seem well within their lampooning grounds with this one, without trying to put a larger sociopolitical statement on an issue in which there is very little grey area." Firecloud characterized the episode's closing moments as "solid old-school Kenny death finish. Bravo." Ramsey Isler of
IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...
was disappointed that the McCormick siblings' placement in foster care turned out not to be a big turning point for Kenny, but simply another "joke of the week". Isler felt, however, that it was a decent episode with a long string of small but enjoyable gags, in particular those that poked fun at the rote repetition of stale jokes, and the treatment of agnosticism, which he found to be "fresh". Shirley Galdino of the Secular Humanist League of Brazil welcomed the depiction of the Weatherheads in the episode, saying: "Someone ''finally'' satirizes the agnostics for once".Galdino, Shirley
"South Park Savages Dogmatic Agnostics"
The Flying Teapot Project. Secular Humanist League of Brazil. November 18, 2011


References


External links


"The Poor Kid"
Full episode at South Park Studios * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poor Kid, The Television episodes about poverty South Park (season 15) episodes