Pandemic 2: The Startling
| "Pandemic 2: The Startling" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 12 Episode 11 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Production code | 1211 |
| Original air date | October 29, 2008 |
"Pandemic 2: The Startling" is the eleventh episode in the twelfth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 178th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 29, 2008.
It is the conclusion to the previous episode, "Pandemic". In the episode, the boys discover the source of the havoc unleashed in the previous episode, and attempt to overthrow Michael Chertoff's plot for world domination.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker.
The episode opens with a monologue recap by Craig Tucker, who is relating the events up until now in his journal. Craig is stranded in the Andes Mountains with the four main characters and two pilots at a false rendezvous point. They look for help in the jungle, but find only a "land of the giant lost world", filled with giant fruits. The two pilots are killed by baby Guinea bee larvae, and the boys flee.
Craig and the boys discover a temple, inside of which are carvings depicting a prophecy that details all of the events of the previous episode. They learn from this that the Peruvian flute bands kept the murderous guinea pigs within the jungle. Craig is featured in the final carving. In spite of the intrigue of the carving, Craig refuses to do any more investigating and begins walking back through the jungle. The other boys follow him, complaining of boredom.
Interspersed throughout this story are various flashes in Colorado with Randy, Sharon and Shelley hiding from giant guinea pig monsters (all of which are portrayed by real live-action guinea pigs wearing costumes), a parody of the movie Cloverfield. They hide at home, in a damaged bus, on the roof of a Best Buy, a grocery store, and an Outback Steakhouse. Randy does not stop filming the entire time, and uses unnecessarily shaky camera work, as well as constant zooms and heavy breathing to convey just how "startled" he is by the whole ordeal. The other townspeople, especially Sharon, begin to grow very annoyed by his obsessive taping of the event. Eventually, Sharon has had enough and angrily demands Randy to stop filming, but he says that the video "will be a very important family relic, years from now"; frustrated, Sharon attacks his camera. Also, the townsfolk discover that the guinea pigs take on various other permutations, including guinea rabbits, guinea bees, guinea mice, and guinea-saurus rexes, all of which supposedly originate from the aforementioned "giant world".
...
Wikipedia