Member Berries
Member Berries
Season | s20 |
Episode | e01 |
Written By | Trey Parker |
Production Code | 2001 |
Original Air Date | 2016-09-14 |
Episode Chronology
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About
Official Description
Mr. Garrison is still on the campaign trail, and the National Anthem gets a reboot by an American Icon.
Full Description
Danish Olympic gold medalist Freja Ollegard is on a talk show discussing the online bullying she is receiving from Skankhunt42 for the website she created for breast cancer survivors. The talk show host reads social media comments that initially appear to be sincere, but are revealed to be from double entendre pseudonyms of Skankhunt42 (aka Gerald Broflovski) while he watches the show. The next morning, Gerald is visited by two policemen who question him on Cartman's sudden disappearance from Twitter without explanation. They then question Gerald's son, Kyle, who also denies any knowledge. Gerald continues sending hateful messages to Freja, but this results in her suicide, sending Gerald into a panic. At a funeral service for Freja, the speaker announces that Denmark will go to war with the troll. While at the supermarket, Gerald finds an anonymous note attached to his car windshield that reads "I know who you are." Gerald clears his history on all of his devices and destroys them. He then realizes that Ike's computer may also leave a trail to his activity, but while attempting to clean it, he receives an anonymous email repeating the message, "I know who you are," followed by an alert asking him to meet with the anonymous sender the next day.
Meanwhile, Randy Marsh supports Hillary Clinton, referred to as the Turd Sandwich, for President, and expresses disdain to the people of South Park that are supporting the Giant Douche, aka Mr. Garrison. Even though Garrison admits to being an incompetent presidential candidate during a debate and other speeches, his apparent honesty only results in increased support from his constituents, even leading to Randy finding him appealing to the point that he changes his mind. When he reveals this to Stephen Stotch, Stephen reveals that he has also changed his mind and now wants to vote for Clinton. Their mutual flip-flopping on candidates gives Randy cause for suspicion. After being offered a pie filled with member berries by Stephen, Randy goes to visit the Old Farmer whose crop is being dwarfed by hundreds and hundreds of member berry bushes.
Cartman and Heidi Turner, who are both apparently dead to the world for having left Twitter, begin to converse with each other to compensate for the lack of a social media presence, and begin spending time in the park with others who have quit Twitter. Cartman explains to Heidi that his attempt to prove that women are funny at a school assembly was sincere and that he is genuinely trying to change himself. During one of their private conversations, Cartman asks Heidi if girls have testicles, and she replies they do not. Cartman explains he does not know what is at the bottom of a vagina to scratch when girls get itchy. Much to his surprise, Heidi offers to show Cartman.
Characters
Cameos
Cutting Room Floor
The following characters appeared in the promo clip, but not the final episode:
Locations
Continuity Nods
- Twelve years later, "Douche and Turd" has become the new national standard for all elections.
- Randy refers to Stan as "a cynical man", a relevant choice of words given the events of "You're Getting Old".
- Mr. Garrison mentions "those ads that are trying to kill us", a reference to the previous season's story arcs, most notably "Sponsored Content".
- Bill Keegan, who debuted in "Naughty Ninjas" last season, remains the news anchor.
Behind the Scenes
A promotional clip for the new season featured the Dads singing a new National Anthem, though the clip was not part of the final episode. Abrams does not appear to change the anthem's lyrics.
Pop Culture References
Shout Outs
The previously mentioned but never-before-seen Matt Lauer interviews Mr. Garrison at the Commander in Chief Forum, just as he did both candidates a week before the episode aired.
Pwn'd
The episode lampoons both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the 2016 presidential candidates, and strongly suggests that Trump has no serious plans for being President of the United States. His new tan is also based on the orange tone of Trump's skin.
Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie appears as one of Garrison's advisors, mirroring him serving as an advisor to the Trump campaign.
Colin Kapernick makes a cameo and isn't sure how to protest Abrams' new anthem.
Member Berries
'Member Berries' is a play on 'memories', as their main purpose to stir up happy, nostalgic memories to the pleasure of the owner.
These memories often consist of pop culture references:
- Chewbacca, AT-AT's and Stormtroopers originated in the original Star Wars saga, but more importantly to the reference, recently reappeared in the 2015 film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
- Slimer is the only character from the original Ghostbusters film to appear in the 2016 reboot.
- References to Spock and Tricorders are references to the 2009 Star Trek film and it's sequels.
However, when Randy uses them, they begin to reference aspects of the AltRight and Conservative political movements, such as Ronald Reagan, illegal immigration, marriage between only men and women, and the wide perception of safety.
Bonus Factoids
Pointless Observations
- Cartman's "TOKEN'S LIFE MATTERS" shirt is a nod to the #BlackLivesMatter movement, which protests the disproportionate number of killings of African-Americans by police.