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Finally back to some good old standard South Park humour. Gone are the talking minges and Garys and with them the crazy ex-Vice Presidents using valley girl slang to spew forth eccentricities about imaginary demons and ridiculous creatures. Back is Eric Cartman at his manipulative best, resplendent in the fresh torturing of Reality Show nannies, using his patience and twisted mind to turn his mom's tricks against her. Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Butters also make brief appearances in the newest episode titled 'TSST' (s10e07), but the show is almost entirely focused on Cartman. There is a celebrity guest appearance from Cesar Millan, the famous 'Dog Whisperer' found on the National Geographic Channel (Cesar Millan: Dog Whisperer). He's reknowned for being able to calm and dominate even the most difficult dog by using psychology and dominant (NOT aggressive) behaviour with the animal. You probably see where this is going.
The episode begins with Eric in Mr. Mackey's office, with the counsellor speaking to Mrs. Cartman about Eric's terrible behaviour. Eric apologizes for handcuffing little Billy Turner to the flag pole. When pressed, he fully apologizes for handcuffing little Billy Turner to the flag pole, giving him a hacksaw, telling him he'd poisoned his lunch milk and the only way to get to the antidote was to saw through his leg. His reasoning: Billy called him chubby. Mrs. Cartman breaks down crying, going on about how Eric never listens. Cartman tells Mackey "way to go asshole, you made my mom cry" showing that narcissistic personality we all know and love. Mrs. Cartman tells Eric it's his fault, and that she's at the end of her rope. Eric begins singing this sickeningly sugary song "my mom is the best mom, better than your mom" and she joins him. Sensing a need to keep Mrs. Cartman on track, Mr. Mackey begins telling her about Nanny 911. She decides they should go on the show, and a crossover is born.
We see the introduction from Nanny 911 showing terrible kids hitting their parents, skating on spaghetti, then they show Eric. They show the clip of him as Hitler from "Passion of the Jew" and Nanny Stella comes in and gets to work. She begins by taking his X-Box 360 and telling him he can only have it back if he does chores. He mocks her accent and simply walks up to the kitchen counter where his X-Box is being held captive and takes it. She tells him he can't do that, he disagrees and takes it again. She then puts him in time-out. He asks her quite simply what is keeping him on the chair for time out. She tells him, because it's time out, he has to stay on the chair. He jumps down and acts surprised and sarcastic, "oooh, how did I do that?" then starts back toward his X-Box. She stops him, puts him back on the chair, and gets in his face. She explains to cheesy music how she's getting to his eye level to better identify with him. She begins talking to him, but Cartman isn't having any of it. He horks up, and spits right in the Nanny's mouth. She's appalled, and Mrs. Cartman tells her that's why it's best not to get to his level. Nanny Stella decides it's time to bring out the big guns. She's going to use psychology on him. She follows him into the living room, asking him if the video game is really part of the deeper problem of her trying to change his ways. He tells her he's confused, because he doesn't know why she became a Nanny. Unaware of Cartman's manipulative powers, she takes the bait and tells him it's because she loves children. He then innocently asks why she never had any of her own. She says it just didn't happen, and he questions whether she's sterile. Then, he begins to turn the screws, playing the cards she's dealt him in his evil and twisted way. He goes on to say how sterility would be too convenient, more likely nobody wanted her. Nobody ever wanted her and now her ovaries are dried up and shriveled and useless and that's why she's a nanny, to staunch the pain. She becomes enraged, "What kind of monster...." and very upset. Mrs. Cartman in her oh-so-naive way admonishes him "Eric, naughty" but he doesn't relent. He tells the nanny to let the anger come, to strike him down even though it won't change the fact that she's an old, dried up hag with useless ovaries. She snaps and runs out, telling Mrs. Cartman to find herself another Nanny....television show.
Enter Super Nanny, who professes to "succeed where other Nannies have failed." She states that Eric's behaviour is unacceptable, and that she'll whip him into shape in 3 days. She enters the house, and a caption appears "3 days later." We see Mrs. Cartman being led through the halls of a mental hospital, a doctor explaining that Super Nanny is "in a deep state of mental psychosis. She spends most of her time sobbing and eating her own excrement." We then see the Super Nanny in her cell, sobbing and moaning "it's from...he..he..hell" while indeed eating her own excrement. Mrs. Cartman is exasperated, telling the doctor "we've been through every Nanny reality televsion show there is." The doctor then suggests, as a final straw, another show.
Here then we see Cesar Millan, the famed "Dog Whisperer" jump onto the scene, complete with over-the-top spanish accent. He comes in and sets straight to work, telling Mrs. Cartman that Eric runs the house and runs her, while pointedly ignoring Eric, who is telling him "no need to talk behind my back, I'm right here asshole." Cesar tells Mrs. Cartman that he's intentionally showing the child that he isn't interested in him. From then on, every time that Eric opens his mouth, Cesar uses two fingers to nip at Eric's neck to keep him in line, just like dogs. He then states that they should go for a walk, because Eric is fat and has a ton of pent up energy. Cut to them walking, with Eric in a restraining holster like a caged animal. He's flipping out, and Cesar keeps nipping him in the neck. Cesar tells Mrs. Cartman "we are going for a walk, the child is lucky enough to come along" as if they are rewarding him. He gives the reins to Mrs. Cartman, and tells her to walk with her shoulders back and head up. The child will pick up on that confidence. They way he keeps referring to Eric as "the child" is beautiful, making it seem as if they were training a dog. This drives Cartman completely nuts, and he flips out on the leash. Mrs. Cartman then nips him on the neck, much to the delight of Cesar.
When they come in from their walk, Cesar tells her it's time to assert dominance. He produces a bucket of KFC and explains that they will eat first, as that's what the pack leader does. The child will have to wait, until it's in a calm submissive state before it gets any chicken. Eric loses it once again, speed-talking "gimme some chicken gimme some chicken" and completely losing his mind. They continue to ignore him, except when he innocently states "okay, i'm sorry. please give me some chicken." Cesar stops Mrs. Cartman, telling her not to be fooled, he's still aggressive he's just lying. Cartman gets really upset, screaming "I'm not a DOG, asshole!!." Still ignoring him, Cesar nips Cartman into near unconsciousness. This is the last straw. Eric screams and yells and runs away. Cesar tells Mrs. Cartman not to worry, he'll be back.
Eric goes to Stan's place, where Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Butters are playing Monopoly. Cartman tells them how he's run away and is on the streets. Before he even asks, Stan tells him he can't stay there. So does Kyle. Butters tells Eric that his parents told him not to bring homeless people to the house anymore. Cartman throws a temper tantrum, saying how he can't live with Kenny because he's too poor. Then he relents, and says "fine, I'll live with Kenny. Let's go, man." Kenny tells him to "foook ooof" and he leaves, decrying their friendship and acting as self-centred as ever. Stuck in the rain and upset, he decides to go home. When he comes home, Mrs. Cartman and Cesar decide it's time for the ultimate domination. Eric tells her that there's changes that need to be made, how she needs to stop treating him like this. All the while, she ignores him and nips him repeatedly. After a few nips, he begins to get upset and asks her why she's doing it, but she just continues relentlessly. He falls to the ground, broken and beaten. We then see Mrs. Cartman lying on the couch, and Eric walks in slowly and timidly, nuzzling up to her bosom. She's taken aback with this newfound affection, but Cesar explains that this is the relaxed, submissive state they were trying to achieve all along. She feeds Eric a snack, and then tells him to brush his teeth. He goes up to do so, and she's elated, professing her thanks to Cesar.
In the following scenes we see a better behaved and slimmer Eric. He's now submissive with his mother, and doing what she says, but he's fighting it all the way. Mrs. Cartman goes to lunch with Cesar and tells him about this, but Cesar assures her that his personality will eventually follow his behaviour and he will fully embrace becoming the new Eric. It appears that romance is blossoming between Mrs. Cartman and the Dog Whiperer. Frankly, it's amazing that she hasn't banged him up to this point.
Cartman calls upon his friends, who are once again at Stan's house playing video games. He rants on about how his mom is like Hitler with all the demands, expressing empathy for the Jews and the Holocaust in typical overly-dramatic Cartman fashion. He says the only way to stop her is to kill her, and he needs their help. He outlines a plan where he leaves the house but leaves the door unlocked, wherein the guys sneak up to her room where Kenny keeps watch, Kyle holds a pillow over her face and Stan shoots her. After they express outrage, he makes allowances by saying that Butters can hold the pillow and Kyle can shoot her. After they plainly tell him they won't help him and that killing his mom isn't cool anyway, he once again throws a temper tantrum, screaming "fine, I'll just do everything myself. I'll just do it all while you guys sit here and play video games." The guys seem okay with this, and continue to play their games, fully ignoring Cartman.
Mrs. Cartman is sleeping, and a knife-wielding, evil-looking Eric comes up on her. He's just about to take her out when his inner goodness begins speaking to him. It tells him the changes are good, that his mother is not an object but a human being. His evilness tells him she's his mom, he can do what he wants with her. His goodness fights back, telling him that the world doesn't revolve around him. They war within him, carrying him out into the hallway and we see his body change different colours, even at one point changing into television snow. The war rages for a few seconds until a spent and screaming Eric collapses on the floor.
The next morning Mrs. Cartman walks in with the knife about to ask questions and is surprised to see perfect little Eric at the table, eating a self-made breakfast of grapefruit and lean ham and doing his homework. She tells him she's proud and he says, as if speaking a foreign language 'th..thank you?' Ecstatic, Mrs. Cartman phones Cesar and has him drop by. She tells him that the personality change has happened and that she's so very happy to have gained a son even though she's lost a friend. Cesar explains that on this track, in a few years he'll be her friend too, and everyone is happy. Mrs. Cartman then asks Cesar if he wants to go with her to see Madame Butterfly that Friday night. He explains to her that she's just a client, not a friend, and he wants nothing more to do with her. Taken aback, she turns to Eric and asks him to go. He tells her he's got schoolwork, he and Stan and Kyle and going to work on a science project. Lonliness defeating discretion, she tells him she'll take him to KFC for chicken and then to Target for a Mega Ranger. Tentatively and innocently he asks "Could I have...two Mega-Rangers?" She says, in words that will haunt her forever from hereon, "Yes dear. You can have whatever you want." In one of those classic it begins or he hasn't changed a bit or the evil is still present or you don't know what lurks behind the eyes or whatever other metaphor you want kind of scenes, the camera zooms slowly in on Eric's beaming face, hanging over his mother's hugging shoulder. He's smiling the smile of blessed evil, while arcane and blood-chilling Satanic choir music is playing over top, hilighting how once again this narcissistic, manipulative, sociopathic little bastard always gets his way in the end. A great episode, nice to see them back to basics a little bit.
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