Top 20 South Park Plot Holes You Never Noticed

It’s probably safe to say that most people don’t like getting needles. In “South Park,” never was this more apparent than when Cartman needed a vaccination. Terrified of a little poke, Cartman runs and squeals like a literal pig to avoid the needle. This in itself is not all that surprising. Yet, back in Season 12, he easily drew blood from his own arm to infect Kyle with HIV. Did the writers merely forget this minor plot point? Or was Cartman so angry at Kyle that his fear of needles didn’t surface? We’re betting it was just funnier to write an episode about Cartman running around like a hog. Still, this plot hole made even less sense when the “Vaccination Special” premiered two years later.

One distinct feature of Garrison’s look is square-cornered glasses. With the exception of a presidential Twitter profile, the character can practically always be seen wearing them throughout the entire run of the show. But if you go back to the first season, you’ll spot a handful of inconsistencies in their appearance. Some shots show the glasses as having thick, black frames, while others depict them as almost hair-thin. The pilot episode in particular shows them as a very fine, thin rim that is distinctly different from many other episodes. That could be attributed to how the original episode was created, but what about subsequent ones?

Ahhhh Chef. He was one of the only sane adults in “South Park.” Always there to give the children a hand, or sing a song, he was a staple of the show for almost 10 years. When not doling out advice, he could be seen donning an apron in the kitchen of the school’s cafeteria. Oddly enough, it seems that very apron has magical properties. When the boys are in the kitchen facing Chef directly, the letters on his apron are shown in capitals. Yet, when he faces the kids as they enter the kitchen, the print is all lowercase. What kind of demon magic is this?

It was Season 11 and audiences were treated to the “Imaginationland” trilogy. A fantasy place where everything from one’s imagination could become real. This included Al Gore’s infamous ManBearPig. After emerging from the Stargate *cough* we mean portal, ManBearPig attacks Kyle. He survives the ordeal; only to completely forget about ManBearPig 11 years later. MBP returns and even after claiming several victims, Kyle seems to have no memory or awareness of his existence, even as he searches for him online. Could the trauma from earlier have blocked his memories? Or maybe he’s part of an elaborate MBP coverup? In any case, we guess ManBearPig isn’t imaginary after all.

Mr. Mackey is on the hunt for someone who may have used a urinal for something far more gross than its typical use. Thinking it was Clyde, his suspicions are shot down when he learns the boy had colostomy surgery and now uses a bag as needed. Although this is a perfectly fine explanation, it does come in contrast with what we see a little over a year later. The boys all learn that the girls have rated Clyde as being the cutest boy in school. So when he’s checking himself out in the mirror, no bag, or scar from his surgery is seen. Maybe he got a removable one?

Nowadays, it can be confusing to understand all of the nuances around gender identity. Even in the world of “South Park,” there’s been confusion. Early on in the show’s run, Cartman’s feline friend was identified as “Mr. Kitty.” Yet during the show’s first experiment with serialized episodes, “Mr” Kitty is in heat and is clearly depicted as a female. Then yet again, during the entire “cheesing” fiasco of Season 12, the cat appears to have gone back to being male. Our guess is Cartman’s kitty’s gender is whatever it needs to be to best serve a great joke.

It was Season 14 and “South Park” was seemingly being invaded by folks from the Jersey Shore. As the situation escalates, Kyle is shocked to learn his mother was pregnant with him while still living in New Jersey. This would mean that he was born in South Park and has lived there his entire life. If that’s true, then why would Kyle have implied he’s only been there since he was three? During Season Five’s “The Entity,” Kyle mentions how he’s spent the last five years doing his best to earn a good name for Jewish people. At eight years old, that would have put him at three. So when did he really get to “South Park?”

Have you ever noticed how the Canadians on “South Park” look a little different? Well, if you haven’t, you may want to get your eyes checked. Shown with rounded, flappy heads and tiny black eyes, it’s a signature look unique to this show. Terrance and Phillip, the royal family, and even Kyle’s brother Ike all sport the same look. Yet for some reason, the likes of Justin Bieber, Tom Green, and even James Cameron sport a far more normal look. It’s an inconsistency that doesn’t add up. Perhaps one day we’ll learn why some look far more normal than others.

Murder, vandalism, theft, drug possession, and arson are only a small collection of the crimes Eric Cartman has committed. He could possibly be described as one of the most vile characters to ever grace the TV screen. Yet even after all these antics, Cartman has emerged relatively unscathed. Sure, he’s been in jail a few times, and karma has delivered justice occasionally. But if he was a real person, there’s no way someone, even at his age, would have ever been allowed to be out in the wild. Knowing how his future plays out does offer some justice, but certainly not what anyone else would have to face.

Within the world of “South Park,” not only are God and Satan real, but so are Jesus, Muhammad, and Krishna. It’s a rare universe where these religious figures are accepted as gospel instead of something to be endlessly debated. So in a world where religion is such a normal part of life, how would atheism even be a thing? The show spends two episodes taking the anti-religion debate to the max. But, since atheists firmly believe that “God” doesn’t exist, in reality, they’d likely be relegated to a small group of conspiracy theorists who claim the gods of “South Park” and the rest of that world are all fake.

Father to Butters, the most innocent of the lead characters, Stephen Stotch first appeared early in season two. But it wouldn’t be for another two seasons before he first got a speaking role and became a series regular. Even still, despite being an established character, right into season five he’s sometimes referred to as Chris by both his wife, Linda, and non-family members. He’s not using this other name for his extra-marital excursions, and no explanation has ever been given for the sudden name change. Is Chris his middle name, perhaps? Nope, it’s Willis! Geez, dude, pick a name already!

In a world without internet, who can keep track of the days anyway? On the first day of No Internet, first the Marshes and then the Broflovskis can’t log onto the web. Kyle mentions that he has to log on before school as a panic begins to spread across town. However, in the next scene a title card says that it is “Monday: Eight Days Without Internet.” If you count back eight days from Monday, you’re on a Sunday, not a school day. If only they’d had some analog way of keeping track of the days! Maybe something on paper, that hangs from a wall, maybe with pictures of cats all over it …

From the very first episode, you can almost forgive the creators this oversight as they were working with some pretty rudimentary materials. In this early running gag, Stan vomits whenever he speaks to Wendy, a little girl he has a crush on and later dates. On two separate occasions in the pilot episode, he actually gets vomit ON her. Good thing Wendy is apparently coated in Teflon, as the puke instantly slides right off of her. It’s just too bad that she seems to lose this special ability in later episodes.

Back again to the premiere episode, this time not for puke-repellant characters, but for set pieces changing of their own accord. This sort of thing happens in later seasons as well, with Kenny’s mom making a crazy-fast wardrobe change mid-scene, but the first one to catch viewers’ eyes was in the classroom. In the background, you can see a poster of The Laughing Cavalier, but in the final shot we see that the poster has changed to that of an astronaut. What are we to believe, that this is some sort of magic poster, or something?

Cartman’s petty and senseless rivalry against Kyle is one of the shows most longest-running gags. After inheriting one million dollars from his grandmother, he’s even more obnoxious than ever and promptly spends all of his money on an amusement park all for himself. Afterwards, he seems to have an unending cashflow, as he’s still able to run the park and TV ads just to torment Kyle and Stan. When he hires a security guard and tries to pay him in free rides, he explains that he spent all his money buying the park. So where did the money for the commercials come from?

In this tale of cuddly Satanic critters looking to raise the anti-Christ on Christmas (THAT old chestnut), viewers are treated to a Christmas special the likes of which only South Park can provide. Following a blood orgy, the forest creatures decorate their unholy manger on “Christmas Eve Morn” – i.e. the 24th. But when the cubs of the mountain lion who normally dispatches the anti-Christ go to the clinic to learn how to get rid of the Beast before it’s born, the doctor says it’s three days until Christmas. Maybe satanic woodland animals celebrate anti-Christmas a couple of days earlier?

It goes by many names – the brown noise, sound, or note – but ultimately it’s the same thing: a hypothetical frequency so low it makes you involuntarily lose bowel control. Of COURSE, Cartman was interested. He becomes obsessed in one episode, and even discovered that it is, according to him, “92 cents below the lowest octave of E flat.” But when Cartman tries to employ this sonic weapon on a rival school by altering the sheet music, he just writes in a regular E flat. ALSO, it’s an E flat for the treble clef, not the bass, making the note he wrote just a tone and a half above the very regular middle C.

While the boys are on a hunting trip with Jimbo and Ned, the town is threatened by rising volcanic activity. Returning home from their trip, they’re confronted by Scuzzlebutt – a bigfoot like creature who weaves baskets and has Patrick Duffy for a leg. In a panic, Ned tries to shoot him, but is out of ammo. As lava from the volcano nears, Scuzzlebutt helps them to safety. Kenny – who was already killed once by a volcanic rock – returns, only to be accidentally shot by Ned when he throws down his gun. But . . . wasn’t Ned out of ammo? And we know that Kenny always comes back, but TWO fake outs in one episode?

Mysterious resurrections are not uncommon in South Park … if you’re Kenny. However, one character makes an improbable full recovery after having her intestines sucked out and dying on the toilet. Clyde’s mother Betsy suffers this gruesome fate in the first episode of season 16. However, she’s back just three episodes later, and has another appearance in season 19. Classic parenting mistake: lack of follow through. If you’re not going to stay dead, Betsy, how will Clyde ever learn the importance of putting the toilet seat down?

In one of the most notorious episodes in the entire series, Cartman butts heads with older kid Scott Tenorman. For once, Cartman is on the receiving end of the intimidation. After Scott sells him pubes, Cartman wants his money back. Scott says he’ll only do it if Cartman sings that he’s a pig. We see Cartman do the song and Scott getting a kick out of it. Later, Scott uses a recording of the song to torment him. Only thing is, during the scene, there was no recording device. Scott was clever enough to figure out cameraless recording, apparently. Too bad he wasn’t clever enough not to push Cartman too far . . .