Pandemic (South Park)

Plot

Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny launch a pan flute band after noticing how much cash Peruvian groups rake in from CD sales. They talk classmate Craig into putting up his $100 birthday money as venture capital. The scheme collapses when Michael Chertoff, head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, orders a crackdown on all Peruvian flute bands, rounding them up and jailing them in Miami—the boys get caught too. Inside the prison, Craig blames the four friends for their own unpopularity, insisting their endless failed schemes are the root cause.

The boys argue they’re American citizens, but Chertoff and his aide Davis will only free them if they agree to overthrow Peru, aiming to wipe out the flute-band pandemic at its source. As the boys gear up, imprisoned Peruvian musicians warn the guards that their detention will trigger the “Furry Death.” Meanwhile, Stan’s father Randy Marsh annoys his family by filming every boring household moment with his new camcorder, a spoof of Cloverfield’s shaky-cam style.

A weird noise outside signals an attack by giant guinea pigs. Davis updates Chertoff, but Chertoff morphs into a monster, confesses he planned the guinea pig assault, declares Craig the only one who can stop it, and kills Davis.

Cultural references

The monsters and shaky camera cinematography reference the 2008 film Cloverfield. Guinea pigs are an important cultural symbol of Peru and other Andean cultures. The boys express reluctance to go to Peru because a friend had been "raped" there, referencing the film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, parodied two episodes earlier in "The China Probrem".

Did You Know?

• The episode received mixed reviews; IGN rated it 6.2/10, stating "the show falls back on its old gimmicks of a national crisis with fast-paced scenes of men talking importantly about stupid things."
• "Pandemic" and the other thirteen episodes from South Park's twelfth season were released on a three-disc DVD set and two-disc Blu-ray set in the United States on March 10, 2009.
• The home media sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and two special mini-features: The Making of 'Major Boobage' and Six Days to South Park.