Season 1 Episode 10 – Damien

A new student joins South Park Elementary, but he’s really badly behaved… Meanwhile, Cartman is planning his epic birthday party.

Original Airdate

4^th February 1998

Character Debuts

• Damien
• Satan

Synopsis

Damien, the new kid in town, joins the class, but it turns out he's a Satanic prince!

Kenny's Death

Turned into a duck-billed platypus, and then shot by Jimbo. Stan isn’t phased by his uncle killing him, aside from his and Kyle’s usual speech.

My Thoughts Back Then

One of my good friends from primary school was called Damien, he moved to New Zealand when I was 10, so naturally I thought of him while watching this. I wasn’t invited to anyone’s birthday party for some of my childhood, so when I was first watched this at age 14 in April 2005, on my Season 1 DVDs, I could resonate with Pip.

Damien (the character) also reminded me of another primary school friend, Edwin, whom I knew between age 6 and 14, when he stopped attending our high school for reasons I’ll probably never know. Edwin, if you read this, hope you’re doing ok. Edwin was also allowed to watch South Park from the get go, and had pretty lax rules at home.

My Thoughts Now

After another Western intro on the home video releases, where Indian Companion is told to go away, Cartman is handing out invites for his birthday party, everyone but Pip gets an invite, Pip is deflated. Note the Number of the Beast on the back of the wall of the classroom. Damien, dressed in all black, joins the class, with fire in his eyes.

Mr. Garrison compares Hell to Alabama (there’s more jokes about Alabama later on), and Damien calls himself the Prince of Darkness. Cartman asks Damien if Stevie Wonder, the blind R&B singer, cut his hair, this was something I did NOT get at the time (I didn’t know who Wonder is until I was 16). Damien flips Cartman over and starts his reign of terror in the classroom.

Cartman is being an asshole for his birthday, ordering his friends to get him certain gifts. This reminds me of Christmas when I was 15 at my Grandma and Grandad’s, they gave me a gift I already owned, and I pretended I already had it and thanked them. For my gratitude, my Dad let me have $100 worth of books 😊 I would NEVER blackmail friends of mine to buy me certain gifts, my friends know me well enough anyway, and know how to buy great gifts! Damien isn’t allowed to sit with the boys, so he sits with Pip, who is on his own (reminds me of parts of my own boyhood, in particular some of primary school).

Damien puts a curse on Kenny, turning him into a platypus (nice Australian reference), and Chef tells the kids not to judge people solely for being different, before actually meeting Damien… and a song about love (of course – where he’s seen with both black and white birds) Damien causes a cyclone in the canteen! How’d a cow get inside?

Stan and Kyle visit South Park’s Jesus, whom Damien wants to talk to… And of course, Cartman is giving a lecture on what his friends NEED to get him, not a good way to keep friends… While Damien is causing terror  and setting the playground on fire. Damien confronts the Son of the Lord himself, and Satan vs Jesus is now a full bore fight… complete with Jimbo and Ned going to the betting agency!

The fight falls on the same day as Cartman’s party, and thinks it’s a plot against him. Jimbo doesn’t realise how serious this all is, and we also meet South Park’s Satan, whom we’ll be seeing a lot more of in later episodes. The town is now worried, even Father Maxi isn’t happy, and the town wants to change bets! Sacrilege!

Mr. Mackey gives advice to Damien and tell him to be a walking doormat, Damien says sorry to the boys, and then call him Fart Boy (Pip’s old nickname) Jesus is mad at town, for betting AGAINST him – even Father Maxi! Some Catholic priest he is, but then again this is South Park! Jesus calls the bar clientele Judases, a reference to Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus as told in the Bible, and was also used well on an episode of Dad’s Army.

A nice reference to the Rocky films with the raw eggs in a glass during the fight training, and it’s now Cartman’s birthday party! Noticed his mum has BEER on the same tray as goodies for the kids, maybe she was expecting Stan’s Uncle Jimbo? Chef can’t stay as the fight’s on, but chilli makes him stay. Poor Pip and Damien ☹ Damien has a plan to get back at Cartman…

Namely… have Pip lit on fire, explode into a million pieces by demons! Oh blimey, they killed Pip! The fight is going in Satan’s favour, we keep cutting back and forth between fight and the party. Cartman is upset as Kyle got him the WRONG GIFT!!!!! You don’t beat up a friend! Cartman kicks everyone out and turns the party off with a switch, rejecting Kyle’s gift. The kids go to watch the fight. Oh, and Pip is thankfully alive.

Stan, Kyle and Kenny go to the fight and Stan gives an inspiring speech about Nancy Kerrigan, who only got silver, and the side of good is inflated again in the fight! Satan looks like he fell down and pretended to lose, but it could be a mega punch. Turns out Satan bet on Jesus just so he could win money, and South Park learned a lesson not to worship evil.

Damien has to leave town just as he fit in, and Cartman is sick from pie – even I couldn’t eat all that pie!