Professor Chaos

"Professor Chaos" is episode 85 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on April 10, 2002.

Plot synopsis

After Kenny's semi-permanent death near the end of Season 5, Butters became the replacement Kenny, until this episode, where he is fired for simply being too lame. The other boys (Stan, Kyle and Cartman) then make peace with Butters by thanking him all the hard work for being their fourth friend, and then begin a competition to find a new fourth friend while Butters, feeling rejected and angry at the world, creates an alternate personality, Professor Chaos, and sets off to spread discord among the world. He does minor things like swapping two soup meals at Bennigan's restaurant, and stealing erasers from Ms. Choksondik during class.

The boys gather twenty local kids (mostly recurring characters on the show and extras) to compete for their friendship, and set up the contest to be like a reality TV show where they show scenes of interactions and show private individual comments. One of the early losers, a boy named Dougie, winds up joining Butters and his "minions" (said minions being Butters' pet hamsters) as Professor Chaos's sidekick, General Disarray. Together they try to flood the world using a garden hose and then spraying aerosol cans into the air to destroy the atmosphere.

While Professor Chaos and General Disarray try to destroy the planet, Kyle, Stan, and Cartman pick six finalists to be their friend: Token, Timmy, Jimmy, Tweek, Towelie, and Pip. They first eliminate Pip during a baseball game when he asked for tea and crumpets. They then decide that Token is a smartass (Kyle points out that Cartman is also a smartass, but Cartman retorts with "Do we really need another one?"), Timmy can be too self-centered, Towelie gets too high to be relied on for anything, and Jimmy is a suck-up (while they are deciding, Jimmy gives them a large gift basket with candy and games inside, and a large badge that reads "Best Friends 4 Ever"). The decision cuts off into a cliffhanger, where a narrator asks three questions: "Will Professor Chaos' latest plot succeed and be the final undoing of Earth? Which boy has been chosen as the replacement for Kenny? And which of these South Park residents: Chef, Mr. Garrison, Jimbo, Officer Barbrady, Ms. Choksondik, and Mayor McDaniels was killed and will never be seen again?"

Instead of the episode ending with a cliffhanger, the questions are immediately answered: No to Professor Chaos' plot succeeding, Tweek is the new fourth friend, and Ms. Choksondik dies and will never be seen again (although she features in the next episode, where she does in fact die). The episode then ends abruptly.

Cultural References

During the talent show, Towelie attempts to play Stairway To Heaven on the guitar, but fails, due to being high on marijuana.

While the 4 boys and their contestants (to see who the best friend will be) are walking out of the exit from the amusement park, the Friends theme song is playing in the background.

In South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play, Professor Chaos is a playable character, but requires an 'unlock code' to be used. The code was given as a second place prize for a contest on South Park Studios. According to various website forums, many players would kill for this unlock code.