A Ladder to Heaven

A Ladder to Heaven is the twelth episode of the sixth season of South Park.

Plot
The boys won an all-you-can-grab candy prize. Yet they realize that they gave the ticket to Kenny to hold on to before he died. Upon visiting Kenny's house, the boys find out that Kenny was cremated. Not understanding what this means, the boys hope to find the ticket in the urn that Kenny's parents say he is now in. They steal the urn and are disappointed to find it only contains black powder. Cartman assumes it must be some kind of chocolate milk powder. He mixes the ashes with milk and drinks Kenny.

The boys decide to build a ladder to heaven to find Kenny so he can tell them where the ticket is. The adults, who think that the boys only want to see their dead friend again, are touched by their concern for their friend. The whole country gets involved in supporting the ladder to heaven. When the boys announce they have run out of stuff to build the ladder, the adults consider telling them the truth that they're not actually going to reach heaven. Yet just then the military arrives and starts to build a reinforced tower in order to beat the Japanese to heaven.

Suspicious photos taken of heavenly clouds are reported to the President as indicating a potential factory making weapons of mass destruction run by Saddam Hussein, now dead and permanently living in Heaven. The US decides to bomb heaven, believing Hussein to be building nuclear warheads there.

Meanwhile, Cartman starts channeling Kenny, while the adults try to tell the boys to get back to their lives. When the boys express their urgency to see Kenny, the adults inform them about Kenny's cremation. When they try to show Kenny's ashes, they discover that it has been replaced by kitty litter. Cartman then admits that he drank Kenny's ashes, to the disgust of the others. Now realizing why he has been channeling Kenny, Cartman goes to an abortion clinic in an attempt to get rid of Kenny from his body. His subsequent argument with the nurse there causes a woman to reconsider her own abortion. Cartman ends up getting hit by the woman's boyfriend and remembers where the ticket is. The boys lose interest in the ladder after they get the ticket and their confectionery.

Meanwhile, it is announced via television that the Japanese have reached heaven, and although the "heaven" depicted is obviously set in a studio, this convinces the adults that heaven is real. They continue building the ladder and preparing an attack on heaven when they spot the boys. They are disappointed to find out the boys were "only interested in candy", to which Cartman replies, "I've never heard the word 'only' and 'candy' in the same sentence before."

The boys explain that heaven is not some white fluffy place. In fact, Kyle adds, "Maybe heaven is this moment right now." The general responds by ordering his subordinate to hold off on firing on heaven, and instead he issues an order to "Fire on this moment right now." Before he does, Randy Marsh stops him and says, "Instead of waiting to get into heaven, we should be trying to create heaven here on Earth." The crowd sighs in acknowledgment of this pithy truth and disperses. As the boys are about to go home to enjoy their confectionery, Kenny starts speaking through Cartman.

The episode ends with a shot of heaven, where Saddam Hussein is in fact building a WMD factory, disguised as "Saddam's Heavenly Chocolate Chip Factory". When God suspects this, Hussein uses reverse psychology by saying, "Look God, if I was building a chemical weapons plant, I wouldn't make it look like a chemical weapons plant, would I? No! I would make it look like a chocolate chip factory or something," which God promptly falls for. Saddam exits laughing as he mutters "stupid asshole".

Lyrics to Ladder to Heaven
Throughout the episode, changes to the song are made when certain things happen. When it is first sung, the lyrics are:

Where were you when they built the ladder to heaven?

Did it make you feel like cryin’

Or did you think it was kinda gay?

Well I, for one, believe in the ladder to heaven.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah... 9/11.

I said 9/11, 9/11, 9/11, Ni-hi, hi-hine...

Eleven...

Trivia

 * This is the second episode that was not aired in Japan. The first was Chinpokomon.
 * Kyle is also said to be a diabetic, still he buys loads of candy.
 * The McCormick's have a robot guard even though they are poor (Could be money from life insurance but that's doubtful or just a joke).
 * In Cartman/Kenny's flashbacks everyone speaks the echos.
 * When President Bush was talking about Saddam Hussein plan he said the side plot of Do the Handicapped Go to Hell and Probably.

Goofs

 * Kyle's last name is misspelled in this episode.
 * In "Clubhouses", Stan builds a treehouse on his house's backyard. This treehouse is seen again in "Spookyfish." But, this episode shows Stan's backyard empty. The same error was made in "Quintuplets 2000."

Quotes
Kyle: Dude, what the hell's wrong with you?!

Cartman: I don't know. It's like my brain just keeps... jacking off.

Kyle: Maybe you got brain cancer.

Cartman: Do you think?

Stan: Don't get cancer on the ladder, Cartman. You're gonna fall off and break it.

Stan: Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?!

Cartman: I dunno, I just, I keep feeling like I'm Kenny. Seeing memories through his eyes.

Kyle: You're too fat to be Kenny.

Cartman: (Thoughtfully) You're... a stupid Jew...

Bush: Our intelligence tells us that when Saddam was originally killed, his soul actually went to hell. But while in hell he began a homosexual relationship with Satan, the Prince of Darkness. Satan, however, decided he didn't want to be with Hussein anymore and broke up with him about August. When Saddam became jealous and tried to kill Satan's new lover, Chris, Satan had Saddam sent to heaven to live with Mormons as a punishment. [silence] Question? [An ambassador raises his hand] Yes?

Unknown Ambassador: Are you high, or just incredibly stupid?

Bush: I assure you, I am not high.