Best Friends Forever/Trivia

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"Best Friends Forever/Trivia"

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This page contains trivia for "Best Friends Forever". Remember, trivia must be factual, provable, and it is always best to cite your source for not-so-obvious trivia. If you would like to dispute a trivia point, please discuss it in the talk page.

Trivia

• This is the one of the few times where Kenny's death is marked as being important. Other times include "Kenny Dies", "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut", "Cartmanland" and South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
• God does not make an appearance in this episode.
• According to the audio commentary, this episode was a late change from the idea of the episode "The Losing Edge" after the food tube was pulled from Terri Schiavo, a well-covered news story at that time.
  • Further, her death prevented the team from being able to make a second part, which had been planned.
  • As commented by Matt Stone, the joke of having an unseen battle caused a big debate amongst the writing team as to whether it would be funny or not. It was decided that the joke should go ahead, saving any complicated animation from being needed.
• Kenny gets a Sony PSP in this episode, despite him being poor. This could be because he won the $523,000 lawsuit in "Cartmanland" or a no payment for two years deal, as Cartman mentioned in "Poor and Stupid".
• George Bush appears in this episode. Other appearances include "Cartoon Wars Part I", "The Snuke", and "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce".
• Satan temporarily goes back to his evil ways when he invades Heaven with his army.
• Starting with this episode, Satan was given an updated look.
• Just after Kenny dies after getting hit by a truck, the scene where he flies up through space into heaven is similar to when he died in the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
• Among the people in line for the PSP are Kenny, the Goth Kids, Heidi Turner, Craig Tucker, Kevin Stoley, Annie Faulk, Bill Allen, and some of the 6th graders.
• This is one of the few times Kenny dies more than once. Other times include "Pinkeye", "Summer Sucks" and "Coon vs. Coon & Friends".

References to Popular Culture

• The subplot of Kenny being in a vegetative state, the fighting of opposing parties over the right to die, and his ultimate death are a reference to the real-world circumstances surrounding the vegetative state of Terri Schiavo. This episode aired hours before her death.
• There are multiple Lord of the Rings movie trilogy references in the episode, including:
  • The orb used by Satan is a reference to the palantír held by Saruman.
  • Satan's minions are heavily reminiscent of the Orcs and Uruk-hai from the films.
  • The gates of Heaven mimic Minas Tirith.
  • The council of the Angels is a reference to the Council of Elrond.
  • The opening shot of the army of Hell is very similar to those of the army of Isengard in their preparations to attack Helm's Deep.
  • During his description of the battle, Archangel Michael comments that the battle is "ten times bigger than the one in The Lord of the Rings movie", referring to the massive CGI battles in the film trilogy.
  • 
    Satan's adviser Kevin is an obvious reference to Theoden's adviser Gríma Wormtongue. He also resembles many other stereotypically "evil" hooded characters, such as Sidious/Palpatine from the Star Wars series, General Klytus from the 1980 film Flash Gordon, the Devil in the Mel Gibson-directed film The Passion of The Christ, and Desaad, Darkseid's advisor.
• There are many references to Monty Python and the Holy Grail in the episode. When Kenny is at the gate of Heaven, a Pythonesque "Open the gate!" is heard - this is also said by King Arthur in the film. Moreover, Heaven's army celebrates winning the war by cheering in a manner not unlike the similar moment of "much rejoicing" in the film's animation segments of Terry Gilliam.
• The references to Keanu Reeves throughout the episode are based on Reeves' regular appearances as "savior" characters upon whom the triumph of good over evil depends, in films like The Matrix, Constantine, and The Devil's Advocate. The greatest similarity to Keanu Reeves is in "Little Buddha", when Keanu Reeves plays the role of Lord Buddha and alone beats all the entire evil army of Mara, the Buddhist Lord of Evil.
• This is the second and final time Kenny is killed in this season. The first was in the episode that aired right before this, Wing.
• While the catchphrase "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards!" is not uttered in its entirety during the episode, although it is referenced twice: Once during the protests, Kyle leads the protesters by yelling, "Don't kill Kenny!" with the crowd responding, "You Bastards!" After removing the feeding tube which leads to Kenny's final death (so far) and return to heaven, Archangel Michael happily observes, "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!"
• Heaven recruiting its ultimate hero through a video game is a reference to the film The Last Starfighter, wherein a young man is chosen to defend an alien race based on his skills at an arcade game that the aliens placed on earth to test humans.
• Moses' role as Mission Control is similar to Zordon in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers.

Continuity

• This is Satan's first appearance in 5 seasons. His previous last appearance was in "Probably" (although he was mentioned in "A Ladder to Heaven").

Goofs

• At the beginning of the episode, the line for the PSPs extends far down the street - Annie Faulk can be seen in the middle of the queue. After being told to go to the back, Cartman gets in queue, where Annie is now at the back rather than in the middle.
• Also in the queue, the same parent - a brown haired woman in a black jacket and jeans - can be seen twice at one point.
• Colorado is misspelled as "Colorodo" on the Courthouse at the beginning of the scene in which Cartman goes to court. 

Kenny's Death

• Kenny dies twice in this episode. First after being struck down by a car, he is killed. However, the doctors then save his body, although he is brain-dead. The feeding tube that keeps Kenny alive is then removed, killing him again.