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| Prev = [[Probably]]
 
| Prev = [[Probably]]
 
| Next = [[Trapper Keeper]]
 
| Next = [[Trapper Keeper]]
| Episode list = #"[[The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000]]"
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| Episode list = }}
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{{Featured Winner|May 2007}}
#"[[Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000]]"
 
#"[[Timmy 2000]]"
 
#"[[Quintuplets 2000]]"
 
#"[[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]"
 
#"[[Cherokee Hair Tampons]]"
 
#"[[Chef Goes Nanners]]"
 
#"[[Something You Can Do with Your Finger]]"
 
#"[[Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?]]"
 
#"[[Probably]]"
 
#"Fourth Grade"
 
#"[[Trapper Keeper]]"
 
#"[[Helen Keller! The Musical]]"
 
#"[[Pip]]"
 
#"[[Fat Camp]]"
 
#"[[The Wacky Molestation Adventure]]"
 
#"[[A Very Crappy Christmas]]"}}
 
 
:''This article is about the episode. For the 4th grade class, please see [[The 4th Grade|the 4th grade]].''
 
:''This article is about the episode. For the 4th grade class, please see [[The 4th Grade|the 4th grade]].''
"'''Fourth Grade'''" is the eleventh episode of [[Season Four]], and the 59th overall episode of ''South Park''. It aired on November 8, 2000<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s04e12-fourth-grade|title=Fourth Grade (Season 4, Episode 12) - Episode Guide|publisher=southparkstudios.com}}</ref>.
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'''"Fourth Grade"''' is the eleventh episode of [[Season Four]], and the 59th overall episode of ''[[South Park]]''. It aired on November 8, 2000.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/episodes/s04e12-fourth-grade|title=Fourth Grade (Season 4, Episode 12) - Episode Guide|publisher=southparkstudios.com}}</ref>
  +
{{spoiler}}
 
 
==Synopsis==
 
==Synopsis==
  +
[[The Boys|The boys]] deal with a strict [[Diane Choksondik|new teacher]] and experiment with time travel as[[ Mr. Garrison]] comes to terms with his sexuality.
The episode covers [[The Boys|the boys]]' first day of fourth grade. The three previous seasons of the program featured the main characters in the 3rd grade with [[Herbert Garrison|Mr. Garrison]] in the role of teacher. This grade-change plot device allowed the writers to introduce a new teacher, [[Diane Choksondik|Ms. Choksondik]], and also make a new opening sequence in which the show was said to be "Faster", have "more explosions" and that "You love it".
 
   
 
   
 
==Plot==
 
==Plot==
  +
{{spoiler}}This episode marked the boys' move into the [[Wikipedia:Fourth grade|fourth grade]]. Not knowing their new teacher (aside from the fact that it's a woman from Denver), the boys plan to exert dominance over the teacher. Before the beginning of class, [[Stan Marsh|Stan]] comes up with an idea: at 8:35am, everyone jumps up on their desks, pull down their pants, and shout, "Kiss my ass!" After meeting their new teacher, Ms. Choksondik, she explains that fourth grade will be different and the children are all very frightened. [[Eric Cartman|Cartman]] alone stands up and pulls down his pants, very annoyed no one else followed the plan. Ms. Choksondik is depicted as a middle-aged woman with disgustingly saggy, pendulous breasts that she neither notices nor is ashamed of. In an ironic twist, none of the children notice her obscene-sounding name (which is pronounced like "[[Wikipedia:Fellatio|chokes on dick]]"); instead, they come up with their own insulting nicknames (such as "makes me sick"). Cartman eventually makes the children realize that they took the ease of the 3rd grade for granted and do not want to go through a whole year in 4th grade. They seek help from two scientific [[Wikipedia:Trekkie|Trekkies]] and ask them to create a [[Wikipedia:Time travel|time machine]] so they can return to the 3rd grade. The ''[[Wikipedia:Star Trek|Star Trek]]'' fans then construct the device using Timmy's [[Wikipedia:Wheelchair|wheelchair]].
School's back, and the class is now in fourth grade. [[The Boys|The boys]] figure that it won't be too hard, considering that third grade was a cakewalk, and that their teacher is a woman fresh from [[Denver, Colorado|Denver]], so she should be easy to intimidate. Unfortunately they - and the rest of the class, with the possible exception of [[Eric Cartman|Cartman]] - quickly realize that their teacher, [[Diane Choksondik|Ms. Choksondik]], isn't as tolerant or patient as [[Herbert Garrison|Mr. Garrison]] was (although [[Kenny McCormick|Kenny]]'s first observation is that "her titties are fucking huge"). She rules with an iron fist, and everyone starts to wish that they could return to third grade - Cartman even sings a musical number ([[Third Grade Memories]]), reducing [[Clyde Donovan|Clyde]] to tears. Everyone decides to time travel back in time to third grade.
 
 
They enlist two [[Star Trek Nerds]], who constantly debate hypothetical things, such as the merits of the two theories of time travel from Star Trek and whether the original series of Trek had 72 or 73 episodes. They are initially reluctant on the basis that the kids may very well not make it back, but they agree to help when [[Stan Marsh|Stan]] tells them that they aren't planning on a return journey. Work begins on constructing a time machine out of [[Timmy Burch|Timmy]]'s wheelchair.
 
 
[[Principal Victoria]], [[Jerome "Chef" McElroy|Chef]] and [[Mr. Mackey]] meet in the office, since the Principal is being driven insane by Choksondik - partly due to her not wearing a bra, which Chef sees no problem with - until Choksondik walks in to discuss the fourth graders - she considers them to be among the worst she has ever taught. The Principal says that they did fairly well in third grade - then lets slip that she doesn't actually know which one is mentally handicapped. Choksondik asks to talk to their third grade teacher - however, nobody likes to talk about what happened to Garrison since he was fired. Choksondik leaves - and Chef spews a little.
 
 
The nerds follow the fourth graders into school the next day to test the time travel device. Only [[Wendy Testaburger|Wendy]] is skeptical about it. The nerds say that the wormhole created by the device will cut through space-time by one year, leaving the kids at the beginning of third grade. Choksondik walks in, and Cartman announces that they have alternative plans to passing their homework forward (which they didn't do anyway). The time travel machine is powered up, and while sufficient speed is reached, Timmy ends up breaking through the wall at the front of the class. The nerds admit they didn't think it would actually work, and everyone (much to Choksondik's dismay) heads out to help Timmy, whose wheelchair is packed with hi-tech stuff.
 
 
The boys catch up with Timmy and yell at him to stop - the nerds then tell him not to, on the basis that an instability in the magnetic field could cause the chair to blow up. Neither can Timmy dismount the wheelchair - if his speed drops below 5 mph or he gets off, the chair blows up. A SWAT rescue attempt begins, but the chair's battery has only 20 minutes of juice left in it.
 
 
Choksondik returns to the Principal, demanding to speak to Mr. Garrison. The Principal, Mackey and Chef admit that Garrison had a nervous breakdown after his romance novels were nominated for gay book awards, and retreated to the mountains. Choksondik vows to find him.
 
 
The SWAT team enlist Kenny to help with the rescue - they put him on a trolley which is sent down the road, despite Kenny not actually knowing what he was doing or being ready. After saying "hi" to the other boys, the trolley catches on a manhole and flips, with Kenny being face down on the asphalt. The cable that attaches him to the SWAT truck then drags him along the road, grinding his body against the road. Coming to a stop in front of the others half-liquefied, Stan says "Well, who didn't see that coming?" The helicopter crew fail to defuse the device, but instead of blowing up, Timmy actually does manage time travel - much to the nerds' amazement.
 
 
Choksondik tracks Garrison (and [[Mr. Hat]]) to a cave on top of a mountain, who has gone paranoid that people are accusing him of homosexuality. Choksondik explains that she needs his help to learn how to deal with the fourth graders. Garrison is initially reluctant, but eventually does so - for $200.
 
 
Stan asks the nerds to build a second time machine but, since one moved out after a fight over how many episodes of Star Trek there were, it is impossible. Stan comments angrily on leaving that Timmy is probably living it out in third grade right now (he is in fact in dinosaur times). They track down the other nerd who refuses to live in a world of 72 Star Treks and slams the door in their faces ([[Butters Stotch|Butters]] then points out that the two parter episode, "The Menagerie", was originally a single episode anyway, so there were 72 episodes). Stan manages to convince the nerd by saying he could travel back through time to ask the creators of Star Trek how many episodes there were.
 
   
  +
Meanwhile, it is revealed that the teachers do not like Ms. Choksondik any more than the students do, especially as when she lifts her arms up, a small section of her breasts come into view, which Chef finds freaky. Ms. Choksondik reports to Principal Victoria, Mr. Mackey and Chef that she is unable to teach the children in her class and attempts to speak to Mr. Garrison (who was fired after "[[Cartman Joins NAMBLA]]" after he was accused of trying to solicit sex from Cartman), but she is unable to get any information. The next day in class, the children begin their plan of traveling back to 3rd grade. However, the plan backfires and instead of creating a portal back in time, Timmy is driven through the classroom wall in his uncontrollable wheelchair. He is unable to stop the wheelchair as it would explode if he slows down or if he gets off (a reference to the film [[Wikipedia:Speed (1994 film)|Speed]]), because of the materials used to convert it to a "time-travel" device. Kenny is dragged to death in an attempt to disarm the device, after which Stan replies "Well who didn't see that coming?" (this is one of the few episodes were Kenny's death gag is referenced by one of the characters). Eventually, a portal does open and Timmy is thrown into the [[Wikipedia:Prehistory|pre-historic]] past.
Garrison's training of Choksondik progresses, including teaching her to take up the kids on offers suck as "Suck my balls!" in order to defeat them, since they would not actually present them. He eventually takes Choksondik to the "Tree of Insight", where Choksondik expects to have to face her personal demons. Inside, though, there is nothing, and she realises that she alone can fight the kids. She leaves through a back door. Garrison follows her in, since she was taking so long, and ends up facing his gay side. The gay side of Garrison convinces the "real" Garrison to admit that he is gay - who instantly feels better and willing to return to society.
 
   
  +
Ms. Choksondik goes on a journey to find Mr. Garrison in order to learn how he dealt with the class, who has gone into a self-imposed exile in the mountains after [[Cherokee Hair Tampons|his romance novel]] won the Gay Pulitzer Prize award. Mr. Garrison agrees to help her, and shows her how he does it. Eventually, he then comes to the realization that he needs to admit and confront his "gay side" (in a parody of [[Luke Skywalker]] confronting his dark-side in [[Wikipedia:The Empire Strikes Back|The Empire Strikes Back]]). The children try to convince the two Star Trek geeks to build another time machine but they refuse to work together because of a disagreement over how many [[Wikipedia:List of Star Trek: The Original Series episodes|original Star Trek episodes]] were made.
Choksondik returns to class, where the Mark 2 time machine has been built - this time involving a duck that is duct-taped to a microwave oven. Cartman announces it again and - due to the nerds getting into another argument, this time about Battlestar Galactica - a time rift opens. Cartman, before entering, tells Choksondik to suck his balls. Choksondik tells him to whip them out. Stan realises that this is what Garrison would have said, and Choksondik convinces everyone to stay in fourth grade on the basis that there is always something up ahead - the students agree with this, and Kyle makes them realize that third grade wasn't really all that great, and everyone gets mad at Cartman for making them think otherwise. Timmy reappears in the time rift with an admiral hat, a robotic arm, a spiked mace and an Enola Gay bumper sticker, among other things, after travelling all through time.
 
   
  +
In the end, Ms. Choksondik uses Garrison's methods to gain the class' attention, explaining how pointless it is to go back in time to relive the good moments as there many new challenges to face with in life. Realizing that Ms. Choksondik is right, they also realize that 3rd-grade was never as great as they remembered it to be, and get mad at Cartman for making them think 3rd-grade was so great. They decided to accept the 4th grade as it should be, much to Ms. Choksondik's relief. Timmy comes back with "souvenirs" from the eras he had visited. Mr. Garrison openly admits his homosexuality to [[Principal Victoria]], [[Jerome "Chef" McElroy|Chef]], and [[Mr. Mackey]], and asks for his job back. They reply with "I'm sorry, [[Wikipedia:Employment discrimination|we don't hire gay people]]," and laugh derisively.
Garrison reappears in the Principal's office, openly admitting that he's gay. He asks for his old third grade teacher job back, but the Principal says that they don't hire gays - much to Garrison's annoyance, Chef and Mackey laugh at the joke.
 
   
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Reflist}}
 
{{Episodemedia04|episode=11}}
 
{{Episodemedia04|episode=11}}
  +
[[es:Cuarto Grado (episodio)]]
  +
[[it:Ebbene sì, sono gay!]]
  +
[[zh:升上四年级]]
 
[[Category:Season 4|412]]
 
[[Category:Season 4|412]]
 
[[Category:Episodes]]
 
[[Category:Episodes]]
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Mr. Garrison]]
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Mr. Garrison]]
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Ms. Choksondik]]
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Ms. Choksondik]]
[[Category:Notable Episodes]]
 
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Timmy]]
 
[[Category:Episodes focusing on Timmy]]
[[Category:Dramatic episodes]]
 
 
[[Category:Episodes Involving Homosexuality]]
 
[[Category:Episodes Involving Homosexuality]]
[[Category:Schools]]
+
[[Category:Episodes Written by Trey Parker]]
  +
[[Category:Episodes Directed by Trey Parker]]

Revision as of 21:10, 22 November 2019


Probably "Probably" "Fourth Grade" "Trapper Keeper" Trapper Keeper
"Fourth Grade"
2382615145 ab6347760c
FourthGrade04
"Welcome to the fourth grade."
Episode no. Season 4
Episode 11
Production no. 412
Original airdate November 8, 2000
Episode chronology
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"Probably" "Trapper Keeper"
List of all South Park episodes
May 2007 Featured Article Winner
This article is about the episode. For the 4th grade class, please see the 4th grade.

"Fourth Grade" is the eleventh episode of Season Four, and the 59th overall episode of South Park. It aired on November 8, 2000.[1]

Synopsis

The boys deal with a strict new teacher and experiment with time travel asMr. Garrison comes to terms with his sexuality.

Plot

SPW pic -- Spoiler Spoiler warning!
Plot details follow.

This episode marked the boys' move into the fourth grade. Not knowing their new teacher (aside from the fact that it's a woman from Denver), the boys plan to exert dominance over the teacher. Before the beginning of class, Stan comes up with an idea: at 8:35am, everyone jumps up on their desks, pull down their pants, and shout, "Kiss my ass!" After meeting their new teacher, Ms. Choksondik, she explains that fourth grade will be different and the children are all very frightened. Cartman alone stands up and pulls down his pants, very annoyed no one else followed the plan. Ms. Choksondik is depicted as a middle-aged woman with disgustingly saggy, pendulous breasts that she neither notices nor is ashamed of. In an ironic twist, none of the children notice her obscene-sounding name (which is pronounced like "chokes on dick"); instead, they come up with their own insulting nicknames (such as "makes me sick"). Cartman eventually makes the children realize that they took the ease of the 3rd grade for granted and do not want to go through a whole year in 4th grade. They seek help from two scientific Trekkies and ask them to create a time machine so they can return to the 3rd grade. The Star Trek fans then construct the device using Timmy's wheelchair.

Meanwhile, it is revealed that the teachers do not like Ms. Choksondik any more than the students do, especially as when she lifts her arms up, a small section of her breasts come into view, which Chef finds freaky. Ms. Choksondik reports to Principal Victoria, Mr. Mackey and Chef that she is unable to teach the children in her class and attempts to speak to Mr. Garrison (who was fired after "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" after he was accused of trying to solicit sex from Cartman), but she is unable to get any information. The next day in class, the children begin their plan of traveling back to 3rd grade. However, the plan backfires and instead of creating a portal back in time, Timmy is driven through the classroom wall in his uncontrollable wheelchair. He is unable to stop the wheelchair as it would explode if he slows down or if he gets off (a reference to the film Speed), because of the materials used to convert it to a "time-travel" device. Kenny is dragged to death in an attempt to disarm the device, after which Stan replies "Well who didn't see that coming?" (this is one of the few episodes were Kenny's death gag is referenced by one of the characters). Eventually, a portal does open and Timmy is thrown into the pre-historic past.

Ms. Choksondik goes on a journey to find Mr. Garrison in order to learn how he dealt with the class, who has gone into a self-imposed exile in the mountains after his romance novel won the Gay Pulitzer Prize award. Mr. Garrison agrees to help her, and shows her how he does it. Eventually, he then comes to the realization that he needs to admit and confront his "gay side" (in a parody of Luke Skywalker confronting his dark-side in The Empire Strikes Back). The children try to convince the two Star Trek geeks to build another time machine but they refuse to work together because of a disagreement over how many original Star Trek episodes were made.

In the end, Ms. Choksondik uses Garrison's methods to gain the class' attention, explaining how pointless it is to go back in time to relive the good moments as there many new challenges to face with in life. Realizing that Ms. Choksondik is right, they also realize that 3rd-grade was never as great as they remembered it to be, and get mad at Cartman for making them think 3rd-grade was so great. They decided to accept the 4th grade as it should be, much to Ms. Choksondik's relief. Timmy comes back with "souvenirs" from the eras he had visited. Mr. Garrison openly admits his homosexuality to Principal Victoria, Chef, and Mr. Mackey, and asks for his job back. They reply with "I'm sorry, we don't hire gay people," and laugh derisively.

References


  412: "Fourth Grade" edit
Story Elements

Ms. ChoksondikStar Trek Nerds • "Third Grade Memories"

Media

ImagesScriptExtrasWatch Episode

Release

South Park: The Complete Fourth Season