Pajama Day

"Pajama Day"
Episode no.	Season 25; Episode 01
Production no.	2501
Original airdate	February 2, 2022
Episode chronology
"South ParQ Vaccination Special"	"The Big Fix"
	List of all South Park episodes

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"South ParQ Vaccination Special"

"Pajama Day"

"The Big Fix"

"Pajama Day" is the first episode of Season Twenty-Five, and the 310th overall episode of South Park. It aired on February 2, 2022.^[1]

Synopsis

After failing to show respect for their teacher, PC Principal revokes Pajama Day privileges for the entire 4th grade class. Cartman is distraught. The kids aren't going to stand for it but PC Principal refuses to back down.^[1]

Plot

Spoiler warning!
Plot details follow.

After a break from school, Mr. Garrison's students return for class. Garrison is in an unusually good mood as he describes having met a new boyfriend over the break, Rick, whom he compares favorably to a previous boyfriend, Marcus. The kids offer no response when Garrison tells the story or when he brings Rick inside to meet the class. Rick feels uncomfortable and leaves, but Garrison's joy is interrupted when Marcus calls asking where he is. When he prompts the class to tell Marcus he is with them, the kids say nothing, and Garrison becomes upset, blaming them for not listening. PC Principal overhears and steps in, hearing that they are not behaving, and threatens the class that they will not be able to participate in Pajama Day that Friday. The kids are furious, with the boys protesting amongst themselves that they did nothing to deserve this, lead by Eric Cartman. Wendy Testaburger, Heather Williams, and Millie Larsen, meanwhile, visit PC Principal's office hoping he will change his mind. He explains that in order to maintain order he must stick to his decision. As they leave, Heather declares he is a 'f*****' and compares the decision to 'N*** Germany'. Mr. Mackey advises PC Principal to quit while he is ahead, comparing Pajama Day to the Met Gala for children, and expresses that this will not go how the Principal hopes it will.

That night, Cartman has a nightmare in which photographers are present as the other children show up in extravagant pajamas, but he is laughed at for not having any. His mother rushes in to comfort him and he insists he died in the dream as a result, so she calls the school to complain about the situation, repeating exactly what Cartman says including telling the Principal to go fuck himself. Bill Keegan reports for KCBR5, comparing the situation to N*** Germany, speaking in German, and explaining that the parents of the town are now working in pajamas to show solidarity with the children, and it is soon shown that most of the adults in town and wearing their pajamas. As a result of the bad press, PC Principal speaks to Wendy privately in the gym, and implores her to get the boys and girls work together and convince Garrison to ask him to reinstate Pajama Day, so that he can reverse it without looking weak. She convinces Cartman to call a meeting of boys and girls in his basement to get the decision reversed and, in spite of their ongoing conflict, suggests they work together. Butters Stotch suggests shooting up the school, Craig Tucker suggests burning down the cafeteria, and Jimmy Valmer suggests using excrement, but Wendy suggests they apologize to Garrison and blame themselves. Cartman is convinced this may work, seeing it as an act of blatant manipulation. Cartman reminds that they should not be too brave in this act or else Matt Damon would take all of their money, but Craig gets annoyed and asserts that the Matt Damon jokes are getting old. Keegan appears in another news report, continuing to compare the town to N*** Germany and reporting about people being asked to stop making Matt Damon jokes.

At the South Park Realtors office, the realtors are all expressing how happy they are that wearing their pajamas shows they care about the kids and other people, when an employee named Mike joins them, not dressed in pajamas and explains he did not wish to do so in the rain and slush, leading his coworkers to advise him to wear it, with some being gentle and others being harsh and insulting. The town becomes more divided, as a customer is refused into IHOP for refusing to wear his pajamas, and is soon arrested by the police and begins protesting in German. Harrison Yates expresses displeasure at how many arrests he is seeing for pajama-related crimes when he is summoned to Brighton Street for a domestic dispute. Mr. Billings wants to go to bed in his normal clothes even though it is bedtime, instead of wearing his pajamas, and his wife refuses to go to bed with him. Despite his efforts to calm the situation, Yates has the woman arrested and expresses concern the town is a powder keg waiting to go off.

At the school, the kids intend to apologize to Garrison, but he launches into a long, romantic description of a conversation between him and Rick, where Rick comforted him over the situation with Marcus and made him feel secure, but Garrison becomes extremely upset when Butters falls asleep and finds none of the students can remember his story. Garrison is angrily expressing that none of them know the answers when PC Principal appears again, and they realize they have messed up.

The next morning, Keegan reports from the school entirely in German wearing a full N***** uniform, making some of the children uncomfortable as they arrive for Pajama Day. Gunshots and screaming are heard as PC Principal stresses in his office, meeting again with Wendy. He discusses the word 'principle' and how he was motivated to become a principal because the word principle relates to a fundamental truth and doing what is right. Admitting defeat, he suggests he will submit his resignation and let the kids wear their pajamas. Wendy urges him that people will not lose respect for him for changing his mind and he can admit he has done the wrong thing, pointing out they still have Opposite Day coming ahead in March. PC Principal realizes he has a way out, and declares on the loudspeaker that it is Opposite Day, not Pajama Day, blaming Mr. Mackey for a mix-up and opening the door for kids to do the opposite of what they have been told and wear their pajamas. The fourth grade class is seen celebrating and wearing their pajamas again, happy, as well as Garrison and Rick in the classroom.

The rest of the town returns to normal as one of the realtors lets their head, Frank, know they need to switch to their normal clothes since it's the 'opposite' of the pajamas they usually wear, and Yates begins allowing people out of their cells at the Park County Police Station, to which many express confusion what to wear. Yates advises they can wear whatever they want, as long as it covers their "dick and tits", to which one of the freed townspeople protests otherwise.

Continuity

Heather Williams gets her first appearance in the series since South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid.
Cartman references the Gender War from Season Twenty when he notes that the boys and girls "have been at war for too long". This statement also reveals that it is not over, which is shown as the girls are visibly annoyed at Cartman's suggestion of working together.
Kip Drordy returns after his appearance in "Butterballs" in Season Sixteen.
The budtenders of the Medicinal Fried Chicken store in South Park: The Fractured But Whole are seen among the onlookers outside the Billings residence, with one of them making his first appearance in the series.
The Fortune Favors the Brave ad for Crypto.com alongside the poor investments from the townsfolk in cryptocurrency is a continuation from South Park: Post Covid.
The man denied entry to the restaurant appears to be referencing face masks in his remarks about the redundance of wearing pajamas to the table then taking them off at the table. This follows the themes of Season Twenty-Four, South Park: Post Covid, and South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.