South Park Archives

South Park (Not Suitable For Children) is now streaming on Paramount Plus!

READ MORE

South Park Archives
Register
Advertisement

Purgatory is the place where a dead person goes after they die if they don't accept their death. It is first referred to as the "Plains of Limbo" in the Season Nine episode, "Best Friends Forever", when the angel Peter reports that Satan's army has been seen crossing them. It makes its first proper appearance in the Season Thirteen episode, "Dead Celebrities", with the celebrities who died in 2009 stuck in purgatory because Michael Jackson would not admit he was dead.

Background[]

In "Dead Celebrities", purgatory is presented as several rows of airplane seats, minus the plane itself. It has attendants, an intercom system, and a portal to the cockpit. Purgatory requires everyone currently residing in it to accept their death before all passengers can go to the afterlife. If even one person does not accept that they are dead, then they can never leave, have anything to eat or drink, or even get out of their seats to go to the bathroom, similar to how everyone must remain seated on a plane until at a certain altitude. Souls can only leave when they are summoned to the world of the living.

Celebrities[]

  • Ricardo Montalban - January 14, 2009, died at age 88 from congestive heart failure.
  • Ron Silver - March 15, 2009, died at age 62 from esophageal cancer diagnosed two years prior.
  • Natasha Richardson - March 18, 2009, died from epidural hematoma at age 45 as a result of a head injury sustained during a beginner skiing lesson two days prior.
  • Marilyn Chambers - April 12, 2009, found dead in her home at age 56, from what was revealed from an autopsy to be a cerebral hemorrhage caused by heart disease induced aneurysm.
  • Bea Arthur - April 25, 2009, died of lung cancer in her home at age 86.
  • Dom DeLuise - May 4, 2009, died of kidney failure at age 75, as he was battling cancer for over a year prior to his death.
  • David Carradine - June 3, 2009, found dead at age 72 in the closet of a hotel room, hanging from a rope naked, it was first speculated that the death was suicide, until an autopsy concluded the death as being a result of auto erotic asphyxiation.
  • Ed McMahon - June 23, 2009, died of natural causes at age 86.
  • Farrah Fawcett - June 25, 2009, died at age 62 from anal cancer at Saint John's Health Center.
  • Michael Jackson - June 25, 2009, died at age 50 from cardiac arrest caused by a propofol and benzodiazepine overdose.
  • Billy Mays - June 28, 2009, died in his sleep, being pronounced dead in the morning after, with an autopsy concluding the hypertensive heart disease he had was likely the cause of his death.
  • Steve McNair - July 4, 2009, murdered at age 36 by being shot twice in the body and head, with his murderer, Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi, committing suicide by shooting herself in the temple after killing him.
  • Arturo Gatti - July 11, 2009, found dead in his hotel room at age 37, according to his wife, a strap from her bag was used by Gatti to hang himself, his death was initially ruled as a homicide due to the events surrounding him and people he knew at the time, before an autopsy confirmed it to be suicide.
  • Walter Cronkite - July 17, 2009, died in his home at age 92, with his death mainly believed as being cerebrovascular disease.
  • John Hughes - August 6, 2009, died from a fatal heart attack that happened while he was casually strolling New York at age 59.
  • Les Paul - August 12, 2009, died from complications from pneumonia at age 94.
  • Ted Kennedy - August 25, 2009, died from brain cancer at age 77 after being diagnosed with it fifteen months before.
  • DJ AM - August 28, 2009, found dead at age 36 in his apartment with drugs found nearby, with his death being determined as "acute intoxication" from an overdosage of cocaine and other drugs.
  • Henry Gibson - September 14, 2009, died of cancer in his home at age 73, a week before his 74th birthday.
  • Patrick Swayze - September 14, 2009, died of pneumonia at age 57, after being diagnosed with it months prior.
Advertisement