The Magic Bush

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"Handicar"

"The Magic Bush"

"Freemium Isn't Free"

"The Magic Bush"
Episode no.	Season 18 Episode 5
Original airdate	October 29, 2014
Episode chronology Previous Next "Handicar" "Freemium Isn't Free"
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"The Magic Bush" is the fifth episode of Season Eighteen, and the 252nd overall episode of South Park. It aired on October 29, 2014.

Synopsis

Cartman and Butters get their hands on a drone and can’t resist the urge to take it for a spin around the neighborhood.

Plot

Spoiler warning! Plot details follow.

The episode begins with Cartman being incredibly bored and coming to Butters' house to find solace. At first, Butters doesn't help but then he mentions his father's drone. Cartman immediately tries to convince Butters to fly the drone but Butters insists on not flying it. Despite this, Cartman takes the drone and tells Butters to meet him after dark at his house.

That night, Butters meets with Cartman, who has already told Kenny about it. They begin to spy on the Tucker Residence, and find Craig Tucker's mother undressing. They see her completely nude, with Cartman commenting on her abundance of pubic hair. Suddenly, Thomas Tucker, Craig's father, notices the drone.

He quickly comes over to the Stotch Residence and starts yelling at Stephen Stotch. Stephen swears that his drone was not spying on Laura undressing and shows Thomas that his drone is in his garage. Thomas doesn't believe him but ultimately leaves. Stephen begins to become unsettled by the drone. He goes up to Butters' room. Butters is trying desperately to catch his breath, but Stephen pays no attention to it. He asks Butters if he heard the drone but Butters denies it.

The next day, at the Bus Stop, Cartman tells Kenny not to tell Stan Marsh and Kyle Broflovski about the drone or Craig's mom. Kenny obliges but Cartman almost immediately asks them if they want to see Craig's mom's "bush." Kyle is disgusted by the violation of privacy. Stan however is skeptical as to why Cartman has it on his phone, but he lies and said he downloaded it, forcing him to put it online.

At South Park Elementary, Butters confronts Cartman in the bathroom about the video and Cartman reassures him. After they leave, Kyle comes out of the stall.

Meanwhile, the Neighborhood Watch conducts a meeting about the drone. They decide to use drones in order to keep watch over the neighborhood.

The next day, Kyle confronts Cartman and Kenny about how they caused all of the trouble. Cartman uses his backwards logic in order to put Kyle in the wrong for spying on Cartman and Butters.

At The Hobby Enthusiast, Stephen and Butters attempt to return their drone. Stephen explains that the drone is acting weird and flying on its own. The store owner immediately suspects Butters but Stephen is convinced Butters wouldn't fly the drone without his supervision.

The Tuckers go to the Park County Police Station for help with the Neighborhood Watch.

That night, Randy Marsh is controlling a Neighborhood Watch drone and is shot down by a police drone after spying on Peter Nelson having sex with his wife.

A day later, the neighborhood watch drones hold a candlelight vigil for the fallen drone but the police drones attempt to stop them due to the candles being a fire hazard.

Meanwhile, at the Marsh Residence, Stephen asks Randy if he was spying on Nelson or if he didn't. Randy denies spying on Nelson, furthering Stephen to believe the drones are sentient.

The town is now broken out in full-scale riots, making the governor ask for the national guard to help, which they do with drones.

On 20/20, an interviewer attempts to interview the Tuckers but Stephen hacks into the live feed and tells all drone owners that the drones are sentient, citing the view count on the video of Laura Tucker's bush.

Later, Butters goes to Cartman's house, trying to get him to apologize to Laura and put an end to all the drones. Cartman instead comes up with his own plan.

Stephen attempts to destroy his drone but it is gone.

Cartman is using Stephen's drone and a life-size blowup doll with an abundance of pubic hair to catch the attention of all of the drones and leads them out of South Park.

At a ceremony, the town celebrates Laura Tucker's sacrifice to get rid of the drones. Butters is still not happy because Laura isn't. Cartman says he has a plan to make Laura happy but Butters quickly denies his help.

Critical Reception

AV Club gave "The Magic Bush" a "C+" rating saying: "Like many latter-day South Park episodes that strive to hit too many topics (like the season premiere), “The Magic Bush” fails to make a significant point about either of the things it’s dealing with. Drones are bad for spying on people? Sure. We shouldn’t put nude pictures of people online, but it’s not that big of a deal either way? Well, the second part of that is a little bit of a problem, but in general this isn’t that interesting of a position. “The Magic Bush” is classic South Park taking the moral high ground where the moral high ground isn’t that moral, and it’s not that interesting, or enjoyable."

IGN gave "The Magic Bush" a "8.2" rating saying: "This week's South Park combined Ferguson and drones to tell a clever story involving Cartman, Butters and -- of all things -- Craig's mom's nether regions. While certain elements didn't quite come together here (Stephen Stotch's drone conspiracy among them), "The Magic Bush" did a great job of melding satire and "boys being boys" shenanigans."