Prehistoric Ice Man

"Prehistoric Ice Man"
South Park episode
Episode no.	Season 2 Episode 18
Directed by	Eric Stough
Written by	Trey Parker Nancy M. Pimental
Featured music	"The Sign" by Ace of Base
Production code	218
Original air date	January 20, 1999

For the glacier mummy, see Ötzi.

"Prehistoric Ice Man" is the eighteenth and final episode of the second season of the animated television series South Park, and the 31st episode of the series overall. "Prehistoric Ice Man" originally aired in the United States on January 20, 1999 on Comedy Central.

Plot

Stan, Kyle, Eric, and Kenny are inspired to go hunting for crocodiles after watching a parody of Steve Irwin (who is depicted as having a predilection for jamming his thumb in the rectums of crocodiles) on television. While hunting, they find a frozen man when Stan rescues Kyle after he accidentally falls down a hole. The boys retrieve the body and take it into town, hoping to receive a reward for finding the man. It's decided to give the man to Dr. Mephestos, the genetic engineer. At this point Stan and Kyle get into a fight about what the "caveman's" name should be - the former preferring "Gorac"; the latter "Steve". Eventually, the name dispute leads to a falling-out between the two boys.

At Mephisto's laboratory, Mephisto and Kevin thaw the ice and discover the man is alive and has been frozen for only 32 months judging by the Eddie Bauer clothes he is wearing. Despite this, Mephisto treats him as a Neanderthal and is unable to understand him, even though he speaks perfect English. To make his research more lucrative, Mephisto is persuaded by the FBI to display the unfrozen man to the public, recreating his natural habitat for him by building a completely "1996-oriented" room. Kenny dies at one point after getting caught in a conveyor belt.

Stan and Kyle become upset at the ice man's inhumane treatment, so they decide to set him free. Upon being released, the unfrozen man (whose real name is Larry) returns to his home only to discover that his wife remarried and has two children (who are aged 8 and 13, meaning that his wife has been cheating on him their entire marriage). After some time has passed, Larry attempts to refreeze himself, but with little success. Kyle comes up with a solution for Larry to take the train and go to live in Des Moines, Iowa, which is supposedly "three years behind" everywhere else. Dr. Mephisto, Cartman and the FBI, led by Steve Irwin, track Larry to the train station as he boards a train to Iowa. A chase ensues and a brawl escalates between Larry and Irwin just as the train crashes, killing Irwin (who gets chopped up by a nearby helicopter). Larry escapes in the helicopter, thanking Stan and Kyle, and heads off for Iowa. The FBI agents then get upset that they will not be able to use him to take over Sweden, much to Mephisto's confusion. Kyle and Stan then make up as Cartman continues to hunt for crocodiles; Stan and Kyle then leave as Cartman gets sat on by a cow, with his head jammed up its rectum.

External links

• "Prehistoric Ice Man" Full Episode at South Park Studios
• "Prehistoric Ice Man" Episode Guide at South Park Studios
• "Prehistoric Ice Man" at IMDb
• "Prehistoric Ice Man" at TV.com