[Volcano]

[Sypnosis]

The boys are off on a hunting trip with Stan's Uncle Jimbo and Jimbo has brought along his old war buddy Ned. Uncle Jimbo and Ned plan to teach the boys some of the basic rules of hunting, such as "not spilling your beer in the bullet chamber." They go to the woods outside of town and the boys are each issued a beer, smokes and a gun. Uncle Jimbo also teaches them about the technicalities of hunting, such as how to shoot at endangered species, legally. Cartman gets into hunting, but Stan has an issue with shooting the bunny, disappointing his Uncle Jimbo; but Stan doesn't appear to have a problem with his desire to shoot Cartman. Meanwhile, in the background, the mountain located just outside of town has started rumbling. Randy Marsh is informed that the mountain is a volcano.

Back at hunting camp, Ned uses the old Indian fire trick to get the campfire going. The gasoline he uses catches himself and Jimbo's Hummer on fire. The Hummer explodes, trapping them in the woods. At City Hall, Chef is lobbying for Salisbury steak, when Randy Marsh enters warning the mayor about the pending eruption of Mt. Evanson and the town is "totally screwed." Chef informs the mayor that the children are up in the mountains camping; so the mayor mobilizes the media and the citizens to save South Park and the children. Back at the camp, scary stories are being told around the campfire. Cartman tries to scare the others with the story of "Skuzzle-butt," a monster with a hand of celery, leg of Patrick Duffy and a penchant for weaving wicker baskets. Of course, they don't believe him. Ned starts singing around the campfire, as Cartman disguises himself as "Skuzzle-butt" to scare them the next day. Kenny is taken fishing the following morning as he has won the favor of Jimbo, much to Stan's dismay. Stan reports to his uncle that Cartman is missing, so the fishing trip is shortened so that they can go look for him.

The media has arrived in South Park. In their search for Cartman, the hunters come upon "Skuzzle-butt," who is really Cartman in disguise. Cartman is convinced he has them scared, until they start shooting at him. The mayor plans to start breaking people up into search parties, when Randy Marsh shows her his plan for diverting the volcano's lava around the town. Some of the townspeople are given the task of digging a large trench. On the search for "Skuzzle-butt" Stan takes the lead in the hunt, while Cartman tries to get out of his disguise. The citizens prepare to for the eventual eruption of the volcano by watching the old film "Duck and Cover," which Chef cites as a load of crap. Meanwhile, back in the woods, Stan has "Skuzzle-butt" in his sights.

Stan finds he still can't shoot at any living thing, Uncle Jimbo is about to take care of the job himself, when Cartman finally gets his disguise off. The volcano erupts, and is almost killed by the hot lava. The hunting party finds their escape from the woods cut-off by the trench the townspeople have dug to divert the lava. The real "Skuzzle-butt" appears and saves the day by weaving a wicker basket that he uses to get them across the trench. The trench itself also works by diverting the lava into a nearby canyon that goes to Denver. Everyone, including Kenny appears to be safe. Chef sings a song to celebrate and the mayor thanks "Skuzzle-butt." Stan also gives thanks to "Skuzzle-butt" in the form of a shot to the head. Stan doesn't understand why his uncle is disappointed now that he has actually shot something. Deciding that hunting is "stupid" the boys go home to watch cartoons, because as Cartman says "cartoons kick ass."

Kenny dies when Ned drops his gun and it goes off, despite previously being torched by hot lava.

[Notes]

The geologist (whom we now know as Randy Marsh) is based on Trey Parker's father, Randy, who is also a geologist. Obviously at this point we don't know that he is Stan's father.

This is the first appearance of Jimbo's hunting buddy Ned.

Randy Marsh, who as mentioned above is unnamed here, appears for the first time.

[Quotes]

"See that Stan? Now that's a dirty little bastard!"
--Uncle Jimbo

"Oh! It hurts! It hurts!"
--Ned

"That has got to be the most ridiculous load of pig crap I have ever seen!"
--Chef

Jimbo: Look out! It's comin' right for us!

Jimbo: "You're babbling! You're not making any sense! You're hysterical!"
Stan: "I'm not hysterical, I just don't want to shoot the bunny."

Jimbo: "No nephew of mine's gonna be a tree-hugger."

Cartman: "This looks like the gun I used in 'nam."

"Cartoons kick ass" - Cartman

[Mess-Ups]

The white stripe on Jimbo's beer can disappears when they get out of the van. The stripe isn't on anyone else's can either. When they see the rabbit hopping on the hill, why is a dandilion popping out of the snow? Randy Marsh's haircut is slightly different after this episode. This is also the only episode where Randy is shown at work. While the camera is on the Mayor and Chef while the dramatic music plays the camera slightly jumps, and then goes back. It's very quick. When Cartman tells the Scuzzlebutt story over the flashlight, Stan's hands disappear, then reappear. When Ned sings, his hair magically reappears and his burns are gone. South Park warns of it's poor celebrity imitations, but their Patrick Duffy has got to be one of the worst of all time (not only the voice, but the appearance). How does Ned hold a rifle anyways? :P

The lava appears to be coming from the wrong direction. It also doesn't appear to threaten the guys. How does Scuzzlebutt get across the river of lava? How could Ned shoot Kenny when he was unable to shoot Scuzzlebutt because he had run out of ammo?

[Cultural Ref]

None