16.6 "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining" Quiz

Answer: Hell

The episode parodies "I Shouldn't Be Alive" by beginning with suspense-filled music, flashbacks (which would later appear in full during the episode) and the narrator saying "four young boys from Colorado are on a trip from hell." The opening sequence of this episode also includes the words "the events in this film took place over 4 hours in the Colorado Rockies. This is a true story."

"I Shouldn't Be Alive," a show that heavily inspired the episode, first aired on Discovery Channel, but then changed to Animal Planet. The show portrays people trapped in dangerous situations, usually in the wilderness. Eric Meyers narrates the show, and narrates the "South Park" episode as well. The episode mocks the fact that the children are trapped in the mountains, given that they cannot go anywhere unless they finish the ziplining trek.

Answer: Spring Break

In a dialogue that mocks interviews done in survival shows, Stan mentions that they had only played video games and watched television, so they wanted to go out and do something different for the last day of Spring Break. The children gather together to try to plan their outdoors activity for the last day of Spring Break. Kyle suggests the city pool, which has a water slide, but Cartman argues he won't get in a pool with Kenny because he has herpes. Then, Kyle says in an interview that somebody came up with the idea of ziplining, but we as the audience don't know who it is, as we are immediately taken back to Cartman supporting the idea.

In the United States, Spring Break is a popular vacation period that usually takes place in March or April, which coincides with Easter Break. Many American college students are known for traveling to Mexican beaches like Cancun on this time of the year, taking advantage of the weather and reduced legal drinking age.

Answer: Uncle Jimbo

In the back of Uncle Jimbo's truck, the children are seen having fun and enthusiastically looking forward to ziplining, while Cartman continues to make fun of Kenny's "herpes." The narrator describes the situation as "the ideal Spring Break getaway with friends and laughter." They finally get to the ziplining place, called Backcountry Adventures. They are greeted by a guide in a blue shirt and yellow helmet, who asks the boys to join him to get helmets and gear, to then "get up there and hit that fresh nar-nar." To me this character is one of the funniest in the episode, since e is actually a pretty accurate representation of some guides at ziplining parks that seem over-enthusiastic.

Uncle Jimbo is Stan's uncle, while Mr. Garrison is their teacher, Mr. Broflovski is Kyle's father and Wendy is Stan's girlfriend.

Answer: Adrenal gland

Kyle narrates how the boys began thinking it was dangerous when they were equipped with harnesses and helmets. As a matter of fact, ziplining is usually accompanied by extensive security measures. The guide instructs them to follow him to the waiting room and "take a seat with the others." The boys are shocked, since they didn't realize they would have to do this with other people. The narrator explains that this new development has caused Stan's adrenal gland to slow down. The show also exposes the "scientific fact" that an average human acts a certain way around friends and family, "but in a tour group, the brain has to work overtime, acting nice and pretending to care about people on the tour."

The adrenal gland produces several hormones and steroids, including adrenaline, aldosterone and cortisol. The gland can be found above the kidneys, and its malfunctioning can cause diseases like Cushing's syndrome and adrenal insufficiency.

Answer: Long story short

The last two people finally arrive, and the group is shown a safety video, that according to Stan, was 10 to 15 minutes long and was "pure hell." The guide, Michael, appears on the screen narrating the video while also standing next to the screen, making jokes that the other people find amusing but the children do not.

When he asks if there are any questions, one person in the group asks to review the best ways to hold the rope, a petition that frustrates the boys. The fact that they have to take such a long shuttle before ziplining makes their experience even worse.

Then, they are forced to listen to Pete, a man who keeps saying "long story short" but continues to tell the story afterwards. Cartman starts yelling in desperation.

Answer: Ponderosa pine

After a disastrous shuttle ride that involves Cartman farting, the children are finally ready to zipline, but they once again find an obstacle. The guide says that though they are running a little late, he has time to talk about the tree's biology if anyone cares to know. The boys say no, after which there is a silence and then a man, the same person who came in late and asked the guide to repeat the best ways to hold the rope earlier, says he is interested in knowing about the tree's biology.

The Ponderosa pine, which has a scientific name of Pinus ponderosa, is a native species of the U.S. and Canada. Scottish nurseryman Charles Lawson is credited with naming and describing the tree.

Answer: Shaka Brah!

"You ready? Ready to do some ZIPPIN'? Alright let's hear you say zipline!" After securing Cartman and giving him even more safety instructions (something that happens in zipline parks all the time!), the guide utters the above words and sends Cartman through the zipline. Halfway through, the guide yells "shaka brah!" and Cartman poses for the picture without even smiling. Upon arriving, another guide yells: "Woohoo! Alright, nice zip!" in the same over-enthusiastic tone that Michael previously showed. When the boys ask from the other end how it was, Cartman yells (minus profanity of course) "totally stupid and boring."

Kyle was next, and he was just as bored as Cartman. In an interview, Kyle says "it was like having the life sucked out of you. That's all it is, sliding down a cable. Maybe without a tour group it would be kind of fun, but this was just a complete disaster." The narrator then describes how, "after a grueling 20 minutes" of waiting, the children thought it was over, only to find out they were 16 more ziplines to go, and they had to take the shuttle to get to them, again!

Answer: Mountain Dew

We continue to see the children "trapped in the wilderness," having to put up with more boring ziplines, group singing, biology questions and people telling uninteresting stories, in addition to having to take endless pictures of other people! The children are now on ground level while the others ride the zipline, yelling for help. Then Kyle and Cartman start fighting over whose idea it was to go ziplining, but in an interview, Stan reveals that though no one remember, it was him who brought it up. Cartman's stomach problems are getting worse by the fact that he is drinking Double Dew. Stan pledges to keep the group moving, but just after he says that, the guides announce a lunch break. Cartman realizes something is wrong in his "tummy," and when Kyle confronts him for still drinking Double Dew, Cartman responds that he is now drinking Diet Double Dew, which has "half the sugar and half the caffeine of a Double Dew." Brilliant!

Mountain Dew is a citrus soft drink which was introduced in 1940. It was purchased by PepsiCo in 1964, and the company modified the original logo. Over the years, Mountain Dew has released several different flavors.

Answer: Horses

If they didn't find another way to leave, they would need to zipline from the summit, which is why the guides suggest the boys go to a horse stable, a piece of advice they follow. Upon reaching the stable, the boys get excited as they will get 4 horses and be sent on their way, but they then realize that horseback riding is done in a tour group as well! The horses are only allowed to travel 4 miles an hour, which makes the ordeal even worse for the children. The narrator then changes the name of the episode to "I Should've Never Thought Horseback Riding Would Be Any Better Than Ziplining."

After the horseback group stops for lunch, Stan has another idea: go to a nearby marina and take a boat. Though the boys seem resigned to their fate of staying with the horse group, they ultimately decide to follow Stan's newest plan. "What could possibly go wrong?", asks Stan. After Stan says that, a rarely seen situation in "South Park" occurs, as the image switches to human actors playing the children. The boys discover that the boat is only allowed to travel 5 miles an hour! The narrator once again changes the name of the episode to "I Should Have Never Got on a God Damn Boat."

Answer: If he signed up 3 friends, he got a free iPod Nano

The narrator describes the extreme boredom that the boys are experiencing, claiming that "if the boys fall asleep from lack of excitement, they could die." Kyle suggests everyone drinks Mountain Dew to stay away, but Cartman refuses to share with Kenny. Minutes later, we can see all the boys with herpes in their mouths, and a few seconds later, something that we're all used to happening in "South Park" happens once again: Kenny McCormick has died, this time "of boredom." Kyle and Cartman break into another fight over who thought ziplining was a good idea, and that's when Stan confesses.

Stan says that he found a ziplining brochure and thought it would be fun. Stan's real motivation to act as if it was everyone's idea, though, was that he would get a free iPod Nano id he signed up three friends to go with him. In a later interview, Kyle asks "how many iPod Nanos is friendship worth?" and then answers his own question with: "I guess one." Finally, the boys are rescued by Mr. Hankey, an anthropomorphic piece of excrement. They are airlifted with Mr. Hankey's "Magical HeliCrapter" and then flown on Mr. Hankey's plane, the "Seven Turd-i-Seven" (a parody of the 737 plane.) They also had to ride on Mr. Hankey's train, the "Poo-Choo Express."

The episode ends with the narrator explaining what happened after the rescue: Kenny's remains were shipped to his parents by Mr. Hankey; Kyle spent almost a month in the hospital having fecal matter (from Cartman's farts) removed from his nose; Stan began to raise awareness about the boredom dangers of ziplining; and Cartman went back to drinking Diet Double Dew, "defiant to do the math."