Original air date: 10/25/2017
At the traditional Halloween get together, a witch casts a spell that terrorizes the town and ruins Halloween for the boys. Cartman sees a way to use the witch's power to his advantage.
Tropes:
- Audience Surrogate: Kyle tells Cartman to just break up with Heidi and "let the poor girl go", which is exactly how a lot of the fandom feels about the relationship.
- Anti-Climax: For all the power the witch has displayed, in the end he is taken down easily by President Garrison via Kill Sat.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: The boys get Garrison to return in order to take out the Witch.
- Book Ends: The episode begins and ends with Heidi frustrating Cartman with her poor time management skills.
- Continuity Nod: Kyle telling his dad that no one's coming after him as everyone is trying to deal with an actual witch, could be a nod that people aren't currently looking for skankhunt42.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Witch (AKA Chip Duncan) is easily taken out by a single blast of a space laser, courtesy of President Garrison taking advantage of his privileges for a good purpose.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Coupled with Murder Is the Best Solution; Cartman tries to get Heidi killed by The Witch because he can't stand her or her lack of time management skills - a true sign that the old Cartman is back.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Chip becoming a witch and kidnapping kids, the other dads trying to distance themselves from him and convince everyone they're not like him, and the police officers' response to Heidi being kidnapped can be an allegory for numerous things:
- Like the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the reaction by other Hollywood figures.
- It could also be seen as an allegory for the persecution of Muslims in light of terrorist attacks, as despite how different they are, Randy and the other witches' antics don't harm anyone (aside from themselves with their crack use). Yet they're unfairly lumped in with actual violent thugs who happens to share their "culture."
- Another thing it could stand for is Republicans and Conservatives in relation to the Alt-Right.
- Or it's about toxic masculinity and how regular guys will distance themselves from those who take things too far or whose crimes become public without ever challenging the cultural failings which put them on that road. Society sets up the joke yet nobody wants to own the punchline. So they burn the one witch and get back to business as usual like nothing happened.
- Even Evil Has Standards: In Garrison's own words: "Let me guess, Chip Duncan? That guy was always such a douche."
- Kill Sat: Garrison proves that all of Chip’s accumulated power means nothing when he has a satellite vaporize the Witch on the spot.
- Kubrick Stare: Cartman gives a murderous one to Heidi in the school cafeteria after her poor time management skills cause him to miss having fun at the pumpkin patch. He doesn’t break it even while waving at her.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Dealt out with an actual laser. The Witch is killed by President Garrison with a space laser after terrorizing South Park for days, kidnapping children, and refusing to back down.
- Cartman's attempt to get Heidi killed by The Witch instead of breaking up with her ends up foiled thanks to The Witches' death, keeping him miserable in a relationship he refuses to end due to his crippling need for attention.
- Latin Is Magic: When Chip brings a witch's spellbook to the witch party, it is written and read in Latin and the spell he reads ends up turning him into a witch.
- Lonely at the Top: Mr. Garrison is depressed because now that he's president, his duties prevent him from hanging out with the other men at the witch party.
- Muggles Do It Better: Despite being granted magic powers from the spellbook, Chip is instantly reduced to ash by a laser strike on Mr. Garrison orders.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Cartman being so angry that he isn't seen eating his food during lunch, instead giving one hell of a terrifying glare towards Heidi.
- Playing the Victim Card: When an officer notes that Cartman and Heidi being attacked was very likely considering the situation, the location, and their behavior, Cartman plays the victim and feigns ignorance.
- Running Gag:
- Heidi takes ages to get ready for anything in the this episode, even just to get out of a witches bag.
- Randy and the other "good witches" referring to a witch hunt as a "witch pursuit-thing".
- Presumably "witch pursuit thing" was a libel-avoiding shout out to Woody Allen
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- Presumably "witch pursuit thing" was a libel-avoiding shout out to Woody Allen
- Shout-Out: Witch!Chip throws bombs shaped like jack-o-lanterns.
- Skewed Priorities:
- There is an actual, malevolent witch going around, killing people and kidnapping children, and Randy and the other dads are only concerned with distancing themselves from him because he used to be a part of their group. They sink even lower when they try to pin everything on Stephen, Butters' Dad, only because he felt remorse for what led to Chip's transformation and wanted to confess the things they get up to at their witch parties (such as crack use) to his wife, only for the real witch to show up. Even then, they were still more concerned with their reputation rather than their actual lives, or anyone else's.
- Of course, Cartman's in the same boat for prioritizing killing Heidi over dealing with the witch, and Stan and Kyle briefly call him out on it.
- Stealth Pun: Possibly. A guy named Chip becomes a witch. "Chipwich, anyone?
- Stating the Simple Solution: Kyle points out if Heidi is making Cartman so frustrated, he should break up with her. Cartman refuses because of his crippling addiction to being the center of attention.
- Take That!:
- Towards Donald Trump for not yet following through on many of his more controversial promises, such as mass deportations and the Mexican border wall.
- Cartman accusing the cops of victim blaming when they ask him why he was engaging in such blatantly risky behavior could be one towards people who call victim blaming over situations to deflect away from their own poor decisions.
- Token Evil Teammate: Chip Duncan. And that was before he became the Witch.
- Tranquil Fury: Due to Heidi taking too long to dress up, Cartman is unable to make it in time to the pumpkin patch. He's not seen lashing out at her for it, but the silent Kubrick Stare he gives to Heidi (who's oblivious to it) the next day just oozes with murderous intent.
- Trivial Title: The episode's title comes from a throwaway line where Gerald tells the kids that "you're all little sons a witches" at the school assembly. He's mainly referring to Kyle, Butters, Stan, and Kenny, who don't have that big of a role in the plot.
- Wicked Witch: Witch!Chip.
- Witch Pursuit Thing: Once Chip starts kidnapping kids, the other dads worry that this will start happening to them.
