The Boys hang out with teenagers after a game of airsoft, only to realize that hanging out with them is not as fun as they had hoped.
Tropes
- Bait-and-Switch:
- When the airsoft gun cashier warns Gerald that his son and his friends will be playing against teenagers, it seems that they may be too much of a challenge for them in airsoft matches. However, the Boys handle them quite well against them during the matches and the real problem is dealing with them afterwards.
- A meta example. The viewer is initially led to believe this episode is about how terrible airsoft is much like Ziplining in "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining". In reality, it's the people who play it that are terrible (teenagers) as the sport itself is pretty fun.
- BFG: Jimbo arms himself with an airsoft minigun to gun down the teenagers.
- Big Damn Heroes: The Boys' dads (plus Jimbo filling the role of Cartman's dad) help them get rid of the teenagers by joining the airsoft game themselves.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: After their first game together, some of the teenagers take a liking to the Boys and appear to hang out with them afterward, like Kyle's teen, who offers him to show him how to clean his gun. Unfortunately, the moment they arrive at each of the Boys' homes, they show how nasty they are.
- Bittersweet Ending: Thanks to the help of their fathers and Jimbo, the Boys were able to banish the obnoxious teenagers from Blinky's Airsoft, allowing them to have fun playing airsoft again. However, the fathers acknowledge that eventually puberty will make their sons become just like those teenagers, with them reflecting on enjoying the years before that happens.
- Bratty Teenage Daughter: The teenagers are male examples, and their brattiness is present from the moment they are introduced. They are all very whiny and self-centered, and they sulk about doing non-airsoft activities such as shopping for items they want in the first place and going camping with the Boys.
- Breather Episode: Immediately following an episode tackling the Ukraine/Russia Conflict, this episode doesn't cover any world news or political issues, instead it follows the Boys doing a regular fun activity, with the most meta examples listed under Take That! below, and the issues dealt with by the teenagers and the Boys as parental substitutes are pretty much reflective of how it's been since the 1990snote . In fact, with how the most outrageous thing that happens here is that teenagers start living with the boys and treating them like parents, this can be considered a slow day for the town of South Park.
- Caught with Your Pants Down: Cartman catches his teenager masturbating in the bathroom after breaking through the door.Cartman: What you do to Jergens lotion isn't right.
- Characterization Marches On: Stan tries being nice to his teenager to get him to cooperate.
- Chekhov's Gag: The teenager assigned to Cartman is almost always shown being in the bathroom, and Cartman tries to process why he needs so much lotion. When Cartman breaks through the bathroom door during the final game, he discovers the same teenager keeps going to the bathroom to masturbate, which explains the amount of lotion.
- Cluster F-Bomb: The teenagers throw these around like they're hotcakes.Teenager: (to Kyle) I'm fucking starving to death, can you make me some fucking food!?
- Comically Missing the Point: Cartman wonders why his teen needs a lot of lotion to keep his hands soft, not realizing that he is using it when he's sitting on the toilet masturbating.
- Continuity Nod:
- Cartman's new hotdog stand home from "City People" is shown here and Cartman laments living in there until the very end when Jimbo asks where to get a hotdog to eat.
- When talking to his teenager, Stan mentions his dog Sparky is gay and how the dog encouraged him to remind the whole town that being gay is okay, which was first brought up in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride".
- During the final airsoft game, Randy lures the teenagers into a trap by leaving out a jar of Tegridy Farms Vaccination Special.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Boys, their dads, and Jimbo destroy the teens in the last airsoft match without any losses. According to Kenny's father, some teens raged so hard they broke their own guns.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The boys basically treat the teenagers as though they have a guardian/child relationship. Kyle even gets a book that has the same title as the episode to try and connect with them, and the said book explains the conflict arises in the "age difference", so the boys even go as far as to try and bond with the teenagers by camping.
- The Dreaded: Teenagers are considered so terrible that not even their own parents can stand them. Gerald even compares them to psychopaths.
- Dumbass Teenage Son: The teenagers whom the Boys are looking after are extremely stupid and lazy. Stan's teenager doesn't know how to make ramen noodles let alone realize there's a sink right behind him to get the water from.
- Forgot Flanders Could Do That: After Randy's screen time in the past few seasons focused primarily on his childish obsession with Tegridy Farms, this episode returns him to being a caring parent towards Stan and he joins him in the airsoft match to take down the teenagers.
- Foreshadowing: The moment Kyle's teenager arrives at his home, he's arguing with his mom. Said mother tells Kyle that he's his problem now.
- Freeze-Frame Bonus: During the game of airsoft, Kyle hits Cartman, only for Cartman to claim that Kyle didn't hit him. Despite that claim, pausing reveals that he did get hit on his shoulder and actually winced at the hit.
- Gatling Good: Jimbo brings an airsoft minigun to the battlefield, which he uses to mow down several teenagers.
- Gonk: All of the teenagers are rather ugly, with each of them having visible zits and some having more detailed lips.
- Groin Attack: Cartman fires many BB pellets on his teenager, many of which hit him in the privates.
- Growing Up Sucks: At the end, Randy laments that in a few years, the Boys will become teenagers themselves. Gerald agrees, but takes comfort in knowing that they still have a few years left with the Boys before they do.
- Hate Sink: The teenagers here are presented in a completely negative light in this episode, being obnoxious and childish to the Boys throughout the episode while possessing little to no redeeming qualities. It makes watching the boys, their fathers, and Jimbo, team up and beat them in airsoft all the more satisfying.
- Hated by All: Everyone in the episode hates the teenagers for being so immature and unbearable to be around. They're so insufferable to be around that the Boys consider quitting airsoft completely, just so they won't have to put up with them anymore. Even Cartman can't find himself to like them. The mother of Kyle's teenager flat-out leaves him at Kyle's doorstep. It's heavily implied that the parents of the other teenagers hate them as well since they left them at the other three boys' homes as well. The owners of the airsoft field and gun store only seem to put up with them because they're paying customers.
- Hormone-Addled Teenager: Cartman's teen is a compulsive masturbator, as evidenced by his frequent trips to the bathroom and the amount of lotion he uses. Cartman doesn't figure this out until the final airsoft game, as he is under the assumption the teen wants his hands as soft as possible.
- Hypocrites:
- The teenagers complain about playing airsoft against the 4th Grade boys, saying that they don't want to play with "little kids", despite the fact that they act even more childish than them and the boys end up having to take care of them.
- Stan's teenager calls him to complain about Stan calling him gay, which made him verify he was referring to a rule and not to the teenager, soon after prompting Stan to ask what his teenager wants. The teenager responds by telling Stan he wants to be left alone, with Stan rightfully pointing out that the teenager was the one who called him.
- Inevitably Broken Rule: The airsoft referee prohibits the use of the full-auto setting during each match. However, Cartman breaks this rule during the final match when he sets his gun to full-auto to take down his teen.
- Insufferable Imbecile: The teenagers are as dumb as they are rude, which is saying a lot. Stan's teenager doesn't know how to cook ramen or realize that there's a sink right behind him, and later purposely burns his hand over a lighter and even declares himself "that was stupid..."
- In the Back: Played for Laughs. Randy was tempted to shoot the Boys in their backs after their win against the teenagers (due to realizing that they're a few years away from becoming teenagers themselves) until Gerald stops him.
- Jerkass: The teenagers are unbearable to deal with; they drop f-bombs constantly, are completely immature for their age, and almost make the Boys quit airsoft altogether because they can't stand them.
- Kiddie Kid: The teenagers are more immature than the Boys who act as their caretakers. Even Cartman acts more mature than them.
- Kindness Ball: Are we SURE these are the same parents that deal meth, grow weed, and started a gender war???
- Laser-Guided Karma: The teenagers lose their match against the Boys and their dads, plus Jimbo, and become banned from playing at Blinky's Airsoft. They earn this fate, as the Boys almost quit playing airsoft due to their awfulness.
- More Dakka:
- Jimbo's airsoft minigun naturally fires many pellets at once, which he uses on several teenagers.
- The airsoft gun Cartman uses in the final game has a rapid-fire feature, and he takes advantage of this on his teenager.
- Noble Demons: As horrible as the teenagers are, they respect the rules and honor system while playing airsoft and don't cheat or whine when they get hit. That said, that's their only redeeming quality.
- Oh, Crap!: The teenagers all recoil in fright when they see the Boys' dads and Jimbo armed with airsoft guns. The latter especially, who's wielding an airsoft minigun.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: You can tell that Cartman really enjoys airsoft by how nice and understanding he is to the other boys, and vice versa. When Kyle shoots Cartman he protests like his usual whiny self... then Kyle shoots him again and he calmly concedes that Kyle was right because he's having so much fun. He even sheds real tears and tells the other boys he loves them with no signs of his usual sarcasm.
- Papa Wolf: After seeing his son brought to tears and being almost forced to give up airsoft, Gerald gets Randy, Stuart, and Jimbo to help the Boys beat the teenagers so they can have fun again.
- Parental Substitute:
- The Boys are essentially forced to become secondary parents to the teenagers.
- Jimbo fills in the role of a father figure for Cartman after the latter feels left out over being the only one not having a dad to team up with in the final airsoft match.
- Pay Evil unto Evil: Cartman sets his rifle to automatic and shoots at his teenager upon witnessing said teenager using the lotion to masturbate.
- Rise of Zitboy: Kenny's teenager is very concerned about having zits on his face. Kyle doesn't know what a zit is.Teenager: Why do I have all these fucking zits on my face!?
Kenny: (Dude, I don't know, I'm trying to think!)
Teenager: You don't even fucking care! You don't care because you don't even fucking know me! [slams bathroom door]
Kyle: What the hell are these things? - Running Gag: Cartman groans about living in an old hot dog place throughout the episode; he catches a break at the end when the gang celebrates their win with hot dogs at his home.
- Self-Abuse: Cartman's teenager constantly goes to the bathroom to masturbate, which becomes a recurring gag in the episode. To emphasize how addicted he is to it, he uses at least two bottles of lotion per day and tries to masturbate in the store's bathroom.
- Shout-Out: A Naruto poster and a PlayStation 5 are seen in the room of Stan's teen when he calls him in the middle of the night.
- Shouting Shooter: Cartman does this when shooting his teenager in the restroom.
- Skewed Priorities: Cartman's teenager would rather masturbate than do anything else like camping and playing airsoft.
- Sore Loser: The teenagers didn't take losing to the Boys, their fathers, and Jimbo in stride.Stan: That was so sweet, you guys! I bet the teenagers will never go back to that place again!
Stuart: Of course they won't! I saw half of 'em break their guns in frustration! - Take That!:
- This whole episode takes a big shot at teenagers, portraying them as brooding, emo, angsty, and even more immature than the Boys, who are much younger than them. It also shows that airsoft would be a much more enjoyable activity were it not for teens ruining it.
- Later in the episode, Stan's teenager calls him twice; to ask him how to cook ramen noodles and right before he burns his hand with a lighter. Both times, he's angry at Stan even though he tells him what to do for the former and freaks out when he scorches his hand for no reason. It stereotypes how teens can't take care of themselves and make stupid decisions out of impulsiveness.
- In a meta sense to any longtime viewer of the show, the teens' general characterization can come off as Flat Character as we've seen annoying teen angst done by other characters, such as the Goth Kids, the 8th graders, and sometimes even Randy for some of his antics.
- When Randy expresses concern about the police possibly mistaking the airsoft rifles for real weapons, Gerald assures him they won't because the guns have red tips at the end... and because their group is all white people.
- This whole episode takes a big shot at teenagers, portraying them as brooding, emo, angsty, and even more immature than the Boys, who are much younger than them. It also shows that airsoft would be a much more enjoyable activity were it not for teens ruining it.
- Teens Are Monsters: The teenagers are described as psychopaths whose behaviors are completely unbearable to deal with.
- The Thing That Would Not Leave: Sums up the teens perfectly. After being part of their airsoft game, they pretty much somehow just show up at the boys' respected houses (and Hot Dog) and act like they live there, even when they say they hate living there.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After sulking about living in an old hot dog stand, Cartman seems legitimately happy when the gang decides to celebrate their victory over the teenagers with hot dogs at his home.
- Tranquil Fury: Upon seeing his son break down in tears after quitting airsoft because he couldn't stand the teenagers' behaviors, Gerald doesn't show any visible anger. Nonetheless, Gerald makes it clear that It's Personal with the teenagers and rallies the rest of the fathers and Jimbo to help the boys defeat them in airsoft.
- Verbal Tic: "Bruh." The teenagers say it in almost every sentence they speak or when they're annoyed.
- Villainy-Free Villain: The teenagers don't commit any crimes nor do anything illegal, yet are treated as antagonists because of how obnoxious and rude they are to the boys and everyone else.
- You and What Army?: One teenager asks the Boys this when Stan assured his team would beat them. Gerald responds "This army!" in the background and brings along Randy, Stuart, and Jimbo to help the Boys.
