Original air date: 4/26/2000
The boys discover a performing group of Quintuplets at a circus, and decide to put on their own performance. Meanwhile, the Quintuplets and their grandmother try and escape Romanian Government officials, who want to bring them back to Romania.
This episode provides the following:
- And This Is for...: Sharon clubs Janet Reno with a baseball bat, shouting, "You ruined my house!"
- Annual Title: The last of the four aired episodes early in Season 4 to have "2000" in its title, in reference to the episodes first airing in 2000.
- Breaking Bad News Gently: Randy's subtle attempt to tell the Quintuplets that their grandmother is dead doesn't work out.Randy: Everyone who has a Grandma, step forward.*the kids steps forward (except Kyle who looks sad)*Randy: Ah. Not so fast, girls.*the Quintuplets pause, think, and then break down crying*Sharon: *appalled* RANDY!
- Circus Brat: The titular quintuplets, who are contortionists from Cirque du Cheville.
- Continuity Nod: A poster for the Worldwide Recorder Concert featuring Yoko Ono and Kenny G can be seen in the music school.
- After Mrs. Vladchick's death, Randy calls the boys to step forward if they have a grandma. Kyle is the only one to stay in his place, referencing his deceased grandma from "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery".
- December–December Romance: Between Stan's grandpa and Mrs. Vladchik.
- Disappeared Dad: The Quintuplets' father left them five years ago and they haven't seen him since. The Romanian government apparently locate him and force him to act like he wants them back just to smear America, but it's ambiguous if he really is their father or if that's just a lie they cooked up to stir the pot.
- Fan Disservice: We get to see the quintuplets' grandmother showcasing her contortionist skills in bed with Stan's grandfather. It's about as pleasant to watch as you'd expect.
- Flexibility Equals Sex Ability: Grandpa finds Mrs. Vladchik's contortionist skills arousing.
- Harmful to Minors: Lampshaded as Grandpa calls Mrs. Vladchick "a bad piece of ass."Randy: Ew, Dad! Not in front of Stanley!
- I Just Shot Marvin in the Face: Kenny dies from accidentally being riddled with bullets as a soldier points a gun at him.
- I Love the Dead: Stan's grandfather, although inadvertently.
- It's All About Me: The boys don't care about the death of the Quintuplets' grandmother or the controversy surrounding them at all. They're just happy keeping the girls in America so they can put on a circus act.
- Never My Fault: The boys blame their inability to pull off the physical stunts needed for their dream circus performance on Kenny's inability to sing, and not their own clumsiness and lack of training. This inadvertently sets off Kenny's entire sub-plot, and his inevitable death.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: By letting the Quints and their grandmother stay with them for the night, the Marsh's end up causing the death of the former and setting off a chain of events that spark an international crisis between the United States and Romania.Randy: That'll teach us for taking an old lady and her granddaughters out of the cold.
- Oh, Crap!: Randy just before the Easter egg with tear gas goes off.
- Out with a Bang: Mrs. Vladchick dies at some point having sex with Grandpa.
- Parodies for Dummies: Kenny tries to learn singing with Singing Like Bocelli for Dummies.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The Quintuplets condemn everyone in the end.Quint 1: None of you care about us. You only care about yourselves!
Quint 2: Look at you, Father. You walked out on us five years ago, and now you act like you miss us sooo much! You are a liar and a fake!
Cartman: Yeah, you suck, dude!
Quint 3: And you Romanian leaders, you don't care about us! All you care about is making America look stupid!
Cartman: Yeah! God, you guys are dicks!
'Quint 3: And you protesters! Don't you have anything better to do?! Get a life!
Cartman: Yeah!
Quint 3: And you boys are the worst of all!
Stan, Kyle, and Cartman: Huh?
Quint 3: You know nothing about Romania, and yet you assume America is so much better! Maybe Romania isn't as nice as America, but it is our home! We are Romanian! All you care about is your own stupid circus! - Ripped from the Headlines: The Elián González story was the basis for this episode, even recreating the famed closet photograph (twice).
- Skewed Priorities: After the raid, Stan is only concerned that the quintuplets were taken away rather than his house being destroyed in the aftermath.
- Take a Third Option: Faced with staying in America for the boys' circus or going home to Romania, the Quintuplets decide to go on Oprah Winfrey's show and do a book tour.
- Take That!: To the celebrity of the week, Janet Reno.
- Also to protesters, as Janet Reno summarizes.Janet Reno: Look, people have it so good in America that they get bored very easily, and when people get bored, they start protesting things.
- Pretty much every side in the Elián González story is ridiculed: the protesters are portrayed as having too much time on their hands and not even knowing what they're protesting; the American government response is portrayed as incompetent and making things worse; the Romanian government (standing in for Cuba) is portrayed as harsh and only interested in making America look bad.
- Also to protesters, as Janet Reno summarizes.
- They Killed Kenny Again: An American soldier accidentally shoots Kenny while trying to retrieve him from Romania.
- Too Much Information: Randy and Stan's grandpa found Mrs. Vladchick dead in bed.Grandpa: No wonder she didn't say "good night".
Randy: Eww! - What the Hell, Hero?: The quintuplets call out the boys for constantly putting down Romania and elevating America just so the girls will join their circus.
