Original air date: 3/30/2005
Kenny is the first to get a PlayStation Portable and soon becomes obsessed with it. He later dies via car accident; however, this is the will of God. Despite not being a Mormon, he's brought up there to be their Keanu Reeves and help them beat Hell, since they're heavily outnumbered. Unfortunately, a doctor manages to resurrect Kenny in a vegetative state. The rest of the plot, a parody of the Terri Schiavo controversy, revolves around Cartman campaigning to have Kenny taken off life support, so he can get Kenny's PSP. Kyle and Stan try to keep Kenny from being killed by putting him on national news. Angels and demons try to influence whether Kenny lives or dies, since Kenny is an incredibly awesome strategist.
In the end the last page of Kenny's will is found, and what he wants if he were in a vegetative state is revealed. He wants... for them to never let anyone see him in a coma on national television. Realizing how hyped they made this, Kyle and Stan relent and let Kenny die. Kenny returns to Heaven just in time to stop Hell from wiping the floor with them. He's given a Keanu Reeves Statue.
Tropes:
- Ambiguous Situation: To convince the court that Kenny was his best friend, Cartman shows them a best friend heart necklace half that they wore. Upon closer investigation, the doctors found the other half on Kenny's body. It isn't revealed if this was genuine, or if Cartman snuck that other half onto the body in order to fool the judge (Given that this is Cartman, the latter is more likely).
- Art Evolution: Satan's character model is updated to be more detailed and realistic.
- Artistic License – Biology: The Doctor was able to resuscitate Kenny after being dead for a full-day using a defibrillator. Even if he's functionally brain-dead, this is still impossible.
- Brick Joke: Kenny gets a golden Keanu Reeves statue for defeating Hell's forces after being compared to him throughout the episode.
- Character Tic:
- Every time Michael is shown strategizing on the marker board, he periodically takes a long whiff of the marker, possibly because it's the closest thing to something even remotely intoxicating in Heaven.
- Kevin, Satan's advisor/boyfriend tends to hiss after speaking, something the Republican spokesman starts doing as Kevin gives him talking points at a press conference.
- The Chosen One: In this episode, Kenny's death was deliberately planned by Heaven so that he could be the one to lead its armies. He's basically "like Keanu Reeves".
- Comically Missing the Point: Kenny's will contains a massive "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Cartman, but he does leave the PSP to him out of pity. Cartman immediately celebrates getting the PSP, completely ignoring why Kenny willed it to him.
- Death by Irony: In this episode, Kenny dies getting run over by an Ice-Cream Truck without looking both ways, having been too engrossed in his game to exercise caution. In turn, the guy driving the truck was too distracted by playing the same game (at a much lower level) to notice.
- Dying Alone: Kenny mentions in his will that Cartman will end up dying alone since no one, not even Kenny, actually likes him.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: "If I should ever be in a vegetative state and kept alive on life support, please... for the love of God, don't ever show me in that condition on ... national ... television..."
- Fate Worse than Death: Kenny's coma, since his soul can't get into heaven. Kenny's parents debate whether or not it's right to keep him alive.
- Fight Unscene: The epic battle between Heaven and Hell is described in real time by the angel Michael, who notes it is ten times bigger than the final battle in The Lord of the Rings.
- Irony: Kenny, of all people, is the first in town to get a PSP.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Cartman wants to end Kenny's suffering and let his soul rest in peace...just so he can have his PSP.
- The Legions of Hell: Thanks to God's selective nature of keeping only Mormons in heaven, they greatly outnumber heaven's forces. So much so God was forced to lift that rule to attempt to cut into the recruitment pool.
- My God, What Have I Done?: When the last page of Kenny's will is finally read, everyone is horrified at how their actions have contributed to the massive media circus that's been made of his condition. Even Cartman legitimately looks guilty and exits Kenny's hospital room with the others.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Played for Laughs. Heaven's army defeats Hell's while outnumbered a million to one, but all the audience gets is Michael describing the action offscreen as Kenny uses the gold PSP.
- Parody Product Placement: The PlayStation Portable plays a central role in this episode.
- Pet the Dog: She may be a Sadist Teacher, but Ms. Garrison was still thoughtful enough to try to feed Kenny when he was taken off of life support.
- Repeat After Me: Kevin, Satan's advisor/boyfriend, whispers lines into a Republican spokesman's ear for him to repeat verbatim. When he hisses after feeding the politician a line, the politician repeats it, and Kevin's attempts to correct him only make things worse.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: Said word for word at one point by Kyle. Cartman is right that they should quietly end Kenny's suffering, but it's out of pure greed for wanting his inheritance. Stan and Kyle want Kenny to stay alive, even though he'd be spending it braindead, and they draw a lot of attention to what should really be a private affair in the name of making it happen, but it's out of genuine empathy for him.
- Ripped from the Headlines: Thanks to the quick turnaround in creating an episode, the show was able to tackle the hottest issue in the United States before it ended. The episode aired on March 30, 2005. Teri Schiavo died March 31, 2005. The PlayStation Portable was released in North America less than a week earlier, March 24, 2005.
- Secret Test: It turns out that Heaven vs. Hell was created by God as a means of finding the perfect candidate to lead The Armies of Heaven against The Legions of Hell. That person just so happens to be Kenny.
- Serious Business: Kenny's parents are completely ignored in the boys' conflict, with the adults they rally to their cause arguing that BFFs are the highest legal authority in determining whether someone like Kenny should stay on life support.
- Shout-Out: The scene of Hell's demons arming themselves for the battle with Heaven is a reference to the scene in The Fellowship of the Ring in which the Uruk-Hai raiding party is being prepared to hunt down the Fellowship.
- Spiteful Will: Downplayed. Kenny uses his will to give Cartman one final insult, but gives him the PSP he wanted anyway.
- Sympathy for the Devil: In his will, Kenny states he thought Cartman was an idiot, but felt sorry for him, eventually giving him his PSP out of pity.
- Take Our Word for It: Instead of showing the epic battle between the forces of Heaven and Hell, it only consists of a shot of Kenny playing the golden PSP and Michael hyping the hell out of its stated epicness.
- Take That!: A Republican politician is depicted as a pawn of Satan's demonic boyfriend, Kevin, apparently Republicans being typical tools of Hell.
- There Is Another: Subverted at one point. As Kenny's soul goes back to his body, the angels are deciding how to stop Satan's army now. Angel Uriel brings up this trope by name, along with reporting that a Japanese boy made it to level fifty-nine. Angel Michael lambasts him, saying that Japanese people don't have souls, with other angels agreeing.
- They Killed Kenny Again: Kenny is hit by an ice cream truck and is kept on life support until it's discovered in his will that he doesn't want to be put in a vegetative state for all to see.
- Tom the Dark Lord: Satan's sinister and ghastly right-hand man, who is also his boyfriend, is named Kevin.
