YMMV / South Park S12 E1 "Tonsil Trouble"

• Broken Base: Many fans view this episode as a funny misadventure where many of Kyle's internal struggles get the most focus. Magic Johnson, despite being portrayed as a Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense kind of guy, also adds a sort of positive spin to the episode since he's mostly portrayed as nothing but friendly and down-to-earth. Others view it as a boring, slow-paced episode that beats the "HIV is still a big deal, but people act like it's fully gone away" joke into the ground without even having the excuse of simply being on-the-nose like most of the satire in South Park. They also feel that it ultimately has no effect on the continuity of the series whatsoever and think that Cartman infecting Kyle with a disease would have worked better either as a subplot to an episode or a two-parter. A middle-ground group likes the episode fine enough.
• Cry for the Devil: In the episode's first half anyway. Despite how terrible a person Cartman is, being accidentally infected with AIDS is terrifying and a truly horrific thing to happen to anyone regardless of who they are, so it's no surprise that many would feel for him that situation and hate how Kyle laughs him off. Not that it makes Eric infecting Kyle in the second half okay of course.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The Running Gag about AIDS not being as big a deal as cancer hits harder when Jimmy Buffett, who is mocked in the episode, would end up dying of cancer himself.
• Jerks Are Worse Than Villains: Despite Cartman deliberately infecting Kyle with HIV, some viewers found Kyle to be the worse of the two in this episode for laughing at Cartman's condition in the first place and later scolding Cartman for making Self-Deprecating jokes about AIDS even though he thought it was funny when Cartman was infected.
• Jerkass Woobie: Kyle in the second half of the episode. While it was certainly wrong of him to laugh at Cartman's diagnosis, being infected with HIV in return was certainly overboard and it's hard to blame him for his anger, especially considering no one is taking his situation into account.
• Misaimed Fandom: There are some people who support Cartman's decision to give Kyle HIV and claim that Kyle deserved it for making fun of the former's condition.
• Never Live It Down: Some fans will always remember Kyle for laughing at Cartman for having HIV. Never mind the fact that Cartman has often done far worse things to Kyle, including infecting him with HIV.
• Paranoia Fuel: Cartman gets HIV via a 'one-in-a-billion fluke' during a routine medical operation. Kyle gets it because Cartman sneaks into his house while Kyle's sleeping and exposes him to it as a form of revenge for a petty slight. Both of these are paranoia-inducing for different reasons.