Litter Kills: Litterally

Litter Kills: Litterally is the tenth episode of Clone High.

Synopsis[]

In a very special episode of Clone High, a clone dies. One of the main cast members, either Abe, Joan, Gandhi, Cleo, JFK, or the life-loving Juan Ponce de Leon is going to be killed off the show. But who? Meanwhile, Joan sees Juan Ponce de Leon's death as a sign that there is too much litter.

Plot[]

JFK's best friend Ponce de Leon is "the coolest guy in school", and since he loves to litter, the rest of the students begin to follow his example, until the litter kills him, much to the surprise of JFK who is deeply heartbroken. Meanwhile, Gandhi is mistakenly put into prison (as he was wearing an orange jumpsuit), and is wooed by many prisoners, much to his dismay. While that happens, Joan decides that littering isn't really cool, and wants to stop littering so it wouldn't result in any more casualties. Back at prison, Gandhi is showering, when a group of prisoners (naked) cheer him for his arrival (dubbed "The Initiation"). Gandhi talks about Leon's death, and wants to break out of prison. Later, Abe talks to JFK over Leon's death, which cheers him up, while Gandhi and the prisoners break out. Everyone (including the animals, and a unicorn) decides to pick up litter (while the janitor, Leon's foster father is fired.) The end is shown with a dedication to Leon (humorously, with the latter's original date of birth and death, with the cloned one's birth and death).

Characters[]

Major Roles[]

Minor Roles[]

Songs[]

Trivia[]

This episode has the shortest title of the first season.
The Theme Song is different for this episode, now being sung by a lone female singer instead of Abandoned Pools, and being given a more sad and downtrodden instrumental accompaniment.
- The theme song is absent from the complete series DVD, instead using the normal theme song.
This was the last episode to air in the United States prior to 2016.
JFK goes through character development, proving to care about his dead friend and be more than a chauvinistic dumb jock archetype.
In the shot where JFK, leaves the room, Marilyn Monroe is seen in the funeral audience, with brown hair.
Genghis Khan is revealed to be a beautiful singer.
Joan and Gandhi grow closer as friends.
The Prisoners laugh at the ridiculousness of Gandhi's assumption that they were going to rape him in the shower. All except for one prisoner, who was probably thinking of it, or just doesn't seem to talk at all.
Although this episode premiered in 2003, it was produced in 2002 according to the credits.
- Despite being produced in 2002, this episode is shown to take place in 2003 (the year the episode aired), since that was the date of Ponce's death as seen on the memorial.

Death Foreshadowing[]

This episode makes numerous very obvious references to the fact that Ponce is going to die, as well as random exposition on Ponce being a long-time friend of the clones, despite never being seen or mentioned at any given moment prior to this episode.

In the cold opening, the narrator said "One of the clones you've grown to love will be horribly killed." When the narrator says "killed", Ponce appears on screen.
The narrator assured the audience that this wasn't some cheap-ass stunt where they lamely introduce a new character just to kill him off. Ponce had never appeared in any episodes prior to this.
Ponce was featured multiple times in the cold opening, more so than anyone else. His background is also coloured red, as opposed to all other characters appearing on a black background.
Julius noted that JFK and Ponce always spend time together and asked "Are you guys ever apart?"
Julius also called him a "regular character".
JFK said about Ponce, "We're best friends for life. Til' death do us part."
Abe told Ponce that JFK was lucky to have him as a friend. They all were.
When Ponce left Abe and Gandhi, after his final interaction with them, before he died, he said "If I don't see you guys again, goodbye, and have a wonderful life."
Ponce said that he loves life.
Ponce told JFK that he's been thinking about how short life was and how you should live every day as though it was your last.
Ponce told JFK that he wanted to tell JFK something before it was too late.
JFK got mad at Ponce and said that he was "dead to him".
Ponce berated Joan for being paranoid about the dangers of litter and sarcastically asked her "What, Joan? Is litter gonna kill me?" As he said "kill me", thunder was heard in the background.

Continuity[]

In the previous episode "Raisin the Stakes: A Rock Opera in Three Acts", a subliminal message shows up on screen for a few frames, reading "I Buried Ponce".
Joan of Arc takes part in cleaning up litter, as part of a community service program that she started in "Escape to Beer Mountain: A Rope of Sand".
Gandhi wore orange warm ups, which are just an orange version of the yellow warm ups he wore in his dance group from "A.D.D.: The Last D is for Disorder".
Joan is shown to still live in Cleo's House, after moving in in "A Room of One's Clone: The Pie of the Storm". In the scene where she's in her room reading, it can be noticed that her bed is stacked on top of Cleo's bed and tied down with rope, in order to make their sleeping environment a passable bunk bed.
- Joan's bed is also notably covered in smoldering ashes, implying this was her original bed, having been retrieved from the wreckage of her original house.
Geshy from "Homecoming: A Shot in D'Arc" appears again, as one of the animals summoned by JFK.

Cultural References[]

Glen the Janitor is voiced by Neil Flynn, the actor who played The Janitor from the medical comedy-drama, Scrubs, another show created by Clone High's co-creator, Bill Lawrence.
Abe and Cleo eating a fry on opposite sides and having their lips meet in the middle is a reference to the Disney film Lady and the Tramp.
When Gandhi steps through the wide prison bars, it parodies the animation rule that jail bars have to be wide enough to see the character's entire face.
JFK is playing a Super Mario Bros. game on a Nintendo Game Boy.
"The Meaning of Goodbye" by James Stewart plays while JFK mourns at the Thinking Docks.

Historical References[]

While Ponce explains how short life is, he claims that there's no Fountain of Youth. His clonefather, Juan Ponce de Leon went to La Florida in search of the Fountain of Youth, under the belief that it was real.
JFK says that as a Kennedy, he's not accustomed to tragedy. This is a reference to the Kennedy curse, a half-serious myth explaining why almost everyone in the Kennedy family dies tragically.