Beavis and Butt-Head Are Dead is the 41st and final episode in Season 7 of Beavis and Butt-Head. It is the 200th episode overall and the final episode of the show's original run until the show was revived in 2011.
Plot[]
As school starts, Mr. Van Driessen announces roll call. For the third week in a row, Beavis and Butt-head are absent from school, and now he grows worried about them, wondering where they are. Van Driessen tells McVicker, who does not care and tells him to deal with it himself, but Van Driessen insists they get the secretary, Ms. Tress, to call the duo's parents. Beavis and Butt-head are on the sofa flipping through the TV channels, hoping for something good. Butt-head is irritated, and tells Beavis to answer the phone. Beavis (without thinking) answers "yeah, they're dead" to the call. Ms. Tress's reception however takes this as fact. Speaking to McVicker and Van Driessen by speaker, she announces that the duo are dead, to contrasting reactions. Upon hearing such news, McVicker announces "that's the best news I've ever heard", and his nerves disappear, as he says it would be either him or them. Van Driessen is devastated.
Back at the duo's home, Butt-head complains about the TV programmes on. Beavis complains about stations making them "sit through this crap", but the duo choose this over school. In class, Van Driessen plans to announce the grave news, but McVicker announces it loud and wide over the school for all teachers to know, and that there will be an immediate faculty meeting for all teachers in the school. To the apathetic and uncaring class before him, Van Driessen reminisces of the times that he and the duo have come to bond - and all ended in disaster, from a camping trip that ended in a bear attack, defending Beavis against Mr. Manners in a fight, to him flying off of a cliff through the bus window because of standing during an extremely sharp turn.
In a state of catharsis over the two, Van Driessen desires anyone from the dead and apathetic class to express their feelings to the dead duo, but picks Daria, knowing that she was the one they usually were seen with. To her words, though she feels slightly bad, she expresses that they did not have very bright futures ahead of them, recalling the experiences she had with the duo. Though brunt and blunt in truth, Van Driessen is thankful for sharing her thoughts, and only hopes that the two found what they were looking for in their harsh and hard lives.
Back at home, Beavis and Butt-head continue to flip through the channels, and much to their disappointment, nothing comes of interest nor entertainment to them, as they've seen it all before. They say unless they begin to see boobs and butts, the duo will get pissed off if they don't see anything good.
Back at school, all of the teachers pop open champagne and host a huge party in the teacher's lounge, now happy that the tormenting duo are dead. Though Van Driessen wants to see some empathy and sadness from the teachers, Buzzcut blows up and tells him that it took every ounce of his self-control not to kill them, finishing that even thinking of them kills any of his sense of human dignity and expressing his hope that their deaths were slow and painful. He engages in a harsh argument with Van Driessen, which McVicker breaks up. While Van Driessen desires a scholarship and grassroots program to help future students like Beavis and Butt-head, McVicker misinterprets the idea as "exploiting their deaths for money" and starts a fundraiser for his and the teacher's gains. He then gets the TV station to arrive, in order to garner attention and interest for his plan to be set in motion.
At home, the two see their school on the news, where nobody even mentions the duo's names, leading them to think someone else has died. As Butt-head lies that a girl was into him upon making his move, and they mock Stewart for being a wuss on live TV, they soon grow disappointed that no dead body is shown on TV for them to see. Wanting to see dead bodies themselves, they head out to the school.
As the TV station gathers live around the school for the deaths of Beavis and Butt-head, McVicker smokes a cigar in excitement. As Van Driessen collects change for a grassroots campaign, McVicker is pissed at him, but Van Driessen tells him that the change will bloom into payoffs tomorrow for students in need, and McVicker expresses his delight in how money will come to him, noticing that they haven't had this much attention since the time when President Clinton visited Highland High.
As a reporter asks McVicker about his feelings to the now deceased "Brevis" and "Head Butt", McVicker attempts to mask his true feelings of the boys in hopes to garner sympathy with an improv speech. McVicker paraphrases Van Driessen's claims about fundraising in the duo's names, and says he would gladly exchange all the money to see the two again. Beavis and Butt-head make it through the crowd and Butt-head asks McVicker for the money. As the two tug over the jar, McDicker's expresses that they were supposed to be dead, and that he'll kill them himself. After a montage sequence of all the duo's actions (suggested to be an hallucination), McVicker has a heart attack and drops to the floor. To Beavis' delight, there is now, a dead body, and Butt-head has the money.
The two, mocking McVicker for his spasms upon getting "a heart attack", and that Buzzcut "made out" with him (Buzzcut gave him mouth-to-mouth CPR), walk back home. Beavis suggests they go back to school to see if anything interesting happens in the future, but Butt-head insists that, with the small amount of money they got in the jar, they are now rich, so they never have to go to school again. The series ends with the two walking toward the sunset.
Characters[]
- Beavis
- Butt-Head
- Daria Morgendorffer
- Stewart Stevenson
- David Van Driessen
- Principal McVicker
- Coach Buzzcut
- Spanish Teacher
- Mrs. Dickie
- Ms. Tress
- Mr. Manners (flashback)
- Mrs. Stevenson
Trivia[]
- This was originally the series finale of Beavis and Butt-Head. It went 14 years ago until Werewolves of Highland premiered in 2011.
- It is the last episode to air in the 1990s and in the 20th century.
- Before the premiere of this episode, MTV aired a 2 hour long mini marathon of episodes which included Animation Sucks, Hard Sell, Leave It to Beavis, Butt Flambe, Our Founding Losers, Graduation Day, The Future of Beavis and Butt-Head, and Speech Therapy.[2]
- This was the last episode to use traditional ink and paint cell animation and the last one traditionally animated before moving to Flash animation in Season 8.
- The original plot was that Beavis and Butt-head really were going to die, but this was eventually scrapped.
- This episode takes place before the first episode of the spin-off, "Daria", which it premiered a few months before this episode aired where Daria is still a student at Highland High School and still living in Highland before she and her family moved to Lawndale.
- There's a likelihood that this episode is non-canon, considering it was not in rotation with the rest of the episodes. What also supports this is that Daria's penultimate appearance was in Sprout which aired in 1996, a year before the titular TV show began airing.
- The winner of the Beavis and Butt-Head Do America contest from December 1996, Christine LaGuardia, was in this episode as Amy Asskowitz, the dark haired girl that Butt-Head claims to have scored with. It's also thought that she voiced the bumpers for this episode but it's currently unknown.
- Though they proclaim themselves rich in the end with only a jar of change, their living room appears to be filled with nacho trays and pop bottles; knowing that such items cost a lot of money, and that the duo are lucky and advantageous with lottery tickets, lotto draws, and other games of chance in previous episodes, it's likely that they have somehow won a large amount of money before their several week long absence, and so much, in fact, that they didn't have to go back to school.
- Released on the "Brushes With Death" PAL VHS tape.
- Van Dreissen's flashbacks feature scenes from Canoe, Tired, Manners Suck, and Bus Trip. Daria's are from Babes 'R' Us, Butt is it Art?, and U.S. History. Two of Buzzcut's come from No Laughing and Buff 'N' Stuff. The rest of the flashbacks were made up.
- The flashback montage during McVicker's heart attack shows even more footage. The source clips are in the following order: Safe Driving, Substitute, No Laughing, Tired, Work is Death, Home Improvement, Generation in Crisis (the boys making strange noises with shirts over the head), Lawn & Garden (chainsaw headbang), Steamroller, Nose Bleed (Beavis punched in the nose), Whiplash (Butt-head parked in front of the bus), Incognito, Killing Time, Babes 'R' Us, Lawn & Garden (insect court), The Great Cornholio, Pumping Iron, Pierced (Butt-head's drill), Comedians, Wet Behind the Rears, Figure Drawing, Cow Tipping, Whiplash, (Beavis being propelled to the front of the bus), Generation in Crisis (documentary headbang), P.T.A. (McVicker shoving a crowd), Heroes, Nothing Happening, Lawn & Garden (Butt-head using the chainsaw), P.T.A. (McVicker punching a guy), Evolution Sucks, any music video that showed Butt-head slapping Beavis in the face multiple times, Temporary Insanity, Animation Sucks, Ball Breakers, Lightning Strikes, Head Lice, The Final Judgement of Beavis, Nose Bleed (Beavis coughing up blood) Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest, and Pierced (the boys screaming in horror). Some of these clips are the only chance of seeing missing episodes on home video. Funnily, many of these clips in no way involved McVicker, nor did he witness them happening.
- During McVicker's heart attack montage "In the Hall of Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg was playing.
- McVicker somehow did survived his heart attack and was in a coma because he did return in some episodes of the Season 8 during the show's temporary revival in 2011.
- Whether he died or not, another supporting point in the finale being non-canon is the mostly nonplussed nature about Beavis and Butt-head still attending Highland High in 2011.
- This episode features a special end credits sequence set to "I'll Be Seeing You" by Liberace.
- On the Mike Judge Collection, these credits have been redone: The font is different, and the image of Beavis and Butt-Head with their shirts over their heads from "Screamers" has been swapped out for an image of the boys doing the same from "Generation in Crisis".
Sources[]
Episode List
Shorts · Season 1 · Season 2 · Season 3 · Season 4 · Season 5 · Season 6 · Season 7 · Season 8 · Season 9 · Season 10
Shorts: Frog Baseball · Peace, Love and Understanding
Season 1: Door-to-Door · Give Blood · Balloon
Season 2: Scientific Stuff · Good Credit · Burger World · Baby Makes Uh, Three · Beware of the Butt · At the Sideshow · Customers Suck · Sick · Home Improvement · Way Down Mexico Way · At the Movies · No Laughing · The Butt-Head Experience · Lawn & Garden · Stewart's House · For Better or Verse · Bedpans & Broomsticks · Babes R Us · Yogurt's Cool · Heroes · Sign Here · Washing the Dog · Friday Night · Be All You Can Be
Season 3: Comedians · Carwash · Couch-Fishing · Incognito · Kidnapped · Naked Colony · Tornado · Cleaning House · Scratch 'N' Win · Scared Straight · Eating Contest · Sporting Goods · Sperm Bank · Buff 'N' Stuff · Citizen Butt-Head · Politically Correct · Ball Breakers · Meet God · Meet God · True Crime · The Trial · The Crush · Plate Frisbee · Canoe · Young, Gifted, & Crude · Foreign Exchange · A Very Special Christmas with Beavis and Butt-Head · Closing Time · Most Wanted
Season 4: Wall of Youth · Cow Tipping · Trouble Urinating · Rabies Scare · They're Coming to Take Me Away, Huh Huh · Jump! · Pumping Iron · Let's Clean it Up · 1-900-BEAVIS · Water Safety · Blackout! · Late Night with Butt-Head · The Final Judgement of Beavis · Pool Toys · Madame Blavatsky · Beavis and Butt-Head's Island · Figure Drawing · Date Bait · Butt is it Art? · Right On · Manners Suck · The Pipe of Doom · Safe Driving · Mr Anderson's Balls · Patients Patients · Teen Talk · Crisis Line · Vs. the Vending Machine · Generation in Crisis · Radio Sweethearts · The Great Cornholio · Liar! Liar!
Season 5: Held Back · Killing Time · Beard Boys · Choke · Safe House · Hard Sell · Walkathon · Temporary Insanity · Dude, a Reward · Walking Erect · Career Day · Plastic Surgin' · Take a Number · Beaverly Buttbillies · Tainted Meat · Stewart Moves Away · Top O' The Mountain · Party · Wet Behind the Rears · Bad Dog · Lightning Strikes · Dream On · Candy Sale · Animation Sucks · What's the Deal · The History of Women · To the Rescue · I Dream of Beavis · Pregnant Pause · Here Comes the Bride's Butt · Screamers · Beavis, Can You Spare a Dime? · Skin Trade · Oil Change · Buttniks · Bang the Drum Slowly Dumbass · Another Friday Night · Tired · Close Encounters · Womyn · Vidiots · Premature Evacuation · Whiplash · Spare Me · Patsies · Murder Site · Spanish Fly · Sexual Harassment · Bus Trip · Green Thumbs · Steamroller
Season 6: Bungholio: Lord of the Harvest · The Mystery of Morning Wood · US History · Feel a Cop · Date Watchers · Blood Pressure · Huh-Huh-Humbug · It's a Miserable Life · Babysitting · Stewart is Missing · Gang of Two · Sprout · Prank Call · No Service · Yard Sale · P.T.A. · Substitute · Shopping List · Buy Beer
Season 7: Butt, Butt, Hike · Vaya Con Cornholio · Evolution Sucks · Ding-Dong-Ditch · Just for Girls · A Very Special Episode · Dumbasses Anonymous · Underwear · Head Lice · Cyber-Butt · Nose Bleed · Citizens Arrest · Pierced · A Great Day · On Strike · Follow Me · Nothing Happening · Take a Lap · Shortcuts · Bride of Butt-Head · Special Delivery · Woodshop · T.V. Violence · Canned · Garage Band · Impotence · The Miracle That is Beavis · Shopping Cart · Inventors · Die Fly, Die! · Drinking Butt-ies · Work is Death · Breakdown · Graduation Day · The Future of Beavis and Butt-Head · Speech Therapy · Leave It to Beavis · Butt Flambe · Our Founding Losers · Beavis and Butt-Head Do Thanksgiving · Beavis and Butt-Head Are Dead
Season 8: Werewolves of Highland · Crying · Daughter's Hand · Tech Support · Holy Cornholio · Drones · Supersize Me · Bathroom Break · The Rat · Spill · Doomsday · Dumb Design · Copy Machine · Holding · Used Car · Bounty Hunters · Time Machine · Massage · School Test · Snitchers · Whorehouse · Going Down
Season 9: Escape Room · The Special One · Boxed In · Beekeepers · Roof · River · The New Enemy · The Doppelgänger · Nice Butt-Head · Home Aide · Virtual Stupidity · Locked Out · Kidney · The Good Deed · Two Stupid Men · Freaky Friday · Weird Girl · Time Travelers · Spiritual Journey · Refuse Service · Downward Dumbass · The Most Dangerous Game · Bone Hunters
Season 10: Meditation Sucks · Polling Place · Old Man Beavis · Hunting Trip · Pardon Our Dust · Pranks · Hellhole · Take a Bow · Tobacco Farmers · Married · Sad Boys · Are You There God? It's Me, Beavis · The Day Butt-Head Went Too Far · Spring Break · The Warrior · Vasectomies · Stolen Valor · Breeding Frenzy · Hoarders · Needle Dicks · Abduction · Sleepover
Season 11: TBA