[ID: adult Bobby Hill holding a Kinger, from The Amazing Digital Circus, labubu that i hand drew. /end ID]
i bought a kinger labubu blind box really really hoping with all my heart to get queenie but i pulled the standard regular degular kinger even tho the hot topic employee blessed the box and everything. i still really want a queenie but who knows maybe some day. but you know over time ive grown attached to him and ill just stand in yhe door way like this and show it to my friend or my wife like they haven't seen it a hundred thousand times already, as if i dont keep showing it to them. id like to imagine bobby does the same all the time.
King of the Hill Season 15 Review: Gat Dang Even Better
Wingo ya'll! It's another year and till at least 2028 that means another beautiful season of King of the HIll. Last year after years of speculation, scant details and a few leaked story boards that winded up being for this batch instead, we got Season 14, one of king of the hill's best seasons that used the large time gap to jump ahead in our faviorite batch of texan's lives and see what happened, recentering the show to it's peak and showing just how a revival should be done: move the show forward and do something new, but retain what made it great.
With the bar so high I was nervous going into this one, worried that the momentum and novelty wouldn't stick. Anxiety will do stupid things to you and doubting this series was one of them as season 15 is even better, finding a better ballance for it's stories, more creative things to do with the modern era, and more places for dale to be dale. A lot of the growing pains from last season have subsided and what we're left with is just a damn fine batch of episodes. Even the ones that skid a bit still have something to bring to the table. It even adresses two big questions left hanging from last season , one of which with a massive status quo shift. So fire up the grill, grab an alamo, disable your tracker as it won't work this close to dale's house anyway, and let's take a look at King of the HIll Season 15 and how an already great new version of a series evolves to something even better.
C-C-C-Changes
Season 14 had a LOT of hard work it needed to do: It needed to establish a new status quo that wasn't radically diffrent, but was diffrent enough to shove the show in an intresting new direction: Hank and Peggy were now retired after what we find out this season was a 5 year stint in Saudi Arabia, Bobby was now a 21 year old buisness part owner in dallas reconnecting with Connie and roooming with Joseph, Kahn and Minh had to go public with thier divorce and Dale, Bill and Boomhauer, the recently rechristned by the hulu summary "Alley Guys", which I like as the guys was a tad generic for such legends.. were really in about the same spot except Boommhauer now had a step son to look after and Dale was now Mainstream.
All this catching up meant Season 14 was more seralized: Almost all of hank and peggy's plot dealt with them being retired and how they dealt with that, and Bobby had almost every b plot to himself as he and connie slowly got back together with some stops along the way for sexy rats, his girlfriend taking a dump on jerry jones desk and connie getting all the way high on morphine.
Season 15 gets to ease up a bit: There's ongoing subplots as Bobby dates Connie and goes on reality show King of the Grill, Kahn and Minh adjust to being bittery divorced, and Kahn Rooms with Bill but now the viewer's used to this new world it can take it's time with thsoe things.
It also means we get a lot of the things that last season just didn't have time for back. The biggest and best is we get FAR more episodes with the Alley Guys messing around and doing stupid shit. The season premier has them investigate a mysterious electric truck someone parked in front of Hank's house, with Hank not loving everyone assuming it's him. It nicely splashes in Peggy who badly wants to solve the mystery in some true crime fashion, but easily could've fit before. Naturally the culprit ends up being Dale as it's Nancy's truck and he parked it here to avoid theives. I love the ending of the plot so much too with Hank, understandably, sounding exausted he has to kick dale's ass and Dale trying to flee.. in a truck he forgot to charge.
While season 14 was great i genuinely missd these 3 morons and hank doing stupid shit and projects together. We also tget way more pop ins in the alley and way more stupid shit. We even get a full subplot without hank where bill wears a toupe and acts like a dog because it's the only way Kahn can get Bill to practice self care.
We also get one of the best alley guys messarounds in the series: while Reality Bites a plot is a huge nothingburger, it's b plot has Dale try the new trend of magnet fishing while the guys are regular fishing.. and end up with a civil war canon. We get the guys cleaning it up, and Dale really wanting to fire it and naturally stealing it in the night while hank's eating. Just as naturally this ends up going horribly wrong with it hitting something.. and the guys only checking after hank finds out. I love how too as Dale backs the canon in claims hank will never know.. right hank? Whose probably been waiting for these idiots to get back all night but understandably didn't want to hurt his back waiting in a chair or something in the garage. The payoff of Dale having shot Big Tex's fingers off is glorious,a s is hima ctually helping save hank with his magnet. Then getting stuck to the car as it's dale after all.
We also get more flexiblity in the plots as a whole: We still get Hank and Peggy as they get a new dog, attend a marriage retreat ran by the Gribbles to Peggy's ego bruised fury, raise chickens to help BOomhauer bond with his stepson and dale gets the eggs he needs and have Hank help Peggy with menopause, but we also get Peggy writing with Minh, and Hank having to realize he's beng an ass at a sci fi convention , deal with being a victim of elder fraud by going full gribble, and Hank having to save Bill from somethingn resembling a cult for the third time. The world feels wider again this time. We spend plenty of time in Dalls but even there we get more variety: Bobby has to put up with Chane for an episode, goes on a road trip to mexico, helps Connie mascot, goes on reality television, goes to a sci fi convention and we get to uncover how he first realized he wanted to be a chef the rest of his life during his k pop phase and job at whattaburger. With the hard parts done the characters can go back to doing whatever and get a lot more range, while still taking full advantage of the time skip for new fun setups like chicken raising, dealing with people being butthurt about trans chickens, and more.
The joke density is also up: While I found season 14 very funny, season 15 packs in way more jokes and all of them hit. There's more casual small ones like when Boomhauer's girlfriend, now fully fleshed out and named Wendy, asks why she can't find her son luke on his tracking ap, Hank just casually remarks "Yeah that won't work anywhere near dale's house". In the same episode we get Dale casualy breaking into the hill's house via "the dale door" , blaming the price of eggs for why he's taking the hills, and then bringing them a chicken to raise next scene rather than the eggs he was told to get and taking Peggy saying he's better at killing than nurturing with a proud curtsey. A lot of this is simply having way more Dale this season, but Emilio, Connie and Minh all get in a good one any time they show up.
The season's only drawback is, due to the short episode count, a few characters either get sidelined or don't show up at all. Season 14's second biggest breakout Willow is missing as is
KEITH DAVID MOTHERFUCKER
Though neither seem out of spite: The former likely wasn't easy to work in and they were likely waiting on the reception to season 14 to see if it was worth bringing back Bobby's two episode ex to complicate his life. Given how popular she was i'd say "Hell yeah" and both joseph being triple extra horned up and Hank's new buisness situation give us easy ins for her: Joseph would probably ask bobby first, who'd ikely be cool with it, but the weirdness both gets us an episode and gets her into the friend group, while she did bond with hank and while he did watch her shit on a desk, that again is something an episode of hard work from her could fix.
As for Brian it wasn't as some figured Keith David being super fucking busy with multiple shows, including the launching tonight President Curtis.. they just didn't find room for him and made it a priority next season.
Joseph meanwhile whie still present, only gets two episodes and one is just coming in to comment on the plot. We really need WAY more of him next season and more plots of just him and bobby as their trip to mexico is a delight; Joseph naturally proposes the strip by strutting into Robata Chane and asking everyone present "Who wants to help me get laid in mexico?" made even better by Bobby's deadpan response of "What's in mexico" That he's so used to Joseph's nonsense this dosen't phase him anymore. He also tries to pickup Conni'es friend Ola, who I honestly did not expecct to come back but is welcome giving Connie her own support and another addition to the friend group. WE got less JOseph but she filled the gap best she could. We need more of these four.
So they go to mexico where predictably, Joseph forgot to hit confirm on thier reservation so they miss out on nurse con, but do find two nice sisters owning a bnb... thankfully Bobby's able to ignore the murder van for some bone marrow. Joseph stil proves to be a manchild, always running to Sabrina Carpenter, and gets their power cut off and his head stuck in a chinese food container, as we all expected one day. Sadly this isa bout all he really gets to do, and hopefully we'll get more of his bullshit next season. Want to see him interact with his dad more.
His bio dad meanwhile is also largely absent, but Johnnnnnn Redcorn is more understandable. With Jonathan Joss' tragic death, they resue a few of his lines for one scene of Nancy turning him down, but don't really use him, likely having mmostly written the season already and using the next one to figure out where they go from here.
Happily Ever After Here We Are
At the start of the season the seeming impossible has happened: Hank Hill has comfortably settled into retirement. It dosen't mean he's stopped living or enjoying his life but Hank's exestntial dread of what to do NOW with the time is gone. It's given a nice subtle symbolic nod at the start of the season where he wakes up making coffee.. and it's daylight. It's still defintely the morning, but he's no longer on his old rythum of waking up at the crack of dawn, he's , as much as Hank Hill possibly can, relaxing a bit. He's still hank: his first plot of the season is hunting down the driver of an electric car because he, correctly, assumes other people will think it's his. But he'll still go from a stakeout to go get his guitar, spend more time in the Alley again. The listlenss he felt in "Chore Money, Chore Problems" seems to be gone. He's realized he can have new routines. It's something the series dosen't lampshade, like a lot of its great developments like Hank accepting luann as his own it's just something that happens organically in the background as time moves on and Hank slowly adjusts. The man will never full change but he will if he has to, he guesses.
Hank does have one new thing to adjust to, a new family member. Ladies, Gentlemen and everything in between and both , I present the greatest character of season 15, the one the only Ceaser Salad Hill
Yup the Hills get a new job and in typical Hank fashion, all he wanted was some toothpaste but Peggy instead fell in love with a foster dog with a LOT of care needed. Peggy does fully volunteer to do all the care needed for her new dog and to her credit Peggy fully commits, from stressing her new puppers anal glands to teaching bobby how to swaddle his new fur brother like a baby to giving him his MANY medications, Peggy is all on board. Hank being hank isn't and dosen't like that his new hopefully temporary dog is frail, looks like he'll keel over and that he has to wak the little puff ball in an adorable little raincaot and boots.
This shockingly dosen't take a full episode for Hank to get over as usual: midway through the episode Ceaser smellsa stranger and goes barking at them. Its only connie but the fact Hank catches her in a visiting Bobby's bed is enough for a father son Bwah and hank to just.. have them take the sheets with them. Still Ceaser's adeptness at barking at strangers, in this case Connie and her parents when the latter two show up to the window, and the fact he'll do the same to a ski masked dale means we don't have to live through racist Dawg again
Dale warms up to his boy as a guard dog. The real conflict is the ghost in the room: Ladybird was gone last season and while it wasn't talked about given Hank's general emotoinal constipation, it's not a suprise. It's still nice to deal with it in an intresting way like this: hank finds out his new beloved pooch is not 2 like the adoption told him, but ten and only has a few years left. He tries to return him because he genuinely CAN'T bare to go through this again and as someone whose lost 4 pets in the last 4 years... I completely understand. I worry for the three cats I have now dearly despite knowing two are kittens and one is only two and meowring constantly with life. Anyting can happen and it's hard to move on.
Yet it's also nice how Hank... ultimately reaizes this when Ceaser brings him Ladybird's old toy.. and Hank truly processes his grief, going to visit her grave, talking to her and asking that if she dosen't approve to come back from the dead. She dosen't.. and whiel Hank's scared he accepts he loves his new dog and what time he has is worth the pain to come. That it's scary to possibly take that again but well worth it. We see Ceaser casually napping under the table or happily jumping onto the couch to get pets the rest of the season and he truly is precious. A nice 180 from the stoic but adorable ladybird who I still miss.. but Ceaser scoots right into my heart.
Peggy has also largely settled htis season, and naturaly mmore smoothly than hank but still has a big change of her own to deal with: This season Peggy, while practicing for a husband and wife golf tournament, begins menopause.
To Hank's absolute credit while he's awkard about it a little, when trying to ask Peggy he reads symptoms of his phone and were this not 2020 would defintey have gotten a printout, his immidite response to every new symptom is to do SOMETHING to help it without being too smothering. He adjusts the air flow for hot fashes, gets her an ice bath, simply does nice things. He is working from his usual problem solving toolkit but he's far more patient about it. You think he'd take an episode alone to just TALK about it but this is a hank in a more emomtoinally stable place who just .. does.
And when he can't seem to do enough he dosen't force it, he dosen't complain like the old hank would've he instead genuinely asks Nancy and Minh for help. And while Minh of course takes the opportunity to terrify him by talking about her orgasms, one of the highlights, both are not only symapthetic but Nancy offers advice: Peggy needs to smoke a bowl. For real it helps with crampms and I ike that whiel Texas still criminalizes weed, as someone who has a sister who smokes medcinally, the show itself treats it as perfectly normal and something Peggy needs and while Hank is understandably terrified to do this.. he does it. It's another nice show of growth: Hank only dithers a bit.. but he dosen't need an alley discussion: His peggy is suffering, bitterly watching golden girls at 2 in the morning which I relate to and this could help.
So Hank Hill goes to a weed store, a sentence I'm just gonna.. bask in for a second. Hank Hill.. goes to buy weed. Hank Hill did through research on weed's effects on Menopause and recites them to the cerk. Said CLerk is a really chill nice guy who not only has plenty of customers on the spectrum but is on it himself and understands Hank. And this isn't me reading into it, to my utter delight the Autsim Spectrum was mentioned on king of the hill and the writers impictly made what i'd already talked about last year and many of us suspected clear; Hank Hill is on the autism spectrum. It dosen't go deeper, this guy sells weed and Hank has no idea what a spectrum is, but it's genuinely nice to not only acknoledge that for those of us who relate to hank on somel evel, the difficulty changing the hyperfixations, but to do it in such a sweet offhand way. They likely didn't intend for Hank to be autistic before the revival, but they warmly welcome it now and it fuels so good. I"m tearing up just a little at how.. nice it feels to be seen.
So Hank brings his wife what minh later dubs "the good shit", because hank founnd a very nice weed store mman who knew exactly the right strains.. but really Peggy just genuinely touched Hank Hill of all people bought her some pot. THat's real love.
Hank still has his trials over the season, but the rest are a bit less impactful save one. His struggle with being phone scammed is both relatable, i've had friends fall to the old discord reset scam, and almost did myself before realizing things didn't add up. No one is completely immune to this kind of shit or the mind games they play. Hank is told bobby is in a mexican prison, but Boby's really at his resort. Hank lashing out blames bobby for not being responsible thus making him worry.. but really it's just Hank facing a problem with an unkickable ass.
It's not the first time, the show would be a lot shorter if hank could just kick everyone's ass and the world better for it, but it feels unique here: at least when dealing with con men previously like when Jeff Goldblum scammed Peggy with a phony genius certificate or Hank found out his car dealership Ted Danson was conning him for years and years, there was a face to it a big highprofile guest star for Hank to find some way around eventually. We saw that last year with Eli: Hank is dumb on many subjects, tech being a big one, but he is very emotoinally intellgent and Crafty when boxed in.
Yet a phone scammer is a faceless person the police can't be bothered to track down because it's near impossible, they can't really prosicute anyway, and his odds of finding even with Dale on his side are pretty much zero. It's the perfect crisis to give hank: He protects his family.. but he's facing an enemy he dosen't understand and the class that's supposed to help mildly condecsneds. Not enough to be a villian of a week but enough to not realize hey maybe this person is prideful and needs to be eased into this. Your teaching a class on Elder Fraud man, your very lucky Cotton is still very dead or you'd meet the same fate as that idiot who called Cottn, a wII vetran, a nazi and was promptly murdered for his hubris. You have to have some patience and tacct
Instead Hank goes to Dale whose Daleightful as ever, making an ai hank say "Propane is the devil's oxygen" and having apparenlty gone from just one ID he had to give back because the person he stole it from wasn't dead to a MONTHLY rotating set. The montage set to Paranoid is excellent. The show has a solid music budget and it's something I forgot , but it clearly got it back for the revival as we also get a great Bobby/Connie montage to I think we're alone now and one more i'm again saving for the next section. I may not be doing episode capulses, but I still have to pace myself.
To prevent Hank from spiraling further after realizing Hank sees him the same way Bobby sees joseph and that he really DOSEN'T need to keep putting off simple things his dad asks out of stubborn pride, belive me I have the same issue with my sister and feel bobby here. Someone well meaningly but constanlty telling you to do something can get you all defenstive. YOu KNOW thier right but just dont' want to admit it. And given all the times Hank's been stubborn, I completely get why Bobby has this issue.
How he helps hank is delighfully batshit: Bobby makes an ai voice clone of sylvester stallone asking for funding for an over the top sequel... which Hank was a big enough fan of to be on the fan forums. Yes the heartwarming father son trucking but also arm wrestling based Sylvester Stallone movie Over the Top. Hank is able to get his groove back and spot something Bobby got wrong and all is good.
So while we're on the subject a quick plug, I promise it wont' be long but in these hard finaical times I COULD use more money coming in than my usual comissions allow. So to help with that, I've launcehd a new series on Patreon and Substacks: Movie Mondays. For the low price of one dollar a month on Patreon every monday you can read an exclusive movie review, along with all the other exclusives i've tried over the years including reviews of Godzilla Vs King Kong and Adventures of Tin Tin. And to start with a bang I reviewed Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender, with Spider-Man Brand New Day and my lovely subscribers who pitch in 5 dollars or more are picking between Evil Dead Rise and The Odessy as we speak.
And as an added incentive exclusive to this review, if I get at least 5 new patrons and or substackers before two weeks after this review I will do a monthly review of a king of the hill episode from here on out, with my 5 dollar subscribers once again getting to pick what I review. But even if you only have an extra buck amonth to spare that's perfectly fine. Just as long as 5 new people total sign up i'll commit to this new series. So sign up today to both get access to a gaggle of fine film reviews AND to ake sure I keep the propane fires burning between seasons.
Jacob Mattingly | creating Animation And Comic Reviews | Patreon
A 30 something who writes reviews of all sorts of media primarily cartoons comics and film. Will do reviews on commission or via patreon. No
After that plug, while Hank has many an adventure repairing big tex, buildling a chicken coop because he heard how hard it'd be and saving Bill from a cult again, there was one last challenge for him to face, a battle of the soul that would answer the question looming over the series since it came back: Why DID Hank Leave Strickland Propane?
Coronation of the Hill
Propane Recall was my most anicipated episode going into the season for one simple reason: We'd FINALLY found out why Hank, who spent years putting out the endless fires left in the wake of human dumpster fire Buck Strickand, who looked up to the man despite his very obvious faults, lack of grattitude 80% of the time and ya know once trying to frame Hank for Murder would ever leave, let alone for Saudi Aramco.
It's something that hung over last season and made it's own finale frustrating: Having Buck show up without even hinting at why Hank left is one of the revivals' biggest mistakes. They should of thought out the why before they even thought of using him and while this episode is able to write around that, it's still a weird thing not to plan ahead on. I do get waiting to tackle it: Saladin K Patterson wanted the show to settle in it's new form before they broke this episode mid season and that's fair, they just shoudln't of used buck till he was ready as it felt like a middle finger to just.. not adress why the hell one of animations greatest Workaholics wasn't working at a place he built propane can by propane can and loved more than his own son on most days.
The lack of pre planning is even more baffling as the solution they land on.. is perfect. Propane Recall is such a fantastic episode that explains everything so well without overfocusing on it that i'm genuinely shocked this WASN'T planned in advance and was floored when reading that in an interview. Propane Recall would've been a perfect new series finale and still works well as an excellent end to this batch of episodes, closing one chapter of the revival and opening an exciting new one.
Hank gets an emergency summons from his old strickland friends I dearly missed after two seasons away: Jo Jack, Enrique and Buddah Sack, the former having faked needing a sober ride home. He IS day drunk but things are more than bad enough to warrant it. The guys badly need hank's help and it's nice and subtly telling that Hank "genuinely suprised a pimp would ignore traffic signals" HIll is not at all bothered by the deception and seems entirely off his game when talking about STrickland.. and when his old friends ask him to save it.
Hank goes back to his oldest coping mechanism, doing a smoke , getting one from a sketchy alley man and flashing back to 5 years ago. I was completely suprised that the Hill's leaving was not right after the original run ended: the intro implied it and that bobby went with them.. but i'm fine with ignoring that in favor of a more compelling story.
With Me Too starting, Buck understandably planned to get the fuck out of there before the charges and planned to pass the Batton. Hank understandably thought after years of loyal service this would finally be it, as did Peggy and all his coworkers.
We sadly know better and unsuprisingly Buck instead promoted his son Ray Roy who he and we met towards the end of the original run. It sounds like one of 80 "Buck is a complete ingrate plots"... and that's part of the magic. Buck isn't acting any diffrent than usual, he hasn't changed at all.. and that's the problem. Buck can't even fathom what he did wrong or expect that Hank would react any diffrently: Buck's let him down a thousand times, why would he at all expect hank to be upset he was passed up for a promotion and asked to clean up another messy horny drunk's mistakes for the rest of his life? Hank was his goden goose, would do just about anything he asked, Buck kknew what buttons to press.
So why was this the breaking point? Simple: Buck showed he never respected hank. Hank respects buck: he may be annoyed by his bullshit, but he respects what he built, who he used to be, and what Hank desperatley hopes he will be again someday. Hank's feverent loyalty to me reads as him badly hoping the surrogate father he once had will return to the man he idolized when it's incredily likely that version of Buck never existed: he wasl ikely always like this and only got worse and more transparent with time... and it takes buck outlining just what Hank had been doing to really let it finally sink in. Buck likes hank, he thinks he works hard.. but he'll NEVER be anything to Buck other than his golden goose, never more than a very good worker, and he never thought of him as anything else. Buck can call him old top and show affection.. but Hank saw Buck as a father, Buck saw him as a walking dollar sign to exploit. Buck NEVER cared and finally realizing that leads Hank to do the unthinkable: he quits. I like that he later states it was unconcious: he didn't even realize he'd done it at first... but doubles down. After 13 seasons of Buck taking advantage of this poor man, Hank leaving Buck to deal with the consequences of his own actions for once is satisfying. Being hank he's civil and professional enough for them to talk between, explaning last season's finale, but their never going to be friends again and it's telling even as Hank struggles to find another job he NEVER considers going back. He would rather attempt to worth for THATERTON! (Who predictably tries to get company secrets and has hired Jimmy Wichard, who was a delight to see again) and Dale (Who Hank only lasts a minute with and still nets the deserved position of Greatest Dale's Dead Bug Employee of all time from Dale. ) than even think of groveling back.
It also makes the Saudi move make far more sense: You'd THINK Hank would be swimming in propane and propane opportunities, but its likely the start of the great recession put Buck's non thaterton competitors out of buisness and the lack of competition again is likely the only reason strickland lasted another 5 years. He has nowhere to go till he gets a call from Dallas.. and thenf inds out it's from Aramco. By making it both hank's last option AND one that includes a handsome nest egg it makes perfect sense and explains Hank's early retirement: he had the chance to, his old dream job was dead too him, it seemed like a good idea till he had to fill all that time, and then became one as he succesfully filled it.
It's also nice that despite being the job of a lifetime and one that despite the cons both Hank and Peggy are game for Hank is more than willing to cancel if Bobby isn't willing. And Bobby, with blue hair as he's mid k pop phase and having not only taken a job at whattaburger to help during this, instantly "Nutting up" like peggy wanted, but having found his calling isn't ready to leave.. but has matured enough to offer a viable alterantive: They go, he stays with Lucky and Luanne (Who we STILL dont' know waht happend to them), mirroring how LUan's own adult life started, and he'll visit and skype and finish high sccholl. I also like that while product placement it fits Bobby's easily impressed but open personality that a fast food job is what finally mamkes everything click. We didn't NEED to know the exact origin for Bobby's love of cooking, his love of meat, fruit pies and excellent sauce skills were good enough hints, but it's a satisfying one: ther'es a diffrence between having a taent and knowing you have it and this is bobby relaizing it. "I"ve found my propane and propane acessories" and hank's look of pride says it all
One Bill scream of ultimate anguish later we're back in the present and we get proably the most satisfying scene in the entire show: Hank goes to Buck to beg him to fire Ray Roy ... and Buck once again is too Chickenshit to do it begging hank to "be the daddy, be the daddy" which while funny.. shows just how pathetic Buck is. That despite his uisnesss taking, despite Hank telling him to nut up , of all people, despite all evidence the needs to take fucking responsiblity he can't. And as a result Hank vows to never work for him again. Hank once and for all sees buck as he is: a man with some taent but a pathetic selfish ass who can't do anything for himself and who Hank is tired of carrying. It may be the end of something he loved... but Hank will not sacrifice his dignity or self respect to work for a man who has none and will give him none.
So Hank and Peggy head to Robata Chane to ceebrate and I love this scene: I love Hank just ccasually agreeing with Peggy saying he loves her more than propane, that despite how much he loves it (Bobby correctly said it was sometimes over him), he loves her mmore and their relationship has only strengthend with this extra time.. but that as bad as the split was.. it was good. If he hadn't he never would've gotten his nest Egg, Bobby never would've become an incredibly young buisness owner, and Hank , while not saying it, never would've found his self respect. Hank is utterly content with where he is fitting the season: he may have challenges and sturggles like anyone else.. but he's happy.
And it's hank being this settled that akes the story work: Hank a season ago very well might've broke and went back out of bordeom or at least considred it. Hank no longer NEEDS Strickland and defintely dosen't need Buck anymore. He's happy where he's at and has moved on. He's at complete peace.. and that's exactly where he needs to be when he decides for the first time since coming back to pass Stricland.. and finds it in disrepari. I love Peggy's support: She simply says "Your going in aren't you" and while Hank responds with a "your right i Probably should", she knows this buisness matters to him, that as settled as he is.. he can't abandon it as he sees it in ruins: the sign vandalized, the propane cases open, the showroom soked in urine and Ray Roy also soaked in urine and passed out Drunk. All it takes for Hank to get back in the game is a simple exchange
"Peggy?"
"I understand"
It's really sweet just how far these two have come, that with just two words Hank changes his life again.. but dosen't go backwords. He was good on his word: He dosen't work for Buck ever again..... he BUYS 51% STRICKLAND PROPANE WITH THE NEST EGG. I didn't catch at first that this was likely the conversation to do that.. but it's all they needed. Hank hestiated on his last investment because he was scared and didn't belive.. but there's nothing he belives in more than propane and Peggy knows it's the only thing hel oves more than her son and that betting on Hank Hill to succed with hard work, honesty and determination is the smartest investment.
So we end the season with Hank replacing the manager sign as "Down on Mainstreet" plays and all the old famiiliar faces, and a few new ones, clean strickland up. Hank is welclomed back.. and subtly encouraged to not answer with hank hill assitant manager.. but hank hill: owner and manager of strickland propane. After years of cleaning up Bucks messes, Hank isn't just manager.. he is the boss his friends and employees deserve. The king has been crowned and while Buck will no doubt be an issue as minority shareholder, when hasn't he been an issue, it's nothing but awesome to see Hank not just get the promotion but become the true boss of Strickland he always was and nothing but sweet to see him settle back in.
Hank's promotion works because Hank isn't trying to fill a hole: he was completely satisfied..and that's hwere he needed to be. He's not back because he has to be.. he's back because h wants to. Because this is his other home and like Rainey Street, it needs him. It'll alwasy need him and he'll always be there... he's just where he was always meant to be.
They Call it Bobby Love Part Deux
WIth this season Bobby and Connie have happily settled down as a couple and thank god for that. While i'm all for letting the relationship slowly rebuild, last season leaned too heavy on tropes I don't reay care for: introducing another love intrest just to slow things down? (Even if Willow was awesome), the object of our heroes affections seemingly being unaware of his feelings for them despite them having no chill, miscommuincations to help the plot keep going. The COnnie/Bobby stuff had it all and a weird hatred of ethical non monogamy and polyamory and general, semeingly agreeing with WIllow's tonedeaf "Side dick comment' , only presenting it as a coping mechanism for Connie's newly minted but understandable commitment issues and making me eyeroll this season when Bobby brought up Chane's man whore nature when he was with Connie.. when they both could if she wanted and he was within his rights.
Thankfuly as last seasons finale foreshadowed, the two are far more fun to watch as a couple and I suspect the series did a speedrun of the necessary slide back and fun bobby dating shenanigans so they could just get to their preferred status quo of the two being together, the fun setups that come with that, and the conflicts that ccan come out of that. It may of been mildly annoying to get here but it's adorablle now we are.
When we open the season, Bobby is frequently leaving the restraunt early to go spend time with Connie with Emilios blessing, with Emilo correctly pointing out Bobby overworks himself and i'ts not a shame to take some time out for himself. He's still being repsonsible and leaving his #1 guy in charge. Emilo continues to be the best wether it's pointing out LA is where Raven's Home is filmed, saying closing your eyes to feel something is how you enjoy it, or pointing out he used to sneak out to see his girlfriend.. then sneak out of her place to see his other girlfirend.. then sneak around everywhere because both found out. This man is both a treasure and deeply fascinating and he needs a spotlight episode next season. I want to know what this man's home like is life besides filled with guns and raven's home reruns.
Bobby and Connie are just cute together, with Connie's giggle when Bobby surpises her being the most adorable thing. Props to Lauren Tom for that noise, it's truly precious. We get a really fantastic montage to I Think WE're ALone now of the two hanging out, being cute and generaly happy. Their ready to go public.. or at least Bobby is but Connie cautions a soft launch, something I hadn't heard of as i''m desperately alone thank you for asking. Basically it's a photo of a date but not the couple themselves that lets people know your in a relationship, but not with who.
This fails to actually stop Chane's petty douchebaggery as he immdietly wants to kknow who "This fat fingerd fuck" is when Connie and Bobby post a photo of them making a heart. Emilio tries to take the heat and whiel Bobby understandably dosen't let him, he gets fired for trying to anyway because Chane is a fucked up little whiny bitch. He is entertaining though and his racist assumption he could throw a rock and hit two emilios that he learned at buisness schol leads to bobby's on point "They teach you to throw rocks at mexicans?". predictably he just hires two guys off the street and starts to tank the restraunt.
Bobby takes Connie's advice to go to one of the only men Chane fears and since the Babadook isn't real, Ted ends up putting his son in his place. I"m genuinely shocked that Ted was a self made man, working up from the Mail Room to being a buisness man with a buisness plan who mamkes you money in buisness land. It makes sense and it's a nice addition.
He naturally does the rich person with a fail son he dosen't ike tactic of making Chane actually work which actually works. Chane is terrible.. but his hatred of having to get a real job and the close quarters clues Bobby into why Chane is crashing out over the relationship: he caught feeings. He won't admit it of course because TEARS ARE FOR CUCKS BRO, but Bobby being bobby shows genuine empathy for Chane having apparnetly PROPOSED after connie dumped him and "busting a nut.. in my heart". THe two end up locked down in the cellar, but thankfully Emilio has the key.. and enough good sense to ask for a raise, a promotion to executive sous chef which, as that's his job, is more than earned.. and for his band to play Steely Dan every friday. Fair and now I REALLY want to hear emilio sing "Hey Ninteen". Or in general. Please let us see this.
While order is restored there and Chane and his dad peace out for the season there is another big problem in the young couple's way: Kahn and Minh, who not only react with horror to the coupe going offical, but are now bitterly divorced. That decision paid off big time this season: Kahn is not only back to main character status, but the two's ways of dealing with it provide some of the seasons biggest laughs: Minh tries dating and dating around again , starting with a guy she meets in a writing class with Peggy that Peggy predictably ruins for her own selfish bullshit, and terrifying hank with the power of orgasms.
Kahn meanwhile is depressed as he's not only now living across the strett while still not over Minh entirely.. but living with Bill, something leaked in last years story board leaks that ended up being for this season, and soething i'd been looking forward to.
The dynamic dosen't dissapoint as Bill is as clingy as ever... yet the series does one better: while it does let Kahn be a little humiliated by his new roomate, Bill is genuinely supportive, and easily helps get Kahn down from his bitter siraling and makes him dinner.
I fully support these two and wish they'd become a couple as they shockingly bring out the best in one another: Bill breaks through Kahn's layers of anger and blame and Kahn gives bill a second person that cares if hel ives or dies and unlike Hank actually takes solid steps to help him remove. WE get a later fun subplot where Dale, not for nothing for once, thinks Kahn is training bill like a dog. Which he is, taking him for rides, feeding him treats and using a can to ward Bill off drinking too much beer... but doing all of that because it's the only way to get Bill to practice self care which given Bill has been in at least three cults as of this season and sent a lot of money to the phillipines, tracks. It's honestly sweet to see someone do more than just the ocasional gestures the guys do. Sure Kahn gets nice meals and his laundry I assume done, but he genuinely appreciates everything Bill does. He may knock living with him but he looks out for him. ANd of course when Kahn, feeling it's time to move on moves out.. it only lasts a second. Kahns lonely apartment has nothing and while he won't admit WHY he moved back.. everyone else can tel and wether bill can or not, he's not going to argue. Kahn DOES backslide later in the season, letting Bill's ccuddling addiction spiral so he can get more freetime.. but it's just as likely with all the shuffling of episodes that happens on the show this episoe was meant for earlier and it certainly cocmes off that way.
Old Man Yaoi isn't enough to get Kahn to treat Bobby well, nor Minh to the point Connie ends up sneaking over. As we've covered this dosen't work out thanks to Ceaser but Connie finally lashes out at her mom for her bullshit when she tries to cancel the birthday dinner, pointing out A) she can fuck who she wants and B) BObby's been the ony one genuiney supporting with her instead of bickering with their ex. This leads to Kahn offering to et the couple stay with him with Bill being more than happy to oblige. Connie agrees and thankfully Kahn has made bill's house less sad, and its a treat watching Connie abuse the fact Kahn's pretending to be nice to bobby, as she's smart enough to know her dad isn't being genuine and if she can't get her parents to argue, she might as well take advantge of their bullshit to spite her mom, who throughly deserves it.
Bobby is able to get the two to make a truce, telling Kahn what Connie wants most is the two to just have dinner with her and not kill each other and while it's a big ask to have the two have dinner together.. i'ts not a big birthday wish. So Kahn and Minh manage to at least coexist in the way that's most natural: by abusing Bobby's good nature to order everything on the menu and Kahn stealing his idea for a birthday present. BObby is able to rebound witha backstreet boys parody because he's the best, and Connie appreciates the effort and knows who reay got her birthstone. She's not dumb.. but she appreciates the effort.
Connie in general is a delight this season: now the show is done with all that will they or won't they crap, Connie's personality as an adult gets more and more fleshed in: She's increidbly snarky, indpednent and one of the shows constiently funniest characters.
While Connie has a sharp tounge and isn't afraid to use it the relationship is mostly drama free: Even in the first two episodes while their's tension it's nothing that actually hurts the relationship, just them dealing with idiots reactions to it: Chane trying to spite Bobby for dating her and Kahn and Minh thinking Connie could do better when he's a restrauntuer with a stake in his place at twenty fricking one. Most of it's just them being cute and talking things out like adults with Connie helping Bobby see why hank crashed out.
The one time the two have a legit fight that isn't related to anything else is also their best subplot of the season: During Hank Ruffles Some Feathers while hank is wondering if a rooster is on steroids, Connie needs a job for the semister and finds one that to her seems easy: be a mascot. A short four hour work day, minimal work.
It's the perfect thing to create conflict as Bobby continued mascotting into high school, suprising me only because of the Mascot Beatings he took as the Landry Longhorn. Maybe like me he just tries to forget the second and third acts of "See Bobby Run" ever happened.
Connie thinks the job will be easy and in classic sitcocm fashion her lack of preperation bites her in the ass and she fails hard and hilariously at doing even the msot basic things. She begs bobby for help and he pinch hits next quarter.. and for the next few games, with it supposdely being so she can study him doing it. It takes Joseph of all people to point out this is just like when he had nerds do his homework, and Bobby indeed finds Connie is just studying extra.
I like the nuance here: Bobby is understandably mad as he DOES have a full time career he's taking time out of to do Connie's job for her. She even comes to him at the restraunt to ask him to do it again. Finding out she was lying to him. And honestly had she just honestly asked "Can you please sub for me I'm really stresed about finals" he might've still done it or founda third way around. Connie meanwhile finds it beneath her and storms out.
Emilio helps Bobby see that A) no one fight is not the end and 2) that Connie hasn't failed offten and that plus the stress of finals is making her spiral a bit and not in the mood to study one more thing she's struggling with.
So Bobby gives her a needed pep talk: Connie fears failing, and while she has failed he's realized she never tries again, and needs this: to just try something and not care about failing and to fail in a way that really dosen't harm her. No one knows it's her, this school isn't sports obsesed enough to dox her if she screws up again. At worst she gets fired and has to get another job, which while sucky, is something we've all been through. Connie was raised by parents who gave her grindy perfectionist mindset and while she has thankfully grown more ofa backbone against them, lashing out at them satisfying often for their racist bullshit, it's intresting to explore how parts of that less than great upbringing still haunt her and I give the show props for not even bringing it up. I didn't even think of that connection till writing this, but it makes all the sense: Connie has spent her life with A as her minimum and needs to get an F that isn't the fun time that I assume sometimes comes with impersionations. BObby's gotta use them sonewhere. So Connie fails and hilarously so.. but it's genuinely cute to see Bobby cheer her on and to hear connie's triumphant "Look bobby i'm failing!" It's nice to get a story that while about their relationship, let's connie grow and we need more of that; She is a fantastic character and I wouldn't mind her getting a spotlight episode that's about her again, similar to "Isle 3-A" or "The Bluegrass is Always Greener".
Their only other fight all season is part of Bobby's other subplot and one that's just.. meh. For something they teased last season, that was mentioned in the wrap party for last season , and had such a good pun Bobby going on relaity show King of the Grill is really just two episodes of basically the same plot played diffrent ways; The show's producer wants bobby to be less awkward bud on camera and he ends up doing a full gordon ramsey, but it makes his employees too miserable for him to go thorugh with it. Thankfully the Producer simply didn't realize Bobby was only 21, lampshading alll his 90's pop culture refrences in a fun way. I honestly thought he COnnie and Joseph were 23 but I was wrong.
The actual compettition COULD'VE been a chance to show how Bobby shines and have him grapple with the disconnect between wanting to be seen just for his cooking and how these kinds of shows probably go more. As someone who has become obessed with reality cooking shows lately, having watched just this year Next Level Chef, Master Chef and BBQ Brawl with my mom, that angle would've been more intresting. THey kinda do that, as Bobby ends up partnered with another young chef whose cocky because of her training, pissed he took her spot, and doubts him till bobby uses stones to cook on the fly after she burns their dish... but it's about them faking a relationship. And bobby dosen't tell connie ahead of time which should play out more like this
But instead has Connie begrudignly accepting it.. till Bobby gets kissed. She storms off and is mad thought htankfully not because of the cliche "OH NO SOMEONE ELSE KISSED ME AND YOU WON'T BELIVE ID IDN'T CHEAT". SHe's rightfully mad that Bobby put himself in a situation this risky where she told him this was goingn to happen and read the room better than him.. and he ignored her and talked away her concerns and is STILL going back.
Thankfully Bobby tanks his time on the show to profess his love for Connie, complete with T-Shirt, and all is well with hte two moving in together.
This plot line was an absolutely frustrating waste. Bobby, a born performer, going on a cooking reality show was genius. But instead they just go with the shocking take that these shows are a tad fake, and don't use that for anything intresting. BObby is genuinely disappointed it seems more about the story than the food, but instead of focusing on that we get relationship drama that had me rolling my eyes when I saw the kiss in the trailer and dreading that they were possibly breaking Bobby and Connie up just for the DRAMMMAA. They didn't, but it instead mmakes this whole thing a waste of time. They did three episodes for this... and got almost nothing out of it. I mean Emilio mentioning "That's where they film Raven's home" is still something, but it's a waste of time. Id rather Connie's moving in focus on Joseph agreeing to it and adjusting. WE'll defintely get that episode next season, but it woudl've been more fun to replace Really Bites with that.
That mistep aside I DO like seeing this relationship slowly progress and can't wait to see her now living with Joseph. It'll be fun to see how they deal with it, how traditionalist Hank reacts to it, how Joseph deals with a third roomate. I assume he isn't moving out as they haven't said anything and with Bobby and Connie being together they can just share his room. It'd also be nice to see Bobby's room as i'm not sure we have. They mostly use the living room set for scenes at the boys apartment or the balcony because it loosk dope. We also need more balcony next season. I missed it too.
Before we leave the Bobby section there was one plot this season that was Connie free, and made me realize that so far Emilio hasn't properly interacted with ANY of the older legacy cast. He talked up Bobby to his parents and met dale, and rolled his eyes at Bobby not wanting to use explosives on the rats, but he hasn't actually talked to any of them. And that's a shame: He and Dale would probably have a blast smoking a j and going to the gun range as I assume Emilio does every wedsday night, and him having to handle peggy for bobby or run interfernce could be fun.
I say this because this plot has Peggy, Minh and Nancy show up day drunk at the restraunt, having been kicked out of applebees and Bobby trying to get her to run interfernce. Emilio announces them but it'd be fun to see him actually interact with Minh... I honestly kinda ship them now. He's not TOO young for her, he's genuinely sweet, but he's also a freak enough to match hers. Plus Kahn crashing out overminh dating the nicest and chillest guy ever would be a lot of fun, and it'd be intresting to see how Connie's taking her mom moving on or how Emilio navitages Minh's treatment of bobby. I could easily see him dumping her if she didn't at least try to be better to the boy.
I get why we haven't had a lot as Team Strickland didn't interact with the Alley Guys hardly ever, Dale mcing fo the propaniacs is about it, with Buck being the only one of them to ever really cross over into Rainey Street as Hank keeps his professional and personal lives seperate as possible. But it's still weird to not at least take advantage of this rare chance to have them mingle or have him play off peggy. I"m curious what their dynamic would be. Instead he just tells Bobby he thinks hismom's outside.
As for why Peggy is spinning a sign apros of nothing, i'ts because she decides to talk to said critic.. who decides to opt out when he realizes his current review subject is Peggy Hill's son, having had her as a teacher.. and resented her for giving him an F. To the man, David's , credit he does try to recuuse himself, but Peggy being peggy talks him into it and being Peggy pisses him off further by not realizing he resents her.
Bobby is understandably annoyed and Peggy, unsuprisingly, dosen't admit she even caused it at first... and when she does we get one of the most cathartic moments in the series: Someone FINALLY calls Peggy out on her bullshit.. and it STICKS. While Peggy has been called on her massive ego and refusal to listen to anyone before, things that have made her a pariah with the fanbase and justfiably so, it was usually forgotten and even in episode she often talked herself out of actually admitting she was wrong.
Here... Bobby fully lays into why she's wrong: That she steamrolls people, dosen't listen and worst of all can NEVER admit it. Even being challenged to name just ONE time she was wrong, she can't bring herself to. Bobby doing this is cathartic as he has steamrolled her before, paticcuarlly in one instance that's refrenced this episode.. and because it's bobby that might be why it works. Anyone else Peggy can just point to their flaws and write it off. But Bobby is her special special boy.. and thus she realizes she fucked up.
To Peggy's credit she DOES acctually fix the situation but in a far more measured way than usual and by rightinly pointing out David ISN'T much better targeting bobby.. but also by taking Bobby's advice to heart, realizing she made a key mistake any teacher could: she didn't tell David WHY he failed. She goes through the paper and explains why. but also walks back her grade and gives her student genuine praise as while his article was a lie... it was overly harsh.
What's even more impressive.. is that Peggy DOSEN'T take the credit. Bobby does put two and two together since David came back to do a rewrite at all, but Peggy calls not to gloat.. but to genuinely apologie for the episode goodbye normal jeans, where, in a fit of jealously, she stole the thanksgiving turkey bobby cooked instead of you kknow, telling her grown ass husband he was making her feel like crap. It's a genuinely sweet callback that feels well earned and shows growth in peggy. It won't stick entirely but it's satisfying to see Peggy's usual shit called out and to see her grow as a person. She HAS been toned down for the revial, thank Boulder, but it's still satisfying after SO many episodes of her bullshit
So with the big three out of the way, let's talk about
God Emperor of Gribble Feat the Rest of Rainey Street
Dale finally resumes his place as the best character on the show after an understandably awkward Season 14: Toby Huss had to step into the role of the show's most iconic character while having to try and mimic Johnny's performance to fit what Johnny had already recorded before his tragic passing. It is an extremley hard and likely emotoinally draining process and while I applaud him for getting through it and i'm glad that we got to hear Johnny's final performances (BOBBY'S A BIG FAT LOOSERRRR), i'm also hapy Toby Huss got to settle in.
Toby found his groove this season, with the writers helpfully giving him a lot of plots to work with. Over the season Dale screws around with AI, fires a canon, tries to gaslight his friends over an electric truck, tries to flee in said truck without charging it, calls hank's dog a salad, casually breaks into the hill's house with a dog door calling it the dale door, gets hank and peggy to raise chickens for his own benefit, gets thrown out of a sci fi convetion, gets into magnets, and works as a church marriage counsler. Gribble truly does win again as Dale is finally allowed to be fucking weird. We still aren't getting weird dale subplots again, but he's around a hell of a lot more and getting a lot momre weird pop ins. Neither Close Encounters of the Hank Kind nor Hank Ruffles Some Feathers required dale to be in them, but their better for it paticuarlly the latter: While Dale is only relevant for the first act, him setting off the plot by stealing the hill's egg's via his dale door because nancy likes him fit and he sees just stealing their eggs as more resonable than buying them at high prices, gets them a chicken instead to get eggs for him, and bows at Peggy's glowing customer review. And somehow it all works. I also love this scene for how Hank and Peggy are more.. tired and mildly annoyed at Dale breaking into their house. Original Series Hank would've threatned at least one ass kicking but this is hank 8 years later, older and more tired. He dosen't have to say it, Dale knows what'll happen.
Dale does get one episode with some focus, Best LIttle Marriage in Texas where it turns out he and Nancy are the Chruch's Marriage Councilers and incredibly good at it. It's genuinely nice to see the two doing couples stuff and genuinely happy for the most part. Even with her cheating again Nancy DOES love dale. I personally don't love that she DID start cheating again: We don't find out why, and her turning down John Redcorn for Jonathan Joss' final apperance confirms it started up again but
We don't know why it started again, why Nancy drifted from Dale enough to do so. Its one of only two times a character was moved backwards all revival and with Buck it at least fit. With Nancy we had SEVERAL episodes with her showing her clear guilt over what happened, her attempts to move on and even sacrificing her hair if it meant being loyal. It was clear things were done and weird to just start it up again for no reason, especially to end it this quickly. If you wanted to adress the affair just have Joseph FINALLY find out. It'd be intresting and while the him thinking he's white jokes are a little funny, they mostly just make me feel bad for him having his best friend hide this from him. With Dale at least we got it'd destroy his family, they tackled this. Like with dale I either need a good reason why Joseph can't know besides "he'd freak out", or to finally explore this. Instead nancy cheats again and it feels superflous, something the show never needed to do and didn't even for this episode.
I do like the concept here: That Nancy is genuiney good at this despite having cheated, and while she acknolwedges she's not the best canditate she both dosen't take peggy's passive agressive crap and sees it as a way to atone. Would be stronger if she wasn't actively at it again, but it still works as does Dale's devistation when he's removed.
As for why their removed, Peggy is pissy over having to join her after Nancy takes her down a peg and vents about the ffair.. and Reverend Stroupe not only hears but is somehow the ONLY person in arlen besides this class not to know. I get younger couples not knowing, but come on. She's had to have seen joseph. She could just be as trusting as peggy or assume he was adopted and being a classy person didn't point it out because why would you. It makes sense.. I just find it funny.
Hank and Peggy naturally realized they fucked up... well Peggy did all hank wanted was to repair chruch fixtures. They do by basically guilting the reverend over her own bullshit in being so judgmeental, then accidently showing off how good the gribbles are after hank breaks the boat their on with Dale, in a truly glorious moment, stripping naked and using his clothes as a sail/flag while singing micheal row your boat ashore. Peak Dale is back as are shots of his pasty ass and i'm here for it.
Since we've covered Dale, Kahn and Minh that just leaves Boomhauer and the Billdozer. Boomhauer as usual sticks more to the sides of plots. He does show up as a jehovah's witness and we see his impecable resume, but otherwise he's just dang ole back to the same schtick man outside one episode.
Hank Ruffles Some Feathers is one of the seasons best and has a nice setup: We finally get a name for Boomhauer's mysterious formerly offscreen girlfriend: We get to meet Wanda and it helps explain Luke Junior's shyness and panicky nature; She too is panicky and is a tad overpotective, giving Boomhauer an overly long list of things not to do.
Thankfully Dale giving the hills a chicken and Hank's love of carpentry paves the way for the two to bond and I like getting an expansion on thier dynamic from last season: Boomhauer and Luke Jr do care about each other, but with Boomhauer's dang ole way of talking and formerly bachelor lifestyle, he dosen't quite know how to handle kids. Given his advice to a 13 year old was "hit on every woman till at least one says yes" in the original series, this isn't new. He wa good with bobby outside that, but he was also a cool emotoinally distant uncle. Here he's the daddy and dosen't know how to connect with a kid.
It's cute as hell to see Hank nudge boomhauer, to suggest activties with almost no subtley and even THAT sometimes not getting Jeff to understand. He rolls with it regardless, i'ts just a funny runner and nice to see Luke open up emotoinally, make friends in 4H and bond with the hill's chicken birdtrude with his aunt and uncle nudging him on. It's also sweet to see someone as distant as Hank help with this, that for all the walls he puts up , he goes all in without any prodding or dickering to help these two awkward idiots bond as father and son. Peggy doing so is less suprising but it's equally nice she never takes credit or gets a swelled head. They both simply care about Boomhauer and Luke JR and want them to be happy. It is also comedy gold to see Boomhauer half ass his way through parenthood in his own way despite using his whole ass , suggesting stripper names for Birdtrude and wearing his suit. I'ts fun seeing him be so awkward.
The fun temporarily stops thanks to what always stops the fun temporarily: some asshole complaning as King of the Hill uses a chicken to talk about anti-trans bullshit
So it turns out one in 300 chickens can transition naturally, mmostly in flocks without a rooster like Hank and Peggys. So Birtrude becomes a rooster and Luke and Boomhauer, and the class, all think it's cool. Hank for all his issues has none with this and just thinks i'ts kinda neat. This was the right route to take: You COULD'VE had an episode about Hank learning about gender norms, but it's been so overplayed in comedy by hacks who think it's an unfair inconvience to have to.. use prounouns slightly diffrently that it's better to just use a metaphor. We know Hank's likely encountered a trans person, we know he's likely accepted trans people. I would defintely like a trans charcter on the show, nonbinary and ace would also be great, but i'm fine with not doing a very special episode on it.
Ithelps they do this well as Luke punches a kid for calling Bertrude not a rooster because his parents suck, accusing Hank of teaching alternative lifetylstes and other conservative talking points. I also like how modern conservativsim just.. baffles hank consitently. Eli just no sold him on blaming women and he quickly saw him as the con artist/mysoginst he was, conspiracy theorists just annoy him as does the lack of a truth, and these guys just confuse him. Hank indeed wasn't teaching anything; the teacher did and she was right to. They just want to bitch because it's trans adjacent and this is texas. It is disapointing to see Carl Moss still here: It hought we got rid of him but sadly no. It's nice to carry the character on since his va passed, but there were ways to do that without putting this apthateitc son of a bitch around children.
So Wanda plans to come get Luke Jr and Boomhauer, seeing how upset the boy is, decides to pull an executive decision and Hank , after wanda comes to him distressed , figures out they went to the contest. And the same two assholes are bitching about it, but Hank mamnages to translate boomhauer's speech and the judge genuinly does not care. Bertrude looses because he's new at this and I love that joke with one rooster crowing really loud.. and thena nother which has hank wondering "Is that one on steroids?" Mike Judge's delivery is magical. Boomhauer's relationship and fathership are saved and it's entirely sweet and I hope we see more of wanda, that she properly moves in and joins the ladies.
Bill has a slightly better season 15: He's still desperatley lonely, getting catfished so many times a nigerian princess scammer had to teach him how not to and asking bobby for some hentai as "there's only so much" on the internet. I both badly needed to and never wanted to know Bill was into Hentai and the less I think about it the more I can actually sleep at night.
Yet that's no longer BIll's enitre personality. We get more of him as Hank and Dale's eager sidekick, the welder's kit joke being fantastic, see him taking care of his new best friend and future husband, get just a little more variance in his jokes than being the series punching bag.
His spotlight also takes his problems seriously again, even if it uses a formula the series has used a lot already: Bill gets obesssive about something to cure his loneliness wether it be bodybuilding with Macho Man Randy Savage, having roomates and thinking it'll be a sitcom, joining an acapella group or keeping his Christmas Decorations up for month to chase the high of being santa and impress some drunken teens, and Hank and Co have to pull him out of it. Even outside of the more unhealthy ones like this episode BIll does have a penchant for having the most "gets a new hobby or job" plots of the series: He's gone back to high school, pretended to be a gay hairdresser, tried to sell his sauce, stolen a tank, been a market research guinea pig, sold an mlm with peggy, stalked peggy while Hank was out of town, been a volunteer fire fighter and gotten into wheelchair basketball. Hell the whole hentai thing probably started in an episode we missed during the time skip at this point and must remain missing lest I star in the sequel to in the mouth of madness.
So this episode didn't really blow me away on that front but was intresting in how it explored an issue we know more about these days: Touch starvation. That losss of human contact from prolongedlonliness. It's not even just the sexual aspect, we live in a society with less third spaces, less places to hang and meet people and someone whose dealing with both that and anxiety, I feel bill.
Granted his solution is to sink all his money into a cuddle clinic, which is exactly what it sounds like, which is apparently a real thing and I couldn't find much on it. The idea isn't bad, but this paticular one does seem really shady to be taking all of bill's money and not asking "Hey does he have this much. Should.. should we be doing this?". I don't expect that from a buisness, the free to play games economy sprung entirley out of taking advantage of people with autisim and poorimpulse control like me, but a medical facility should pump the breaks.
While the plot's predictable it is intresting to take Bill's loneliness seriously: Yes he comes on too strong, yes he dosen't take the best care of himself, oth aren't okay.. but it's understandable for him to miss a human touch and feel he couldn't turn to the guys. While they don't bring that up Hank has a stellar track record for rescuing bill from cults, with dale having to exactly once.
I miss you Johnny.
Hank isn'nt as great emotoinally.. he''ll step up for bill but as seen with "Pretty Pretty Dresses" he's awful about actually talking about therapy or anything mental health related and unlike a lot of his earlier issues, it's not not one that faded with time. Of course Bill would think Hank would just tell him to stop or think it's rediculous.
I do like that Hank , as always but always appreciated, goes to bat for bill, inflitrating the cuddle clinic so they can extract bill then doing some touch football. And for once in one of these instead of a solution that's temporariy they do seem to take actual steps to help Bill land a lady: Hank will help get him cleaned up, they all will cover his next three dates since he's in finacial ruin and Boomhauer will give him some one liners. There's no reason to give up if you want to find love.
Down on Main Street:
So with this it's time to leave Rainey Street for another year. I"ll deeply miss this show again but i'm excited for more and thankkfully we have at least two more seasons.. and with Futurama's renewal for at least three more specials I now have hope this run can go as long as it pleases and i'd happily be here every year if the show keeps growing and improving like this, only getting better with age. This show is fantastic.
