5 Theories Of The 'King Of The Hill' Reboot
Image Source: themarysue.com
Note: Contains Spoilers
There is a new return of the King—the return of Hank, Peggy, and Bobby Hill to Arlen, Texas after staying in Saudi Arabia to build their nest egg for retirement. Hank and Peggy’s return back to their home was met with open arms by their neighbors and fans of the original 1997 show, especially considering how the Hills come face-to-face with how much the world has changed from their temporary home on an Aramco base; a mirror of their small town life back in Arlen where Hank and Peggy had a sense of normalcy and comfort.
A (morally) controversial, yet beloved character, John Redcorn is an integral part of the King of the Hill family. While his affair with Nancy might have ended, Joseph’s existence still brings John Redcorn to the forefront in continuous attempts to have some stake in his life. Not yet explaining to Joseph his parentage—despite Joseph and Dale being the only ones who don’t know—Bobby proposes John Redcorn to allow Joseph to keep a horse he was conned into buying on his land in the season 14 episode New Ref in Town. This chance allows John Redcorn a covert way of spending time with Joseph. The time Joseph and John Redcorn might spend there allows writers to mention this without physically depicting the two.
Aside from Joseph, John Redcorn is revealed to also have fathered another child with a woman he had a fling with during his affair with Nancy in the season 12 episode Untitled Blake McCormick Project. His biological daughter Kate and her mother Charlene were not mentioned in the revival, leaving the door open for them to reappear in the revival or repeat the previous ending of having John Redcorn quietly leave to look after the two. He could still be mentioned throughout, removing the tall order of replacing Joss.
4. Bobby and Connie Will Get Back Together
Between their friendship and being each other’s first serious relationship, Bobby and Connie will always have a special place in their hearts for one another. From first kisses to first fights, Bobby and Connie’s relationship brought the best and worst in each other. Throughout the series, the two maintained a strong friendship—Bobby remained a safe space for Connie to relax and be a kid and Connie helped Bobby navigate relationships with other girls. From what can be gathered from the introduction of the revival, Bobby and Connie retained their friendship; sharing a tender hug when the Hills were leaving Arlen as depicted in the new introduction.
Running into each other by chance, the question of whether or not Bobby and Connie were going to be a couple again was brought up as past memories of their childhood romance crashed over them. This wave hit Bobby particularly hard as he was the first to desire a relationship with Connie, contrasting with Connie being the first to admit her feelings for Bobby in the original series. Years apart did the two well; they are stronger communicators and don’t appear to be keeping secrets from one another. Connie is forthcoming about being in an open ENM (ethical non-monogamy) relationship with childhood annoyance turned Bobby’s business partner Chane Wassanasong when Bobby thought Chane was cheating on her. Bobby is confused, but understanding.
The more Bobby and Connie spend time together, the harder it is for the two to keep down budding romantic feelings. In the episode Kahn-Scious Uncoupling, Connie’s human need for true connection comes to a head. Openly defying her mother Minh’s desire to “be like [Minh and Khan]” and to put public image over everything hurts more as her parents have been divorced for two years. In true fashion, Bobby is the one asking Connie if she is okay and reiterates how differently he would have acted had he known. This along with a heart-to-heart with Peggy gives Connie the comfort and reassurance she didn’t receive from her parents. A familiar feeling that could have blossomed into romance right then and there, but it’s Bobby who decides to figure their new arrangement out rather than recreating their childhood crush. They both want an adult relationship; no projecting memories of what their past selves liked.
Image Source: i.ytimg.com
3. G.H. Will Serve As The “Luanne Stand-In”
When Luanne came to live with the Hills, Hank became the father she needed; a protector and someone who guided her to make something of her life. This was reintroduced again with GH. The surprise birth of GH (Good Hank), son of Hank Hill’s father Cotton has the potential for many storylines. A teenager who is the younger brother of Hank, but also Bobby’s uncle puts GH in the uncomfortable position of trying to find someone to look up to. Without a father and his mother Didi rarely present, GH didn’t have a male role model in his life, thus leading him down the man-o-sphere Red Pill-type world. At first, Hank agrees to take GH to an in-person bootcamp under the guise of it instilling strong values and help an overwhelmed Didi. This quickly went to GH’s head. A rant he went on insulting Hank brought Hank back to being insulted by his father, Cotton, awakening a fear of the worst aspects of Cotton living on through GH.
Time didn't heal the wound of Hank’s traumatic experience of living and growing up with Cotton as a father, yet Hank was determined to show GH the inherent flaws of the Man Made Camp-inar, such as blaming women for the problems in their lives when the founder of Man Made had his boot camp funded by his mother and having the men in the boot camp admit they know the real reasons why they are having troubles in their lives. The rose-colored glasses and blind validation are removed in GH’s eyes. The bitterness he had was not going to spread so long as Hank is around. Another clue of their bond strengthening was Hank getting his brother a car with settlement money as a means of finding a project to give him purpose and confidence. Perhaps he can grow closer to Bobby as they are closer in age and it’s shown Bobby looked after him during GH’s childhood. Hopefully viewers will see more of GH and his growth into someone outside of Cotton’s shadow.
Image Source: fancaps.net
2. Kahn and Bill Might Bond Over Shared Experiences
A fate worse than death for Kahn is that of becoming one of the “rednecks” he insults—a man who stands around drinking beer without any ambition. What makes his views about his neighbors more heartbreaking is how these neighbors who go against everything he believes in are the only ones who embrace him and his family. Caring little about his status and asking him if he’s Chinese or Japanese, the men of Rainey Street give Kahn, Minh, and Connie opportunities to hang out with them. They’re invited to cookouts, participate in school projects, and watch over each other’s children. Often times, Kahn will go to Hank out of the other men as he finds Hank to be the more dependable one of the four. This was proven as Hank was the one of first to know about Kahn and Minh’s divorce and his subsequent living in the garage.
With Kahn’s martial status public and him shunned from the Laotian community country club he spent a majority of screen time sucking up to to finally being accepted, Kahn is left broken and adrift. The one from Rainey Street who most identifies with this is Bill Dauterive. Bill’s divorce from Lenore is described as the “worst divorce of the neighborhood”. Once fit and confident, Bill became a man who ate his sadness away and never stopped. Yet, Bill is the most selfless member of the group. Many times he’s helped them and brought them out of their own separate depressions. With Kahn living in the garage, Bill has the chance to raise Kahn up and recognize when he is at his lowest. Bill can make sure Kahn takes his depression medication or always having a beer ready if Kahn just wants someone to talk to without judgement.
Image Source: consequence.net
1. There Will Be a Notable Tribute to Luanne and Lucky
In a show with heavy and emotional moments, King of the Hill had Luanne as a shining light of bubbly innocence and cheerfulness despite her harsh upbringing and bad luck in relationships. Finding love with Elroy “Lucky” Kleinschmidt in the season nine episode Care-Takin' Care of Business, Luanne inspired Lucky to better himself—he aspired to get a GED, save money, apply for a driver’s license and credit card, and never talked down to her. Additionally, Luanne was quick to defend Lucky when he was made fun of and talked about him fondly, referring to herself being the “lucky one” for being with him. Toward the end of the series, the two became home-owners and parents to a little girl they named Gracie. However, their presence was not seen in the revival series.
In the introduction, Lucky, Luanne, nor Gracie are pictured on Rainey street. Considering how Lucky and Luanne’s voice actors, Tom Petty and Brittany Murphy, passed away before talk of a revival materialized, show runners might have written the two characters out. A ComicBook.com interview with showrunner Saladin K. Patterson stated,
“The analogy I use as a sports fan is, sometimes the best way to honor someone’s work is to hang their jersey up in the rafters as a show of respect and what they meant to the organization….It didn’t seem right to recast certain characters. I don’t want to spoil anything, but (we) figured out other ways in the storytelling to honor those characters.”
Honoring these characters, and by extension Tom and Brittany, is going to be an emotional task for the cast and crew of King of the Hill. The lack of shenanigans Luanne and Lucky brought will be felt especially hard for the Hills as they attempt to fill their time as retirees. Seeing their pictures in the house will unleash a variety of emotions for the characters and viewers; Luanne symbolized “the brightest corner” of one’s mind and Lucky symbolized genuine devotion. Together they grounded each other and grew into the life they wanted for themselves and Gracie. The potential for this to be shown through a special tribute or appearance from Gracie is par for the King of the Hill episode formula of different generations coming together.
Conclusion
At its core, King of the Hill is a story about a father and son learning to see things from each other’s perspective. After fifteen years of world events and changes, nothing can stay the same. People grow up, family members leave, and some childhood dreams remain in childhood. While Bobby had hopes of becoming a prop comedian, he found happiness as a self-taught chef. Hank sold propane and propane accessories as long as he could and built a nest egg for him and Peggy. Connie was finally able to quit violin and Joseph got to stay and hang out with the people he loves.
King of the Hill prided itself on its realism and being a slice-of-life television show. Time made Mike Judge’s show better; more relatable and relevant. According to Collider, King of the Hill’s ability to “age its characters and modernize the world” earned a 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers love Mike Judge’s show and characters. Fan theories about the show and its characters have swirled around the internet since its first airing in 1997, and the revival will no doubt create more.
READ NEXT:
Source(s): kingofthehill.fandom.com, YouTube, Comicbook.com, Collider
Latest News
Featured
