"Arlen City Bomber" is the one hundred-eighty-first episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on March 27, 2005. The episode was written by Jonathan Collier and directed by Kyounghee Lim.
Summary[]
To pay off her credit card debts, Luanne signs up to be a roller derby girl. Peggy gets in on it too and uses borrowed money to make improvements on the team, sinking both Luanne and Peggy deeper into debt. Meanwhile, Lucky shows Bobby the pleasures of freshly made corn chips.
Plot[]
At the bank, Luanne attempts to withdraw money but is told that she does not have enough funds. She tries to remedy the situation by getting a cash advance but does not succeed. At the Hill residence, Luanne is looking through her bills when she asks Hank for the money to cover her next car payment.
Hank right away refuses to give her the money and Peggy asks what Luanne spends her money on. When Luanne gives a vague answer, Hank looks through her credit card statement and discovers Luanne's reckless spending and many cash advances. He right away gets Luanne to see how serious debt is and what can happen if she does not handle it. He tries to help her cut spending, but Peggy decides to take control when she states Hank's way of helping is only scaring Luanne.
With Peggy now in control, she draws up a pie chart to show Luanne the depth she's in and tells her that her only option is to get a second job. Luanne has trouble finding a second job in the want ads as she deems the listings "racist against people with no skills" until Bobby points out an ad seeking attractive girls for nighttime work. In the alley, Hank tells the guys about Luanne's spending and how he hopes that Peggy will help her understand she should not use her credit card for fun. In the house, Peggy discovers the ad Bobby pointed out to Luanne and right away rushes to find her niece from accepting a possibly seedy job. She is quickly able to find Luanne and learns that Luanne has joined a roller derby team that offers five hundred dollars a game.
After Peggy learns that Lane Pratley is the owner of the team, she goes into the skating area where the other members of the team are practicing before they accidentally fall on top of Peggy. Luanne attempts to help her aunt, but Peggy can handle herself so well that she accepts Pratley's offer to join the team.
At the house, Hank discovers Peggy and Luanne joining the derby team under the names Gold Dust and The Executioner. Hank naturally does not see how being on a derby team will help Luanne and suspects Peggy is doing it as an excuse to fight others. Peggy distracts Hank when she points out how her earnings could get them to obtain a high-class patio furniture set.
Just before their first match, Luanne mentions how she will use her first earnings to paint her car to match the team colors. Peggy quickly stops that fantasy by telling Luanne that Hank barely approves of them being on the team and will not let them live it down if they fail. In the stands, the guys are watching the match when Bobby offers Lucky some chips. Lucky politely refuses when he reveals that he used to work for the chip factory and has tasted chips right off the line. He then offers his help in allowing Bobby to experience the same pleasure.
As the match plays out, Peggy is able to take out a trio of women to allow Luanne through and score. As Lucky explains to the guys how roller derby is played, the team owners find themselves pleased with Luanne and Peggy joining the team and boosting attention. The Bombers are celebrating their victory, but Peggy and Luanne are quickly left speechless when given their checks which are only just under one hundred dollars. Pratley claims that the checks are so low because of deductions he had to make to cover team-related expenses.
The next day, Peggy and Luanne are still upset about their low pay when Hank asks if they are going to start getting the new patio furniture. Peggy is able to buy them time by convincing Hank that they can get the set all at once when they have enough. After Luanne accidentally gives Peggy an idea, Peggy and Luanne gather other members of the team and pitch the idea of buying their own team. The other members are uncertain of the idea especially when Peggy states that they will need to come up with one thousand dollars each but are won over by the promise of being able to earn more money without the owners deducting so much from their pay. Meanwhile, Lucky tries to take Bobby to the National Corn Chips factory, but they are turned away by the guard.
After Peggy and Luanne are turned down for a loan by every bank in town, Peggy decides to get a cash advance on her credit card to cover their share. Luanne questions Peggy if this is a smart move since it was considered irresponsible when she got advances. Peggy rationalizes her decision by claiming it is a business investment that will be paid off by the end of the month, but she still gets Luanne to promise not to say anything to Hank.
Upon the next practice, the derby team announces that they no longer work for Pratley since he never gave them contracts and they now work for themselves. After being chased away, Pratley informs the other team owners of what happened and stops their teasing of him when he points out how the same situation could befall them when their players hear the news. One of the other owners suggests they try to take the team down by talking to the leader or their spouse.
At the team's first practice, things quickly go south when the positions start arguing about who does the most work and who is more important. That night, Hank is taking down his patio furniture when Pratley and the team owners pull up and inform him of Peggy's involvement in buying the team before making a subtle threat and leaving. When Peggy returns home, she tries to act casual but admits to everything when Hank informs her that he knows she is a co-owner. When Hank tells her how he found out about everything, Peggy suspects that Pratley feels threatened and hurries off to fix things.
Peggy holds a meeting with the others and informs them of what Pratley did. Thinking Pratley is fearful of how well they are getting along, the women agree to act like they are much happier without an owner until Pratley wants to buy the team back. Back at the chip factory, Lucky lays out a plan of climbing the fence to get Bobby a chip but, when he carries it out, he falls from the top of the fence and injures himself. He quickly uses this to their advantage and threatens to sue the company for the reason that their product was tempting enough to cause him to climb the fence. He offers to not go through with the lawsuit if they agree to let Bobby eat a chip from the line. The manager agrees and Bobby is in a state of bliss at eating a fresh chip.
During practice, the women are all smiles in hopes of convincing the owners of how well they are getting along. Just before their next match, the women are about to call it quits when Pratley and the other men arrive and agree to buy the team back at an amount the women are happy with.
Later, Luanne writes a check that Peggy happily announces puts her out of debt. Luanne is ecstatic at the news but is upset at seeing Peggy cut her credit card. Wanting to prove she's a woman of her word, Peggy tells Hank to look outside. Hank is excited thinking the new patio set is outside, but Peggy informs him she was only able to get a recliner and ottoman table.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Luanne Platter
- Lucky Kleinschmidt
- Lane Pratley
- Gretta
- Carly
- Felicia
- Nureen
- Roller derby team owners
- National Corn Chips factory employees
Stinger Quote[]
Lucky: "Scary to think about the road not traveled, huh?"
Trivia[]
- When Bobby tells Lucky that he would like to try eating a "chip off the line", Lucky says that he'll help Bobby "run down that dream." This references "Runnin' Down a Dream" a song by Tom Petty, who voiced Lucky. The song would later be used in the show's Season 14 episode "The Beer Story", released over two decades after this episode's airing.
- Lucky states in this episode that if he never took a cash advance on his credit card, then he never would have slipped on pee at the Costco. However, the Season 12 episode "Life: A Loser's Manual" later contradicts this when Lucky states he "never had one of those credit card things."
- As Peggy, Luanne, and the others practice skating around, "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge is played.
Quotes[]
To be added.