"Chasing Bobby" is the ninety-third episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on January 21, 2001. The episode was written by Garland Testa and directed by Anthony Lioi.
Summary[]
Peggy mistakes a tear in Hank's eye during a dramatic movie for the realization that he does not spend enough time with Bobby, but the tears have more to do with Hank's truck being on its last tires.
Plot[]
Hank, Peggy, Bobby, Connie, and the Gribbles are headed out to see a movie, which Hank refers to as a lady's film. Everyone gets into Hank's truck "His beloved, but aging Ford Ranger." But Hank has trouble starting it up. He decides to pop the hood and diagnose the issue. Even though Peggy insists taking it to a mechanic, he refuses and finally gets it started up. But when they arrive, Hank starts to tear up, alarming Peggy, but Hank insists in denial that he was not crying. Bill, Dale and Boomhauer tease Hank, making fun of his crying even though he does not think he was. Peggy decides to take him to an optometrist, but Hank does not think there is anything wrong with his eyes. In the truck, when the engine fails to start once again, Hank admits he was crying but not about the movie, rather because watching the elderly man die in the movie reminds him of his aging 20-year-old truck that is also dying.
Hank finally takes it to Handley Brothers Automotive Repair where the head mechanic says that the truck only has 500 miles left, (600 if he drove downhill a lot), and in his opinion the costs to fix it would be much more than what the vehicle is worth. Hank refuses to give up on it and tries to fix it himself. Hank manages to get the engine to crank but as the guys come to apologize to him from teasing him, the carburetor keeps catching on fire. That evening, Bobby assists Hank in trying to fix his truck, as the engine starts, anther flame erupts from it. Hank begins to remember the day he bought the truck brand new, and how He and Peggy thought it was beautiful. The next morning, Hank drives the truck (to pick up Buck Strickland for a reasoning, following Roy Clark of Clark Mobile Homes threatening to close their account with Strickland), the engine overheats, causing Hank to turn on the heater so the engine has more heat vented from it, but soon the radiator begins to smoke, causing the whole inside to become like an oven and make Buck and Hank's commute in a sweltering hot interior.
By the time they get to the trailer park, the radiator is boiling over and sending steam pouring out the grill of the truck. As a result of Buck being dehydrated by the ride in the truck, he passes out midway through the meeting, and Hank deduces that they have lost the account with the Mobile home park. As Hank gets home, from a long day of work and his truck malfunctioning, he then becomes irritated with everyone including his own family. When looking at a newspaper, Bobby finds what looks to be a mechanic shop that he believes that can help his dad's truck, even though it is about 45 miles away from Arlen, they go. However, when they get there, it ends up not being a mechanic shop, but a car dealership. Hank refuses to buy a new truck and leaves immediately. On their way back home, the truck stalls, then gives out on a railroad track and Hank tries to fix it, but a train then comes towards the truck. Hank tries to alert the train's engineer, but the train fails to stop in time and crushes the truck.
Outraged, Hank in anger blames Bobby, stating, "This is all your fault. You killed my truck." Denying culpability, Bobby reasons that he was only trying to help and that if not for the train, then something else would dampen the truck's life later on. He also reminds him about the mechanic's earlier news that it only had 500 miles left. Despite this, Hank continues to stubbornly deny this due to his sorrow. Back at the dealership, Hank tells Bobby to "sit here and try not to break any more trucks." Offended and fed up with Hank's stubbornness, Bobby leaves and decides to walk back home. Hank asks the salesman if he has a phone, but the latter keeps bringing up the idea of buying a new truck, which apparently has a car phone. When Hank tells Bobby he was going to find a pay phone, he notices his son is gone, and it begins to rain. Knowing he would not be able to find him on foot, Hank borrows a brand-new Ford F-250 by test driving it. As Bobby walks in the storm, he passes by the railroad crossing where Hank's old truck was destroyed and notices a few pieces of the vehicle scattered around where he picks up the shift knob from the truck's stick shift.
While looking for Bobby, Hank notices the new truck's features are better than his old one (such as intermittent windshield wipers, anti-lock brakes, a digital compass, headlight wipers, 4-wheel drive and seat warmers). When Hank finds Bobby, he tells his son that he will be much better, thinking the new one gives him good luck. Bobby then tearfully reveals that he too loved the truck. He embarks the new truck and they reconcile with each other. Bobby gives Hank the gear shift knob from the old truck that he found on the tracks, thinking it may have died on the tracks for a reason, telling Hank it wanted him to go buy a new truck and that it would be okay. Both agree the new truck is good, but Hank advises Bobby to tell the salesman that he hates the vehicle.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Connie Souphanousinphone (non-speaking)
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Charlton Heston as Father in Flowers of Time
- Ethan Hawke as Nathaniel in Flowers of Time
- Optician at Arlen Vision Center
- Bob Handley
- Jack Handley (non-speaking)
- Buck Strickland
- Roy Clark
- Enrique (mentioned)
- Mr. Clark's daughter (mentioned)
- Peggy Donovan (mentioned)
- Marty Mendez
- Second salesman (voiced by Johnny Hardwick)
- Two old men at bus stop (voiced by Toby Huss)
Stinger Quote[]
- Bobby: "To The Flowers of Time!"
Trivia[]
- The episode's title is a reference to the film Chasing Amy.
- Due to the fact that Hank tells Peggy that his truck has been through four presidents and three Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl victories, this would put the truck at 16 years old in 2001, which would indicate that Hank's truck was most likely bought in September or later of 1985 "when the next model year, 1986 would have been sold" due to the body style of the supercab not being a feature until that year.
- The Four Presidents Hank refers to would have been: Ronald Regan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
- The three Dallas Cowboy Super Bowl victories Hank refers to would have been in 1993, 1994 and 1996.
- Hank claims that the popcorn at the movie theater and the corn fed to pigs is the exact same corn. This is incorrect; popcorn and field corn are different varieties of the crop.
- When Hank's truck is being towed to Handley's Repair, Blue Collar Man by Styx is playing.
- The mechanic Hank has his truck towed to tells him that the vehicle only has "500 miles left". Realistically there is no possible way to determine the remaining life of a vehicle by how many "miles of travel left" it has.
- Hank's Ford Ranger is typically a 1993, but in this episode, it is a 1986. It can be identified as such since 1986 was the final year for the Ranger to use carburetors for the engine, and the first year that extended cab's were optional.
- This episode was Nominated for the 2001 Emmy Award for Best Animated Program, but lost to The Simpsons Season 12 Episode 9 Episode, "HOMR."
- Hank's new truck is a 1999 Ford F-250 Super Duty, possibly an XL trim due to the matte black bumpers.
- At the end a butterfly can be seen flying past a rose bush, a nod to the end of the movie Hank watched, The Flowers of Time.
- It can be inferred that Hank paid sticker price for his Ford ranger and his Ford F-250, a habit which would later be revealed in "The Accidental Terrorist".
- Trains can take over a mile and a half to stop once the emergency brake is applied when in full speed. In essence, it would not have made a difference, even if the train operator saw Hank in time.
- In reality, if a motor vehicle stalls on railroad tracks, there is an emergency phone number posted on the crossing signals and/or relay case to alert the railroad so they can warn any oncoming trains.
Goofs[]
- When Hank first tries to start his Ranger in the episode, just as Dale and Bill peek over the fence, it briefly turns into his usual 1993 before reverting back to the 1986 model.
Gallery[]