"Master of Puppets" is the 10th episode of the 13th season of King of the Hill and the 245th episode overall. It originally aired on March 1, 2009. It was written by Blake McCormick and directed by Tony Kluck.
Summary[]
After his parents forget to pick him up and begin trying to buy his forgiveness, Bobby decides to pit his parents against each other until it backfires in a way he could not imagine. Meanwhile, Dale decides to live in the backyard after seeing a wilderness survival reality show.
Plot[]
In the alley, Bill asks the guys if they watched the previous night's airing of Survivorguy, recalling the feats of the titular character. Whereas Hank and Boomhauer are impressed, Dale claims that Survivorguy's survival feats are nothing new and even offers to attempt to survive without modern technology for a week. Hearing that Dale goes on date nights with Nancy, Hank decides that he will ask his own wife Peggy out on a date because he cannot remember the last time they did so. As she reads, Peggy is baffled at Hank's request, reasoning that they are married and that Friday night is their game time with Bobby. Hank responds that Bobby is old enough to want fun without his parents and he wants to show her off, so Peggy agrees.
On the night of their date, they inform Bobby about their change of plans. Though disappointed, the boy says he will hang out with Joseph Gribble at the Arlen Mall. Before leaving, Bobby angrily agrees to his parents' suggestion of picking him up at 9:00 p.m., parting ways. Meanwhile, Dale begins his survival lifestyle, which he does on his own front lawn. At the mall, Bobby confides in his friends about his complaint with his parents wanting their own time. Soon, seeing a happy child with his parents, he decides to wait outside the mall for his parents to pick him up. At the Pasta Garden, Hank and Peggy enjoy themselves so much that they forget about needing to leave before 9:00 to pick up their son, even ordering dessert that takes twenty minutes to prepare. Bobby has to wait so long that the mall closes, so he goes to a Get In Get Out and uses a payphone to call his parents, telling them that it is 10:30 and he has watched prostitutes buy pantyhose.
Surprised, they immediately leave the restaurant and pick up Bobby, who sulks the entire time on the way home and ignores listening to Hank and Peggy's apologies. The next morning, Hank and Peggy believe that he will forgive them, but he continues to be angrily silent. Peggy cooks him an elaborate breakfast, surprising him. She discreetly claims that Hank was the one who wanted to stay at the restaurant longer. When Hank comes to the table to eat, Bobby glares at him but then smiles at his mother, making Hank realize that Peggy blamed him for their mistake. Later in the alley, Kahn and Dale recommend that Hank bribe Bobby just as Peggy did. When Bobby returns home, Hank tells him that Peggy is actually culpable for their late arrival, giving Bobby several dozen dollars to spend at the arcade to please him.
Afterward, Bobby relays to Joseph his parents' attempts to bribe him, causing Joseph to assess that they are vying for his attention like a divorced couple. Hearing Bobby wonder what he should ask from his parents, Joseph answers that being allowed to attend Cane Skretteburg's next concert would be awesome. Accordingly, Bobby pretends that he is still mad about his parents' mistake and persuades his father to let him attend the concert.
Realizing that Peggy and Hank both feel guilty he uses this to turn them against each other so he can receive gifts and special treatment. This doesn't work for long; eventually Peggy and Hank come to believe Bobby wants to spend more time with them when he really wants to go to a concert. Bobby confesses to keep his parents from embarrassing him in front of his friends. At Mega Lo Mart, Hank is picking out a bicycle to buy for Bobby when he comes across Peggy, who is also buying toys to appease Bobby. Rather than continuing their competition to win over Bobby, both parents agree that they need to spend more time with Bobby instead of lavishing him with expensive gifts. Returning home, Hank and Peggy proclaim to Bobby that they will never leave him alone again and promise to hang out with him more, discomforting him. Elsewhere in the neighborhood, Dale's idea of surviving on his own is stealing Minh's groceries and another neighbor's kiddie pool. When he attempts to start a recreational fire with a lighter and propane, he accidentally makes the canister explode.
Bobby becomes tired of his parents' presence at every point in his day and not being able to do his own thing, and he is further mortified when they decide to attend the Cane Skretteburg concert with him. On Saturday night at the Fun Zone, Bobby tries separating from his parents by claiming he wants to play an arcade game but clarifies that only one person can play at a time. Nonetheless, Hank and Peggy come into the arcade and happily play one of the games while encouraging Bobby to watch them, causing him to run. Seeing some students from school, Bobby agrees to head bang at the concert with them, but Hank and Peggy unintentionally embarrass him in front of them. Exhausted, Bobby retorts that he does not want any more family time, admitting that he took advantage of their guilt to gain gifts from them.
The three Hills agree that they all made mistakes, and Bobby's parents encourage him to have his own alone time, so Bobby attends the Cane Skretteburg concert with his friends while Hank and Peggy go on another date night at Pasta Garden. Back in the neighborhood, Dale decides he has had enough of his attempt at survivalism, and Bill begins his own attempt with Dale's broken camera.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Joseph Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Minh Souphanousinphone (non-speaking)
- Mark
- Curt
- Eric (non-speaking)
- Cane Skretteburg (non-speaking)
Stinger Quote[]
- Bike salesman (Mark): "We're getting a bike. We're not getting a bike. What am I doing?"
Trivia[]
- The episode title is a reference to the 1986 Metallica album of the same name, as well as the album's title track.
- Cane Skretteburg and his band make a reappearance in this episode although it is just a small cameo role and he has no lines.
- According to this episode, one of Cane Skretteburg's songs is called "Screeching Weasel", which is the name of a real-life Punk group (coincidentally Mike Dirnt of Green Day-who voiced Skretteburg's band in their first appearance, was a member of the real-life Screeching Weasel).
- At the start of the episode, Hank, Dale, Bill and Boomhauer are talking about an episode of the TV show Survivorguy which was a parody of the TV show Survivorman.
Quotes[]
To be added.
Gallery[]
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