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Return of the King

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"Return of the King" is the first episode in the fourteenth season, and the 260th episode overall. It originally aired on August 4, 2025. This episode was written by Mike Judge, Greg Daniels, and Saladin Patterson, and directed by Kelly Turnbull.

Summary[]

After years of working in Saudi Arabia to build their retirement nest egg, Hank and Peggy move back to Arlen and struggle to readjust to their old lives, as life in America has dramatically changed since 2009. Meanwhile, Bobby runs into a childhood friend in Dallas.

Plot[]

An embarrassed Hank Hill tries to go to the bathroom in a plane, only to be pressured by a long line of angry people for taking an overwhelmingly long time. Peggy Hill then informs the line of his already-narrow urethra having shrunk even further being the cause, which only stresses Hank out even further.

The plane soon lands at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, and Hank is ecstatic to finally be back in Texas. As they walk outside, the couple remark about how things have changed inside the airport, and have difficulty catching a ride using their smartphones. Once they do, they make small talk over what they did during their time in Saudi Arabia with their driver Muhammad, who is confused and irritated by Peggy's "fluency" in Arabic. On the way, Hank requests to stop at a Mexican restaurant to relieve himself, but is confused by the bathroom's vague signage, which a customer clarifies is all-gender.

After a while, the couple finally arrive back to their house, where Hank gives Muhammad four stars as five would give him "something to work" towards, leading an incensed Muhammad to give Hank two stars as a passenger. Peggy finds a letter from Brian Robertson, the man who rented the house while they were away. He explains that he left the house in good shape and left some solar panel flyers as well, which Hank dismisses as religious propaganda. Outside, Hank encounters Boomhauer, who is excited to see him again and greets him with a hug, to Hank's discomfort. He is introduced to Luke Jr. Boomhauer's girlfriend's son, who is still wearing a face mask out of "anxiety." Meanwhile, Peggy reunites with Nancy, who, after her news career, started a podcast with John Redcorn involving real estate. She remarks that it was a hit with people before abruptly closing her laptop after Peggy sees a comment regarding Redcorn.

Meanwhile, Bobby Hill is head chef at Robota Chane, a Japanese-German-American fusion restaurant inspired by the two cultures and his childhood. His sous-chef, Emilio, keeps the fire hot while Bobby attends to the customers, college students from South Methodist University. Bobby earns their praise with his food and is invited to a frat party at their school, only to be criticized once he reveals he has no plans to attend college. To hasten their departure, Bobby takes Emilio's advice and turns the thermostat 2 degrees lower, which successfully causes the party to leave.

Afterwards, Bobby heads to the frat party, and is angry at himself for showing up late when the guests are starting to leave. However, he sees Amber amongst the attendees and decides to stay, impressing the crowd with his cooking skills. Having fun, he calls it a night, before Amber insists it continue. They retreat to her dorm and have sex, Hank and Peggy hearing some of it when Bobby accidentally butt-dials them.

The next morning, Hank retrieves his truck from the storage unit and prepares to drive home, only to unexpectedly encounter five straight No U-Turn signs, forcing him to drive all over the neighborhood just to not make an illegal U-turn. He rants to Peggy about it, who compares living in this strange new America to when they were in Saudi Arabia. Back at the university dorms, Bobby is dismayed when he finds out Amber wants to keep it a one-night stand. As he leaves, he encounters Connie, who's also leaving for Dallas, as she attends the university there. They catch up on life, including Bobby's forgoing of college to open his restaurant and shutting off all social media to not lower his self-esteem, and encourages her to stop by his restaurant sometime.

Hank returns to the alley, where he encounters Robertson and praises him for leaving everything spotless, while the former reminds Hank about his water heater. Just then, they hear Bill from his house, as Hank goes to greet him, he is appalled at seeing his morbidly obese and unhygenic state. Bill explains after Hank and Peggy left, he locked himself in his room and resigned himself to watching the entire Netflix catalog, effectively becoming a hermit. Hank tries to persuade Bill to leave the house, which he refuses citing the new conveniences with delivery. He leaves promising to get Bill back on track, but not before half-heartedly promising him he'll take Peggy to his window. As Hank questions how Bill got into that state, a hidden Dale jumps out of the trash can, revealing that he won the mayoral position in 2020 after a heavy anti-masking campaign (no masks on everything). Brian and Boomhauer reveal that they voted for him as a joke, only to find that he won the election out of 11 candidates with single plurality. He then shuts down Hank's suggestions for road barriers due to him only being in office for 36 hours before going on an election-denial spree.

As Hank and Peggy go to bed, the latter remarks about how things have changed in a major way, and compares it to her "idealized" life in Saudi Arabia. Hank dismisses her concerns as jet lag and goes to sleep. The next morning, a Saudi Aramco representative calls Hank on the proposition to convert an oil tanker to a propane tanker, which would mean moving back to Saudi Arabia, though Hank declines the offer. While driving through town, Hank sees how much Arlen has changed, and snaps when seeing an absurd legal ad, pulling into the Mega Lo Mart to vent some steam. As he walks to the store, he encounters a Girl Scout troop selling cookies. He asks about his favorite cookie, Samoans, only to learn that they're now called "Caramel Delights" in an effort to be more racially sensitive. Amused, Hank chuckles and decides to buy a box. In the process, he encounters a contractor coming out with a new piece of equipment, who then offers him a discount if he calls him, causing Hank to settle into a familiar comfort. Back home, Hank reveals his new grill, which he has stripped all the modern conveniences out of, deciding he already has everything he needs in Texas regardless of all the changes. Eventually, Bobby arrives at the house, with the father and son greeting each other for the first time in years, as well as Bill finally exiting the house upon smelling the cooked meat, without pants, to everyone's chagrin.

Characters[]

Stinger Quote[]

  • Hank: "Ugh, don’t share that, Peggy!"

Trivia[]

  • The title of this episode is a reference to the Lord of the Rings novel The Return of the King and its 2003 film adaptation, and a nod to the show's return.
  • Hank kept is 1999 Ford F-250, but unlike the original run of the series, his truck is shown to no longer be a 5-speed manual but instead an automatic on the column, “it is possible that due to the age of the vehicle, Hank had to get a transmission swap some time in the past and just decided to go with an automatic for easier driving”.
  • This episode marks the return of the show after 15 years, and several firsts as a result of production changes since the show originally ended:
    • It is the first episode to be released after 21st Century Fox was bought out by The Walt Disney Company.
      • It is also the first episode to be animated by 20th Television Animation, following Film Roman, Inc. getting shut down in 2018.
    • It is the first episode to premiere on exclusively through streaming, specifically Hulu.
    • It is the first episode to be produced and released in the 2020s.
    • It is the first episode since "Hank's Unmentionable Problem" to be written by show creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels.
  • According to this episode, the Samoa Girl Scout cookies have been renamed "Caramel Delights" due to concerns over racial sensitivity. In real life, the cookies are still called "Samoas," though, depending on the Girl Scout Council, there have been instances of "Samoas" being renamed "Caramel deLites".
  • Ironically, despite Peggy's horrible attempts to speak Arabic, her voice actress, Kathy Najimy, is an American actress of Lebanese descent.

Quotes[]

Boomhauer: "Oh, man, look at that, return of the dang ol' king, man."

Gallery[]

Images[]

Videos[]

References[]

  1. ↑ King of the Hill - Season 14 (2023 - 2024). (n.d.). Writers Guild of America West (WGAW). Retrieved January 4, 2025, from https://directories.wga.org/project/192694/king-of-the-hill/


Season 13 Season 14 Season 15

"Return of the King" • "The Beer Story" • "Bobby Gets Grilled" • "Chore Money, Chore Problems" • "New Ref in Town" • "Peggy's Fadeout" • "Any Given Hill-Day" • "Kahn-scious Uncoupling" • "No Hank Left Behind" • "A Sounder Investment"
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