Strangeness on a Train

Strangeness on a Train
Air date	April 27, 2008
Written by	Jim Dauterive
Directed by	Kyounghee Lim
Episode guide
Previous	"The Courtship of Joseph's Father"
Next	"Cops and Robert"

"Strangeness on a Train" is the two hundred-thirty-second episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on April 27, 2008. The episode was written by Jim Dauterive and directed by Kyounghee Lim.

Summary

Peggy is depressed that her birthday always ends up being a bust, so she vows to plan the party of the year. Hank, Bill, Boomhauer, Kahn, Luanne and the rest of the gang gather to celebrate with a disco-themed shindig on a murder mystery dinner train. However, when a couple tucks away to the train's bathroom for some extracurricular activity, a new mystery unfolds and the gang tries to find out who "had relations".

Plot

As the episode opens, Peggy reminisces about her past birthday party failures, including having her party robbed at Captain Bear's Pizza, ruined by a flash flood, food poisoning, and a foul ball hitting her in the neck. However, she is confident that this year's birthday party will not fail, and excitedly tells Hank about her birthday party plan: a murder-mystery train party, where actors will act out a mystery set in the 70's for the guests to solve. Despite Hank's initial reservations about a disco-themed party, he relents when he sees how excited Peggy is.

As Peggy's guests arrive on the train for the party dressed in disco attire, one of the murder-mystery actors asks Luanne to stand in for one of their actresses who called in sick. Lucky Kleinschmidt brags that he will be the one to solve the mystery, having watched a lot of detective shows.

As the party starts and the train prepares to leave, the actors board the train along with a stern conductor who announces he will not tolerate any foolishness on the train. Luanne approaches Peggy and asks her who Roy Cohn is. When Dale explains his role as Senator Joseph McCarthy's attorney, Luanne asks why he would want to kill her character, spoiling the mystery and revealing the murderer. Dale, who takes sadistic delight in Peggy's birthday failures, announces to the rest of the party that Roy Cohn did it, causing the actors to angrily leave just as the train departs. The situation worsens when the train caterers report to Peggy that the train's refrigeration has gone out, spoiling the prime rib and chicken dinners and melting Peggy's ice-cream birthday cake. The caterers offer small cheese-and-cracker snacks instead, much to Peggy's sadness.

Nancy and Hank, attempting to salvage the situation, suggest playing games to pass the time, but Kahn, irritated, states that only alcohol can save the party and demands a Tom Collins. The caterer however explains that they have just entered a dry county that "for election reasons" is long and horizontal, and will take an hour to get through, to the dejection of the party guests. Luanne, attempting to make up for spoiling the mystery, brings out the Manger Babies to entertain the crowd as Bill announces that the toilet is clogged by a wig. Peggy, overwhelmed by the nonstop catastrophes of the party, runs to the bathroom in tears. Hank follows and attempts to console her, and as they hug, they slowly become intimate and have intercourse in the bathroom.

Hank and Peggy return to the party, shocked but pleased at their spontaneous act of passion. Kahn next uses the bathroom and spots two pairs of footprints on the mirror, one pair pointing up and one pair pointing down, indicating evidence of lovemaking. Kahn returns to the party and announces his find, much to Peggy and Hank's horror. As Kahn declares himself the detective of the case and begins interrogating the guests, Hank mentions to Peggy that if it is revealed that they made love in the bathroom, the Texas Railroad Authority, which also regulates propane, could punish Strickland Propane with sanctions or even "the Propane Death Penalty." With Kahn's questioning leading nowhere, Lucky suggests simply comparing the footprints to the guests' feet to find the perpetrator. Peggy realizes that her feet will give them away, as no one else has feet her size.

As the partygoers line up to match their feet against the footprints, Hank and Peggy form a plan to destroy the evidence. Hank plans to use the "dead man's brake" (a braking system in which the driver must always have his hand on the throttle or the train will brake to a halt) to cause a diversion. Hank startles the driver with a loud noise, causing him to take his hand off the throttle, and the train slams to a halt. As the partygoers fall down due to the sudden halt, Peggy uses the opportunity to wipe the footprints off the mirror with toilet paper. Meanwhile the conductor spots Hank running down the corridor and chases him to the party, where they find the group on the ground outside the bathroom. Angry at Hank for stopping the train and believing this to be the beginnings of some strange orgy, the conductor throws the entire group off the train somewhere in outer Durndle.

With the group now stranded in the middle of nowhere, Dale declares that this is Peggy's worst birthday ever, yet finds that he genuinely feels sorry for her, instead of taking sadistic pleasure in it. Peggy breaks down again, declaring that the repeated birthday failures is a sign that her birth is nothing to celebrate. As the rest of the group consoles her, Kahn and Minh spot a dive bar and the group heads there. As they enter dressed in disco clothes, the rugged and tough patrons of the bar eye them for a few seconds before happily declaring that "Disco's back!" The bartender soon hangs up a disco ball and finds a 70's soundtrack, leading to a small impromptu disco-themed party.

As Peggy enjoys a drink at the bar, Lucky approaches her and reveals that he knows it was her and Hank who made love in the bathroom, but promises to keep mum and simply wishes her a happy birthday. Peggy appreciates that before Hank pulls her to the dance floor with the rest of the group.

In a side plot, Bobby, Joseph and Connie, being too young to attend the birthday party, decide to use their parents' absence to find and establish a secret clubhouse. The group first tries to hang out in the attic, but leaves after finding the insulation makes Joseph itch. After watching a nature documentary, Bobby urges the group to keep trying to find a clubhouse. The children head into the Hills' crawlspace, where they enjoy a soda and declare it their new secret clubhouse.

Characters

• Hank Hill
• Peggy Hill
• Bobby Hill
• Luanne Platter
• Lucky Kleinschmidt
• Dale Gribble
• Bill Dauterive
• Jeff Boomhauer
• Nancy Gribble
• Kahn Souphanousinphone
• Minh Souphanousinphone
• John Redcorn
• P.J. Pfinster
• Bob Jenkins
• Conductor Nolan
• Joseph Gribble
• Connie Souphanousinphone

Notes

• It is revealed that Peggy has never once had a good birthday.
• The title refers to Strangers On A Train, a 1950 mystery novel by Patricia Highsmith that was made into a motion picture the following year by Alfred Hitchcock.
• As the actors enter the train car which has been named after the New York City nightclub Studio 54, the music is the opening of the song "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps.
• When Lucky states that he inadvertently gave away the plot of a movie by yelling aloud in a theater "Bruce Willis is dead!", he is referencing the movie The Sixth Sense.
• Bob Jenkins and P.J. Finster saying "Ah, feet-feet" is them mimicking the song "Le Freak" by Chic.

Stinger quote

• Hank: "A Chubb Randolph production."

Quotes

• Conductor Nolan: "OFF NOW!"
• Hank: "The railroad commission also regulates propane."
• Lucky: "Believe me, 'fire' ain't the worst thing you can yell in a theater. It's 'BRUCE WILLIS IS DEAD!'"
• Joseph: "This stuff's making my butt itch. Now it's making my hand itch. Now its making everything itch! Here try it!"

Gallery

Hank tells Peggy the Railroad Commission also Regulates Propane

The attic at the Hill residence

Kicked off the train in Outer Durndle

Enjoying a soda in their secret clubhouse

Exploring the crawlspace at the Hill residence

Preparing to enter the attic

Conductor Nolan is furious and kicks everyone off the train