"The Exterminator" is the ninety-eighth episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on March 4, 2001. The episode was written by Dean Young and directed by Shaun Cashman.
Summary[]
Dale goes from killing bugs to killing careers after being forced to take an office job when a doctor tells Dale that being exposed to insecticide will kill him before he turns 50.
Plot[]
At the Nickman residence, Dale Gribble tracks down the rat in the house. In the process of spraying poison in the rat's face, he also exposes himself to the toxic fumes, knocking him unconscious. Consequently, he is taken to the hospital, where he wakes up to Hank Hill, his emergency contact. The doctor informs Dale that he has an unidentifiable substance in his lungs, to which Dale responds that he wants the substance back. Remaining stern, the doctor warns Dale that if he does not quit exterminating, then he will not live past age 50. Not fond of the recommendation, Dale asks Hank not to tell his wife Nancy about the incident, but Hank clarifies that he already did. Seeing Peggy in addition to hearing Hank's action, Dale removes him as his emergency contact and tells Peggy that she is his new emergency contact (Peggy is, of course, more than happy to accept the role).
The next day, Dale finds out that Nancy donated some of his extermination equipment to charity since she does not want him exposing himself to dangerous chemicals ever again. She asks him to get a different job because he needs to earn more money than his low-earning job, which Dale begrudgingly agrees to do. Helping out Dale, Hank informs him that the latter's cousin Rita was able to vouch for Dale and get him a job at an adhesives company called "Stik-Tek". On the way to work on his first day, Dale complains to Hank that he did not have to drive him, but Hank tells him that Bobby said otherwise. Dale then insults Bobby as a liar and a blabbermouth, and he meets his boss Amy Pitman, who orders Dale to follow company policy by removing his hat, his sunglasses, and forbids him from smoking during work. The next day, Dale travels to work via an employee carpool, and he continues accounting for invoices while wearing a newspaper hat to cover his baldness. Seeing the hat, Pitman orders Dale to remove it, adding that he will lose his privilege to dress casually on Casual Friday if he breaks another rule. Gloomy about his job, Dale is disappointed that he cannot eat 9 small meals a day at work and has to fill in for the receptionist during lunch.
At home, Dale takes out his frustration verbally on his friends and family, including insulting his son Joseph and Hank's son Bobby. After having to remove the bug from the Bugabago to get past the garage clearance for work, Dale almost snaps but overhears his boss having second thoughts about firing an employee, Bert Halverstrom. Speaking with her, Dale asks why she has a hard time firing someone, and he agrees to fire Bert for a container of milk. That afternoon, Dale fires Bert without hesitation on Pitman's behalf. Seeing that Dale can fire people easily and knowing about Stik-Tek's recent downsizing, Pitman offers Dale a job to fire people instead of being a cubicle worker. Returning home, Dale informs Nancy that he has been promoted to assistant vice president of human resources, omitting the fact that his primary task is firing people. Another day at work, some Stik-Tek employees discuss Dale's recent string of firings, including one where Dale walked in on an employee's birthday party, blew out the candles, and then ordered the man to vacate.
Meanwhile, Hank, Peggy, and Nancy visit Dale's office as he brags about his position and free time. Putting Joseph's Madagascar cockroaches under his desk, Dale also brags about possessing the keys to the executive washroom. Before they leave to go to a restaurant, Dale demonstrates his job by firing Lewis despite Lewis's plea that he has four children, surprising the three. That night, Nancy cannot stop thinking about the incident, finding Dale's power trip to be a turn-off. The next day, Dale uses his power to threaten his fellow carpool travelers to give up the front passenger seat or lose their jobs. While Dale is attempting to fire the janitor Carl, Nancy and Joseph enter his office to ask for the roaches for Joseph's science project. Angered by their interruption, Dale even threatens to fire Joseph from the family and even Nancy. Seeing that the roaches have disappeared from their box, Dale begrudgingly leaves his office to find the roaches, which have scattered throughout the office, frightening the employees.
Not afraid, Dale orders the roaches to gather in a single file and get back in the box, but he screams at them for not following his order, having previously claimed that the roaches should have followed his command since roaches supposedly follow the commands of the first organism they see upon birth. Improvising, Dale uses various office tools to kill the roaches, then goes into the air vents to smash more of the pests, falling through the ceiling in the process. Getting up and covered in cockroach corpses, Dale nonchalantly assures the employees that they can return to eating lunch. Impressed, Joseph compliments his father for killing the roaches without using any poison, making Dale realize that he can return to being an exterminator. Against Pitman's begging to continue his work, Dale affirms that he will return to pest control, telling Pitman that he liked the power of firing people but concluded that it is a poor substitution for killing pests. Before Dale leaves, Pitman returns his sunglasses, hat, and cigarettes to him, granting him back his iconic look.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill (non-speaking)
- Dale Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Joseph Gribble
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Amy Pitman
- Sal Gladstone
- Rodriguez
- Nickman
- Bert Halverstrom
- Lewis
- Carl
- Heimlich County doctor
- Judy
- Madagascar cockroaches
- Rusty Shackleford (mentioned)
Stinger Quote[]
- Dale: "Maybe this'll help."
Trivia[]
- The award plaque for "Dale's Dead Bug Employee of the Year" had Dale Gribble listed for every year except 1996 where instead Rusty Shackleford was listed.
- The pictures that are seen in Dale's cubicle feature one with Joseph in his hunting gear. This is a reference to the Gribbles' deer hunting in "Good Hill Hunting".
- This episode is only one of two, the other being "Unfortunate Son", where Bobby has no lines of dialogue.
- This episode is a reference to the movie Office Space which is written and directed by Mike Judge.
- The company "Stik-Tek" is a reference to IniTech. In Office Space, the main setting for the movie is in the IniTech offices.
- Amy Pitman is a possible reference to a character in Office Space who says, "Someone's got a case of the Mondays".
Quotes[]
To be added.
Goofs[]
- When Dale is staring out the window while talking to Carl, his reflection shows his left hand in the wrong way. In the reflection, his thumb is facing the window but in actuality, his thumb is facing his body.
- When Hank drives Dale to Stik-Tek, they are in his old truck, which is not in continuity with "Chasing Bobby" where the truck was totaled, which aired five episodes before this one.
Gallery[]
