"The Son That Got Away" is the twentieth episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on November 23, 1997. The episode was written by Jim Dauterive, and directed by Tricia Garcia, both firsts in the series. John Ritter guest stars as Eugene Grandy.
Summary[]
Feeling daring, Bobby, Joseph, and Connie head to a local area where teens gather but are trapped when they cannot find their way out.
Plot[]
At Tom Landry Middle School, Bobby and Connie raise the ire of music teacher Eugene Grandy when they interrupt his class by adding their own lyrics to popular tunes. As punishment, Grandy calls Hank and Kahn to the school and voices his concerns regarding their disruptive behavior. It soon becomes apparent to Grandy that the men have set a bad parental image. But his efforts to change their behavior fails miserably. The next day, Hank and Kahn punish their children by making them perform chores. Bobby tires of cleaning out a rain gutter and makes his way to Connie's house. The children hop on their bikes and head off in search of adventure. During the ride, they encounter Joseph, who suggests a journey to "The Caves", a place where teenagers go to "make out". As the threesome makes their way into the dark cave, they are spotted by Eustace's son, Randy, who warns them not to venture inside.
Bobby, Connie, and Joseph ignore Randy and make their way into the darkened cave. Meanwhile, Hank, Kahn, Peggy, and Minh embark on a desperate search for the missing children. Eventually, they encounter Randy, who reveals that the children wandered into the caves. Hank panics and tells Kahn that the caves are where teenagers go to "make whoopee", shocking the latter. Later, Joseph, Bobby, and Connie become trapped when their light sources are extinguished, plummeting the cave into darkness. However, Bobby gets more light by using a glow wand but notices Joseph and Connie are holding hands and becomes visibly upset.
The children begin to panic when they run out of food. When Bobby offers his body as a source of sustenance, he greatly impresses Connie. Hank and Kahn make their way into the cave but Hank loses his bearings and the pair become lost. They fall through a narrow crevice and land in a pile of old beer cans. During the ensuing conversation, Kahn admits that Bobby is a "good boy" and does not fear becoming an in-law with his neighbor. The men swap stories, and their laughter echoes through the cave, attracting the attention of the children. The kids follow the sound and inadvertently tumble through the crevice. Shortly thereafter, a beer can tumbles from above, striking Hank in the head. The group establishes communication with Boomhauer on the surface, and the fire department pulls everyone to safety.
After seeing that Bobby and his friends made it to the cave by themselves, Hank makes an exception and lets Bobby ride home with Joseph. During the ride home Bobby tells Joseph that Connie likes him, even though he says that she likes Bobby. They figure out that she likes both of them and that women sometimes have trouble choosing between men. The two later make fun of each other, despite Hank driving behind them so they can't be spotted, and the episode ends.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Luanne Platter
- Dale Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Joseph Gribble
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Minh Souphanousinphone
- Connie Souphanousinphone
- Eugene Grandy (debut)
- Monsignor Martinez (debut)
- Eustace Miller
- Randy Miller
- John Redcorn
- Clark Peters (debut, non-speaking)
- Judy (non-speaking)
- Susie (non-speaking)
- Leventhal (debut, non-speaking)
- Shawn (debut, non-speaking)
- Tom (debut, non-speaking)
Stinger Quote[]
- Kahn: "Long, painful, boring death!"
Trivia[]
- This is the first episode written by Jim Dauterive and is also the first episode with Tricia Garcia as a director.
- In music class, Bobby creates a contrafactum by singing "My Connie is a Laotian / My Connie lives next door to me / My Connie is a Laotian / And I have to go take a pee" to the tune of "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean,” while the rest of the choir sings the original lyrics.
- When Hank is explaining to Bobby about what happened to "Weird Al" Yankovic, he is thinking of Dickie Goodman, a musical parodist who killed himself in 1989 after not charting since the 1970s.
- When Bobby says "Weird Al"'s name twice in the episode, he mispronounces it; the sound at the end of "Yankovic" is the "k" sound, not the "ch" sound like Bobby says.
- Bill states that his father used to punish him by forcing him to wear "pretty, pretty dresses." This effect on Bill is seen in the Season 3 episode "Pretty, Pretty Dresses," in which Bill has a mental breakdown and wears a woman's dress while taking on the identity of Lenore. The title of that episode is also clearly chosen as a result of Bill's statement in this episode.
- Peggy suggests that being calm comes naturally to Minh because she is Buddhist and describes the belief of reincarnation/rebirth when she says Connie will come back as a grasshopper or seahorse.
- This episode marks the debut of the fictional Monsignor Martinez character.
- Bobby telling Joseph that Hank specifically views butane as a "bastard gas" is a possible reference to Mike Judge's previous show, Beavis and Butt-Head, where the character Tom Anderson (who served as an inspiration for the Hank character) is shown to have a love for butane.
- When Peggy remarks "Oh my goodness, that is where half of Arlen's unplanned pregnancies begin", the following shot comprises of John Redcorn and Nancy giving each other a concerned look, implying that Joseph was conceived in the caves.
- Kahn reveals to Hank that it is his birthday and that he is 41 years old.
- Kahn explains that in Laos, a "home run" is known as pa son pate (Lao: ພາ ສອນ ເພດ), meaning "sexual education" or literally "guide/conduct teaching sex". This term is later used by Minh in "De-Kahnstructing Henry".
- Kahn references Louangphrabang (Lao: ຫລວງພະບາງ) as the city where he hit his first "home run".
Quotes[]
To be added.
Gallery[]
