"Uh-oh, Canada" is the 18th episode of Season 13 and the 253rd episode overall. It first aired on May 17, 2009. The episode was written by Jerry Collins and directed by Tony Kluck.
Summary[]
When Boomhauer trades houses with a family from Canada for a few months, the neighbors soon find themselves at odds ends with their temporary neighbors.
Plot[]
With summer coming, the Hills, along with Dale, Bill, and Boomhauer, all go furniture shopping at a local outdoor store. Peggy becomes enchanted with a patio set in which Hank also agrees and purchases. Meanwhile, Bill and Dale, while browsing, discover a Kegerator for sale. With the Kegerator and patio set, Hank assures that the summer will be the best. However, to the group's dismay, Boomhauer announces his plans to spend time in Canada after making arrangements with a Canadian family to swap houses for the summer. As days passed after Boomhauer's departure, the Canadian family arrives. Gordon, Morine and Ollie Huskins arrive for a summer stay. While Hank admires Gordon's passion for a Canadian mower, Morine insults Peggy by rejecting the bottle of maple syrup in her gift basket.
Meanwhile, in Guelph, Ontario, Boomhauer meets Suzette, the Huskins' next-door neighbor, and the two begin to start a relationship. The next day, in Arlen, Gordon hands out brownies to Dale, Bill and Hank, only to trouble them by claiming American football is boring. The three get past the comment and begin to build a bar for the Kegerator. The same night, a party is going on, with all invited; Peggy, once again excited about the furniture, soon becomes further insulted when Morine made comments in regards of the patio set. While the ladies are enjoying their party, Hank introduces customized mugs for the entire group; Dale becomes upset when Gordon is given Boomhauer's to drink out of. As the group all enjoy Alamo, Gordon makes negative comments about the brand. The group becomes furious, with Hank confused, when Gordon leaves Boomhauer's mug sitting in the plants as he and Morine are leaving. Shortly, the Arlen Police Department arrive responding to a noise complaint filed by the Huskins.
The next day, Hank's anger grows regarding the previous night and it boils over at the breakfast table when Bobby uses the Canadian metric system. Hank confronts Gordon and his wife about the night before to no avail. Gordon comments that Hank's lawn could be better improved by a McCullum mower, Hank becomes insulted and is furious to hear that Gordon is to mow Boomhauer's lawn, when Hank was entrusted to do so. Meanwhile, Boomhauer and Suzette are shown to be enjoying a time at a lake while canoeing. Back in Arlen, a party goes on again, with only the Huskins family absent. Peggy then receives a complaint phone call by Gordon to keep the noise down in order to "read". Angry with the Huskins, Hank refuses to tone it down, only to increase the volume and invite more people, claiming he is going to be a "bad neighbor" to drive the Huskins family out. The evening comes to a head when Gordon leaves his bed to challenge Hank to drinking. Gordon, of course, drinking a case of Canadian "Slewback" ale. The two one-up each other regarding American and Canadian innovation and finally Hank claims his Mason is better than Gordon's McCullum. The conflict intensifies as Hank goes to mow Boomhauer's lawn, while Gordon mows Hank's lawn; the two then charge upon each other in a game of mower chicken. Before the two can crash into each other, the police arrive and arrest the two for DWI. Hank blew a .085 and Gordon "won" with a .09 level.
While Gordon and Hank are stuck in jail, Buck Strickland comes with his lawyer, J.J. Womack, to bail Hank out, leaving Gordon to flounder in jail due to his foreign status. Meanwhile, it is revealed that Boomhauer is coming back home, only to have Suzette and Boomhauer to enjoy the rest of the night. It turns out Hank will have the DWI on his record but won't lose his license, is required to speak to high schoolers about the dangers of driving while drunk, and is under a six month ban from riding on his lawn mower. Hank has to use a reel-type push mower to mow his lawn. Soon, Boomhauer arrives back with Suzette, surprising Morine, who asks for a time extension. We learn at this point that Boomhauers name is Jeff. Boomhauer denies the request, but Peggy welcomes Morine and Ollie to stay at the Hills for the time being. Later at night, Morine spends the night on the same couch she made comments on and apologizes for her rude comments. Hank, Bill and Dale feel guilty for Gordon's imprisonment and soon decide to be good neighbors and bail Gordon out of jail. The latter three appeal to Buck's lawyer to help Gordon, in exchange for the Kegerator. After Gordon's return, the group is then again back to drinking Alamo from a can, albeit wistfully. On his way out of town with his family, Gordon soon drives by and makes comments about Canada once more, only to have the group feel unappreciated for their sacrifice. Hank, however, assures that the group did the right thing by being good neighbors.
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Dale Gribble
- Bill Dauterive
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Gordon Huskins
- Morine Huskins
- Ollie Huskins
- Suzette
- Lucky Kleinschmidt
- Luanne Platter
- Gracie Kleinschmidt
- Kahn Souphanousinphone
- Minh Souphanousinphone
- Buck Strickland
- J.J. Womack
- Nancy Gribble (non-speaking)
- Enrique (non-speaking)
- Joe Jack (non-speaking)
- Maria Montalvo (non-speaking)
- Melinda Grab (non-speaking)
- Mustached taxi driver (non-speaking)
- Two police officers (voiced by Phil Hendrie and Bill Dauterive)
- Jean Paul (mentioned)
Stinger Quote[]
- There is no stinger quote for this episode.
Alamo Beer Song[]
| ♪ Now that we're here ♪ | |
| ♪ It's time for a beer ♪ | |
| ♪ What could be more apropos ♪ | |
| ♪ Alamo, Alamo ♪ | |
| ♪ My one true amigo ♪ |
Trivia[]
- Out of disdain for the Huskins, Kahn explains that he would rather spend "two years dodging bullets in the Killing Fields than go to Canada." The Killing fields were numerous sites in which hundreds of thousands of people were killed by the Khmer Rouge during the Cambodian genocide under Pol Pot's regime in Cambodia.
- It is revealed that Boomhauer's first name is Jeff when Ms. Huskins greets him, as she does not realize that everyone in the States calls him Boomhauer.
- Boomhauer is shown to be completely fluent in French.
- Boomhauer meets a French woman, despite fewer than 4% of Ontario's population being of French descent. Though the Ontario-Quebec border has higher concentrations of French people, Boomhauer spends the summer in Guelph, which is closer to the US than any part of Quebec.
- Hank mentions he and his pals are going to watch a replay of Super Bowl XIII, matching the Denver Broncos' "Orange Crush" against the Dallas Cowboys' "Doomsday Defense". In reality, Denver and Dallas met in Super Bowl XII; Super Bowl XIII pitted the Cowboys against the Pittsburgh Steelers, famous for their "Steel Curtain" defense.
- Hank seems to equate California, jokingly or otherwise, with other nations such as Canada or Laos in his "America is the world's welcome mat" speech. This is most likely a reference to California and Texas being the two largest states in the union by population along with their staunch political differences.
- When Kahn teases Gordon by claiming that the Canadian currency has a "girl on it", he seems to be greatly exaggerating Elizabeth II's presence on Canadian money. She has been on all Canadian coinage for almost her entire reign thus far, but since 2001, she has only appeared on the $20 bill in terms of paper money.
- Gordon made a claim that the Canadians had discovered penicillin, which is a widespread urban legend in Canada, but this is untrue. Alexander Fleming, the true inventor of penicillin, was a native of Scotland and had never visited Canada. It may be possible the confusion was over insulin, which was invented in Canada.
- The term "Chesterfield" was the Canadian term for "couch". Today, the term is hardly used, even in Canada, and only barely spoken in England, where the term was coined.
- There are no mower brands named McCullum or Mason in real life.
- Rye and Ginger is an alcoholic Canadian beverage made with "Rye", or Canadian Whisky, and Ginger ale, which is also a Canadian favorite.
- When Dale states that he's contemplating buying a new hammock, revealing his interest in them, it should be noted that Dale owns a hammock which is seen in his backyard throughout the series.
- The phrase "Don't Mess with Texas", which Bill uses, is a trademark phrase coined by the Texas Department of Transportation, which is used to combat littering.
- This was the last episode of the series directed by Tony Kluck.
- Interestingly, while the Huskins immediately make trouble in the United States, Boomhauer takes the opposite tack in Canada, adopting a "when in Rome" attitude. Unlike Gordon's disdain for the friendly gestures of Hank, Peggy, Bill and Dale, Boomhauer is appreciative of Suzette's welcoming gift and makes an honest effort to acculturate to Canadian society. It may be explained that Boomhauer's more easygoing attitude may have been so as not to alienate Suzette, as she became a lover in addition to his temporary neighbor.
- Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo makes a cameo when Hank is being a "bad neighbor." He is seen on the large outdoor TV.
- Ollie and Gordon Huskins wear clothing with "Proots" written on it, which is a spoof of the Canadian clothing company Roots.
- The Canadian part of the episode takes artistic license. Boomhauer is supposed to be near Guelph, Ontario and is seen in a boat with mountains in the background; however, Ontario does not have any mountains.
- A few aspects of Canadian culture mentioned but not seen directly are also inaccurate. For instance, Ollie uses metric units to talk about his height, a context for which most Canadian use feet and inches like Americans. Also, Suzette uses the word "aluminium" instead of "aluminum," a well-known aspect of British and Australian English but not actually applicable to Canada.
Goofs[]
- When Boomhauer is hanging out with his French-Canadian girlfriend at her place, she offers him a 'Coffee Crisp', which is the trademarked name of a rectangular chocolate-covered candy bar that is only available in Canada, and does not resemble the round, bare cookie-like objects she offered Boomhauer.
- The design notes for the show's animation standards state that Boomhauer is not supposed to laugh or smile; however, he smiles twice and laughs while in Canada.
- This is a conflict to many other episodes in the series as Boomhauer is constantly shown to laugh or smile. One example is in "Dang Ol' Love", where he picks up a photo of Marlene as a child and goes "Dang Ol'—aww."
Quotes[]
- "See, the trend today is to make your outdoor space look less backyard-y and more living room-y." —Peggy
- "We're Americans. We're the worlds welcome mat. It doesn't matter if they're from Canada, Laos or god forbid, California. Right now, they're from Rainey Street!" —Hank
- "Summer, it's what America does best. Heck, we were born in the summer!" —Hank
- "Canada? A man only has so many summers, Boomhauer! Why would you waste yours in a country that's dismantling its navy?" —Hank
- "We always travel with our own pure maple syrup. It's like they say; you don't want to drink the water in every country, eh?" —Morine Huskins
- "Canada's metric system makes so much more sense. A yard, a foot, an ounce. That's so random! Why not measure things in squirts and dogs tails?" —Bobby
- "I love Canada's national anthem. Too bad they don't play it much at the Olympics." —Bill
- "That's a D.W.I. for y-o-u." —Police officer
- "If you're ever up in Canada to get reasonably priced pharmaceuticals, or you know, a breath of fresh air, look us up." —Gordon Huskins
- "Hello, Jeff. Oh, my!" —Morine Huskins
Gallery[]
