King of the Hill 5/18/08:Life: A Loser's Manual

[Super Grover]

Hola Propaniacs. I trust, as another week has flown by once again, you all made it through unscathed. Sadly it's that time of year for the TV season when the good shows wind down and we're bombarded with summer replacement shows. But that only gives us more time to devote to the lawn and spending time in the alley, so it's all good. It's the same here in Arlen, as this is our season finale. And it looks like Lucky is taking a page out of Earl Hickey's handbook or Karma list.

Luanne's long-lost father and Peggy's brother Hoyt, a two-strike felon, comes to Arlen. After Hoyt gets caught committing another crime, Lucky feels bad and takes the blame, leaving Hoyt free to continue his life of crime.

This is the first appearance of Luanne's father. Peggy mentioned earlier in the series he has been working on an oil rig in the Pacific Ocean and wouldn't come back until someone faxed him Leanne's (Luanne's mom) death certificate. Could Luanne's mom have shuffled off the mortal coil with Cotton?

The title is an allusion to Georges Perec's book "Life: A User's Manual", originally published in French and titled as "La Vie mode d'emploi". The book is a collection of short stories about the residents of a fictitious Parisian apartment block.

Johnny Knoxville guest stars as Hoyt.

This looks promising, hope it will have us talking all summer long. See you for beer in the Alley.

 

[Gojirob]

To me, this ep makes Peggy once again look really, really bad. It wasn't until her staggering naivete endangered Bobby that she could think clearly. She's starting to get to the point I ask about many sitcoms wherein the man is the inherent dolt. Why is this practical, if uptight, person married to this serial moron? As mentioned by myself and others in the past, its almost refreshing to see the brains in the family switched after endless versions of 'Home Improvement', 'Raymond' , and 'Cosby 80's+90's'. But Peggy may have to be dialed back, just to avoid the traps those other shows put themselves in.

Dale's retreat from reality continues so strongly, he may just run into Stephen King's Gunslinger, Roland.

I note two continuity add-ons, as it were. One, when Hank told Bill about Hoyt and the oil rig/death certificate, this must have been part of Peggy's cover, and she must have said this is what Hoyt asked of Hank. Two, Peggy's shrewish Mom must really be uber-lousy in the parenting department on all fronts.

Maybe I'm being unfair, but it really seems that what we saw tonight indicates that all Peggy's efforts to protect Luanne have accomplished is to produce a female Baby Huey, annoying, disturbing and helpless. And further, she is once again more interested in protecting the secrets of others than those of her own privacy-loving husband.

 

[Super Grover]

I would have liked for Luanne to figure it out on her own like she did with her mom. Lucky was the more level headed person in all this...well besides Hank. And I wanted more with Dale and the guard tower.

 

[jep316]

I was just glad to see Dale's plan fall apart(literally)on him..He's really bugged me this season with his stunts so that was nice to see.

As for Luanne's father..He was really a creep..first He almost hits on Her..claiming he didn't recognize Her(even though the infamous fork incident took place in the first season when Luanne wasn't a "little" girl)...then He tries to get Lucky to take the fall for Him..real class act there.

And Peggy is really making a mistake trying to shield Luanne from reality..but then sometimes Peggy dosn't recognize reality herself.

Plus props to Lucky for showing what a good guy He is again(He got points for just not having a credit card to begin with).

Between Peggy's and Hank's family backgrounds it's surprising how "right' Bobby really is.

 

[Super Grover]

Voters registration is your magic key to Jury Duty.

 

[Mr Light]

It's funny how 12 years in the show continues to come up with new stories like this. I never thought before about how Luanne is related to them, and I didn't remember any mentions of Peggy having a brother. Interesting.

 

[Super Grover]

He's been mentioned before, this was just the first time we saw him.