Here’s the Darkest Joke in the ‘King of the Hill’ Revival
The new season of King of the Hill is still, mostly, a sunny family sitcom. But, on occasion, its humor glides into the shadows. We saw it in the season premiere, in which Dale (voice of Johnny Hardwick) tells his friends his mayoral run was only made possible with the $37 purchase of a dead four-year-old’s Social Security Number. We see it again in the second episode — and nothing else quite as morbidly hilarious happens for the rest of the season.
In “The Beer Story,” Hank (Mike Judge) is settling uneasily into retirement. He doesn’t want to sleep in like some kind of “nepo baby” (who taught Hank this term? Show yourself!), but when he’s up early, he can’t find anything to fix around the house. A Monsignor Martinez reboot about the original character’s vengeance-seeking son fills a little time, but there’s so much more stretching out ahead of him. Peggy (Kathy Najimy) tells Hank to find a hobby, and a trip to Mega Lo Mart reveals the perfect choice for him: a homebrewing kit.
Bobby (Pamela Adlon), home to get Peggy to do his laundry, is intrigued, since as a chef, he actually knows about brewing, and about trends in beer flavors. But father and son soon clash over whether Hank’s own beer should just taste as much like his beloved Alamo as possible, or if it should have notes of fruit and other exotic elements. Talk of a homebrewing contest in Dallas soon gets as heated as a boil kettle (that’s a brewing reference), and when Bobby refuses to risk his professional reputation by having his name on Hank’s boring beer, Hank challenges him to make his own and let an impartial judge determine whose is better.
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Ahead of the contest, both Hills get to work refining their recipes. Hank’s friends from the alley aren’t the most discerning critics, but they do want Hank to beat Bobby to honor their generation and stomp the next. “Needs a bit more of that old gun flavor,” suggests Bill (Stephen Root).
“What’s old gun flavor?” asks an irritated Hank.
“Ask Bill,” says Dale. “He’s the only one who’s ever put a gun in his mouth.”
“It tasted like I thought it would,” murmurs Bill.
Smash cut back Chane (Ki Hong Lee) and his frat buddies taste-testing Bobby’s beer, so that we don’t have to see how Bill’s friends react to this comment. The episode, and the season, can get back to the good times. But maybe Bill could use a follow-up on that Netflix-related wellness check?
