"Good Hill Hunting" is the 43rd episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on December 1, 1998. The episode was written by Joe Stillman and directed by Klay Hall.
Summary[]
It's deer season and many local fathers are taking their children out to bag their first deer. Bobby, excited to hunt a deer and enter manhood, is unknowingly delayed doing this because Hank is nervous about spending time with him.
Plot[]
As Hank Hill and his friends make final preparations to take their children on a deer hunting trip, Hank admits to Peggy that he has yet to purchase Bobby Hill's hunting permit. As the conversation progresses, Hank admits he is frightened of being alone with his son, as he sometimes uncertain what the boy is talking about. Hank declares that he has one last errand to run before the journey gets under way. He drives to the county office to purchase the hunting permit. But a clerk informs him that no more licenses will be sold, due to an agreement with environmentalists. An angered Hank returns home. As his neighbors and their children head off for the hunt, Hank pulls into his own driveway, parks, and gives Bobby the bad news: he'll have to wait another year before "becoming a man".
Bobby creates a deer out of cardboard and uses it for target practice. Hank and Peggy notice this and grow concerned that their boy may descend into madness if he fails to achieve manhood by killing an animal. Later, Hank encounters Eustice at Strickland Propane. Eustice shows him a brochure for a private hunting reserve operated by the La Grunta Inn & Resort. Eustice explains that he is taking his son Randy Miller to the reserve for his rite of passage, as the company takes care of guns, permits and the like. Shortly thereafter, the Gribbles, the Souphanousinphones and other neighbors return home with their kills. Bobby begins crying, as all of his friends have shot a deer. "Everything looks so Christmasy. Now I know how the Jewish kids feel." Hank decides a trip to LaGrunta is in order.
When Hank and his son arrive at LaGrunta Hotel, they are directed to a shuttle and are dropped off at LaGrunta Ranch. They see Eustice and Randy, who is carrying a stack of deer meat. They are directed to a shooting stand in the woods. As the pair await their prey, an automatic feed spreader whirrs into action, and deer causally emerge from the forest. But Bobby and Hank realize there is no sport in killing an animal in such a fashion, and they leave the resort empty-handed.
On the drive home, Hank decides it's time for Bobby to try his hand behind the wheel, as Bobby's learning how to drive is just as much a rite of passage to Hank as shooting a deer. Bobby climbs into the driver's seat and navigates a deserted road. Suddenly, a deer bolts in front of the truck. Bobby slams on the brakes, but it is too late, and the animal dies. Hank congratulates his son, as it is a "clean kill."
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Luanne Platter (non-speaking)
- Dale Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Joseph Gribble
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Kahn Souphanousinphone (voice off-screen, non-speaking on-screen)
- Minh Souphanousinphone (non-speaking)
- Connie Souphanousinphone
- John Redcorn
- Eustace Miller
- Randy Miller
- Street boy
- Beverly La Grunta
- Cotton Hill (pictured)
- Bug Gribble (pictured)
- Mr. Dauterive (pictured)
- Dr. Boomhauer (pictured)
Stinger Quote[]
- Bobby: "I'm driving the hell out of this truck!"
Trivia[]
- The episode is a play on the 1997 drama film Good Will Hunting.
- After Hank and Bobby return from the La Grunta hotel, Hank parks the car halfway into the garage. But when Peggy washes the blood from the deer off the front of the truck, the truck is now on the driveway, away from the garage.
- When Hank looks through the various brochures at the La Grunta hotel, he reads aloud a particular brochure that advertises an activity that allows you to swim with a dolphin. This exact event (Dolphin Encounter) as advertised in the brochure, is featured in the later episode "Jon Vitti Presents: Return to La Grunta", in which Hank takes part in the event.
- We learn that Dale's father took him hunting as a child twenty-five years earlier.
- The song that Hank sings to himself while shaving is "Travelin' Man" by Ricky Nelson.
- The bird that flies past Hank and Bobby at La Grunta is a male ring-necked pheasant.
Gallery[]
