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Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow is the two hundred-eleventh episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on May 13, 2007. The episode was written by Christy Stratton, and directed by Kyounghee Lim.

Summary[]

When Nancy's hair begins to fall out and is believed to be due to her break-up with John Redcorn, she begins debating if she should start the affair again or stay loyal to Dale.

Plot[]

Dale encounters Khan's delinquent nephew, Phonsawan, who primarily speaks Lao, dresses in a day-glo jump suit with his hair slicked back, wears very dark glasses and drives a tricked-out sports car with underbody lights. Since Dale is convinced that the equinox is some kind of planetary alignment that encourages space aliens to travel to Earth, he gets in the car. He then sees the digital dash clock reading 20:48 and becomes convinced that this isn't a spacecraft but a time machine. Dale is subsequently dumped outside of town. Convinced that he has traveled back in time, he believes the world will end if he runs into his former self, and delivers an impassioned plea to Nancy to live her life. He is not aware that at the time Nancy is contemplating resuming her affair with John Redcorn.

When she experiences sudden hair loss, Nancy consults a doctor who suggests it could be caused by stress and puts her on tranquilizers. She then turns to her mother for help with the stress of home life and unresolved feelings for John Redcorn only to be told about her mother's own extramarital affair. She encounters John Redcorn at Capt. Bear's Pizza and the local zoo, where he is pursuing a career as a children's entertainer. These encounters do nothing to discourage Nancy's old feeling for him. But when she runs into Dale at the zoo and he removes his hat while professing his love for her (and Dale seldom removes his hat in public), she decides in favor of Dale and resigns herself to wearing a wig when the time comes.

Bill also runs into Khan's nephew who sticks Bill for the tab for about $100 in snacks and beer and then leaves him stranded at the convenience store.

Characters[]

Stinger Quote[]

  • Dale: "Oh, cold, hilarious fate!"

Trivia[]

  • The name of the episode is a pun on the phrase, "Here today, gone tomorrow". The phrase, "Hair today, gone tomorrow" is also used by hair removal establishments.
  • Dale's explanation of the vernal equinox centered on planetary alignment is incorrect, as it is Earth-centered. In the Northern Hemisphere, the spring equinox, or vernal equinox, occurs around March 21, when the sun moves northward across the celestial equator, and day and night are of approximately equal length. The autumnal equinox occurs around September 22 or 23, when the sun crosses the celestial equator going south.
  • The combination of Dale's belief that aliens will arrive on the vernal equinox, Phonsawan's futuristic vehicle, only speaking Lao, and his mispronunciation of "Arlen" almost sounding like the word "Alien", leads Dale to believe that Phonsawan is in fact an alien. However, Dale has heard Kahn speak Lao many times, and he is himself fluent in Russian and heard speaking it in several episodes. It's not plausible that Dale should be this unaware that foreign languages exist.
  • Phonsawan pronounces Arlen as "Ay-len", as "R" (Lao: ຣ) sounds in the Lao language are uncommon and pronounced as "L" (Lao: ລ). In 1975, the communist government of Laos officially dropped the "R" sound from the Lao alphabet, calling it a symbol of foreign influence. However, the use of "R" has increased due to internet access and globalization.
  • Dale says, "It's times like this, I wish I had a friend named 'The Professor'". The Professor trope is a common stock character used in fiction.
  • When Dale believe he's in the future and is talking to Hank's "grandson" (actually just Hank), he describes Hank as being "eh okay." This is contradictory to how Dale acts towards Hank and describes him to other in the rest of the series. He's often shows an expressive admiration and respect for Hank and counts on him for many things. As Nancy describes in the Season 12 episode The Accidental Terrorist, "Dale talks about Hank a lot."

Goofs[]

  • During the Get In Get Out scene, the subtitle of "Teriyaki" is misspelled as "Teryaki".

Gallery[]


Season 10 Season 11 Season 12

The Peggy Horror Picture Show · serPUNt · Blood and Sauce · Luanne Gets Lucky · Hank Gets Dusted · Glen Peggy Glen Ross · The Passion of Dauterive · Grand Theft Arlen · Peggy's Gone to Pots · Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow · Bill, Bulk and the Body Buddies · Lucky's Wedding Suit
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