‘King of the Hill’ Now Looks Like a Fantasy

When Hank Hill, the stalwart, drawling protagonist of King of the Hill, returns to Texas, he kneels within the airport and kisses the ground. Greater than 15 years have handed since audiences final noticed him—the present, which debuted a brand new season final week, ended its authentic 12-year run in 2009. Viewers be taught that Hank and his spouse, Peggy, have lately moved again to their yellow home on Rainey Avenue, in suburban Arlen, after a number of years dwelling in Saudi Arabia. Hank had taken a job as a propane advisor there, the place the couple had lived in an idyllic simulacrum of an American small city, a spot that put Hank in thoughts of “what issues have been like within the ’50s.”Then and now, the slice-of-life comedy—which additionally stars Hank and Peggy’s son, Bobby— primarily issues neighborhood antics unfolding throughout Rainey Avenue’s dwelling rooms and lawns. (Bobby, for his half, is now a chef who lives in Dallas.) But its premise lands in another way right this moment than it did a decade and a half in the past. At this time, when solely 1 / 4 of Individuals reportedly know most of their neighbors, and practically as many say they really feel lonely and disconnected from their group, King of the Hill’s concentrate on neighborly relations is reassuring, even idealistic—a imaginative and prescient of suburban America with robust social ties that, for essentially the most half, isn’t riven by cultural or political divisions. As such, the present appears like a playbook for a sort of rosy coexistence that, in the true world, appears tougher and tougher to return by.From the Hills’ perspective, Arlen has primarily modified in methods they discover inconvenient. Now Hank has to deal with ride-share apps, boba, and bike lanes that intervene along with his commute—changes which might be perturbing to him. However these indicators of the occasions are simpler for him to simply accept than the belief that some issues, or folks, haven’t modified; they’ve deteriorated. Nearly instantly after reuniting along with his associates, Hank learns that Invoice Dauterive, his longtime pal and neighbor, hasn’t left his bed room because the COVID lockdowns of 2020. Hank had been Invoice’s de facto lifeline for years, serving to his pal even when it meant pushing himself wildly exterior his consolation zone, reminiscent of getting a tattoo of Invoice’s identify and donning a gown alongside him. With out Hank’s stabilizing presence, Invoice’s well-being appears to have declined to the purpose that even Netflix—which he’d been watching nonstop—despatched somebody to his home to carry out a wellness examine.Learn: King of the Hill: The final bipartisan TV comedyHorrified by Invoice’s sorry state, Hank vows to get his pal “again on observe.” However when his former boss calls to supply him a sexy job that will take him again to the Center East, alongside all of the facilities he may need, Hank’s new dilemma appears to crystallize. Listening to the tempting provide, Hank stares throughout his garden towards Invoice, who’s utilizing a backyard rake to pull a package deal in by his window with out leaving his room. Does Hank actually need to be again on this neighborhood, the place his relationships create inescapable obligations and each day nuisances? By selecting to remain in Arlen, Hank and Peggy reaffirm King of the Hill’s core message: that belonging to a group is a worthwhile enterprise that requires ongoing dedication. Within the case of Invoice, that finally means attractive him again into society with the appetizing waft and convivial chatter of a barbecue occasion—a small coup for social connection amid the inertia of alienation.Mike Decide, one of many present’s co-creators, has stated that the character of Hank was partially impressed by neighbors he as soon as had in suburban Texas, who noticed Decide struggling to restore a damaged fence in his yard and helped him repair it, unprompted. This recurring caretaking—the act of exhibiting up for others, no matter comfort or reward—is a part of what the political theorist Hannah Arendt referred to as the “net of human relationships,” conceived on an ethic of tolerance and accountability that goes deeper than merely having fun with your neighbors’ firm. In any case, Invoice is usually a buzzkill, and the Hills’ different neighbors, such because the conspiratorial Dale Gribble throughout the alley and the holier-than-thou Minh and Kahn Souphanousinphone subsequent door, are flawed too. For the Hills, staying in Arlen means forgoing a extra comfy life to lump it with some bizarre personalities. However with out taking pains to assist one’s neighbors, a resilient, tolerant group couldn’t exist. And with out that net of relationships, even essentially the most Stepford-perfect city is a non secular desert.Whereas Invoice’s storyline dramatizes how isolation can hole out a person’s life, King of the Hill additionally explores how withdrawal can fray group ties extra broadly. One episode finds Peggy aghast that her neighbors are pulling away from each other and receding into their expertise: Many Arlen locals now faux to not be residence if their doorbell cameras reveal chatty-looking strangers on their doorstep; some even submit paranoid warnings to an nameless neighborhood discussion board, fearmongering about “unusual folks” sightings (half of which prove to only be Dale).Peggy takes it upon herself to convey the neighborhood collectively by erecting a lending library in her entrance yard. The initiative works nicely—till her books unfold bedbugs, making everybody even angrier and extra suspicious of each other. Peggy doesn’t need to admit that she’s chargeable for a public-health fiasco, however the present underscores {that a} group can’t perform on good intentions alone. Typically, restoring concord requires a willingness to lose face—which she does. After confessing to inflicting the outbreak, she leads a gaggle effort to burn the infested books in a bonfire. “Texas morons have book-burning occasion,” is how one nameless discussion board person describes them. However at the very least the entire road comes collectively in the long run, with somebody strumming a guitar because the pages crackle.Learn: The least politically prejudiced place in AmericaKing of the Hill’s perception within the innate energy of ethical character stays certainly one of its most interesting traits—however the revival glosses actuality as a way to protect its light equilibrium. Many viewers have described the collection as “small c” conservative: Hank values the familiarity of his traditions greater than he’s vocal about his political opinions, however he additionally as soon as refused to lick a stamp with a picture of Invoice Clinton on it. Decide has described its humor as “extra social than political.” In an episode of the unique collection, the Hills meet then-Governor George W. Bush at a presidential-campaign rally; world occasions that occurred throughout Bush’s presidency, nonetheless—reminiscent of 9/11 and the Iraq Conflict—by no means got here up in the course of the present’s authentic run. Now neither do ongoing tales which have stored Texas within the information, such because the state’s restrictive anti-abortion legal guidelines. The reveal that Dale was briefly elected mayor of Arlen on an anti-mask marketing campaign is the closest the present comes this time round to commenting on right this moment’s tradition wars.Some viewers could discover it troublesome to reconcile the present’s good-humored, inclusive portrayal of on a regular basis suburban life with the political and social fragmentation discovered inside many American communities right this moment. A model of the present that extra immediately explored real-world tensions may have sharply captured the second into which King of the Hill returns. Nevertheless, its apparent distance from actual life encourages viewers to droop disbelief and immerse themselves in its true politic: collaborating within the ritual of neighborhood life, no matter whether or not that simply means standing in an alley with a beer, contributing to a frog refrain of “Yups” till everybody’s made it by one other day collectively.All of this principled neighborliness could sound Pollyannaish, however the present’s optimism appears intentional. King of the Hill has all the time held a particular place in Decide’s canon: Although his different movie and TV initiatives, reminiscent of Idiocracy, Beavis and Butt-Head, and Silicon Valley, mercilessly skewer what some critics have outlined as “American suckiness,” King of the Hill celebrates American decency. The present’s narrative arcs frequently reinforce that social belief is essential to communities weathering any disaster, that being ethical on this planet is usually a matter of looking our home windows and recognizing how we are able to serve each other, whether or not that’s by fixing a fence or checking in on a pal. That’s the evergreen attraction of the Hill household: their pragmatic perception that serving to out is simply what neighbors do. Or, as a Woman Scout chirps to Hank whereas handing over a field of Caramel deLites, “It’s good to be good.”