This text incorporates spoilers for “King of the Hill” season 14, episode 9, “No Hank Left Behind.”
On this planet of “King of the Hill,” some of the attention-grabbing relationship dynamics is between patriarch Hank Hill (Mike Decide) and his considerably youthful half-brother, Good Hank, also referred to as G.H. Sibling age gaps are widespread, however a 40-year hole is much less so. It is some of the attention-grabbing points of the latter seasons of the present’s unique run, as a result of it additionally meant Hank’s son Bobby was greater than 10 years older than his uncle G.H. With the “King of the Hill” revival collection leaping forward over a decade, this places Hank and G.H. in a dynamic that, age-wise, resembles one thing extra like a father and son, a lot to the retired Hank’s dismay.
Now a true-blue member of Gen Alpha, G.H. is glued to his cellphone and cannot be bothered to pay his mom Didi (Ashley Gardner) any consideration past scoffs, sighs, and rolled eyes. Recognizing that her son requires a type of assist that she can not present, she begs Hank to take his little brother below his wing and assist him as he approaches puberty. Hank, nevertheless, struggles to bond with G.H., who’s somewhat too invested on this planet he is escaping to on-line. Because it seems, G.H. needs to attend the Man Made Boot Campinar, a “private growth alternative” occasion hosted by G.H.’s favourite on-line content material creator, who guarantees to enhance the “4 F-bombs: household, religion, funds, and health.”
Hank is thrilled that G.H. needs to dedicate time to “good old style character constructing” and is prepared to be his grownup “mantor” for the two-day occasion. In fact, as a result of Hank shouldn’t be chronically on-line like the remainder of us, he does not understand that G.H. has simply signed them each up for a boot camp hosted by Eli, a manosphere grifter within the fashion of Andrew Tate.
King of the Hill supplies excellent perception into how boys get sucked into the manosphere
When G.H. first reveals his large brother the promotional advert for the Man Made Boot Camp, Hank is totally unaware of the menace these kinds of individuals pose to younger males. The truth that he does not see the very apparent pink flags that anybody who has spent even a microsecond investigating manosphere content material might spot from a mile away showcases precisely how younger males fall into the pipeline. When the Hill brothers arrive and Hank hears, “Over the following two days, you may anticipate to construct up your entrepreneurship, self-confidence, management expertise, and brotherhood,” he is drawn in like a moth to a flame. However as quickly because the presentation begins, the insidious underbelly of Man Made begins to indicate its face, and Hank sees it for what it’s.
He presses again when Eli means that working below one other man is “beta conduct,” citing his many profitable years employed by Buck Strickland, and has zero persistence for a way rapidly the parents behind Man Made — and the opposite attendees — discover a technique to blame females for the entire issues of their lives. G.H. laments being “friend-zoned” by a woman he likes, and whereas the remainder of the boot camp validates his anger, blaming the woman for his heartbreak, Hank tells him immediately that if a woman simply needs to be mates with him, that is her alternative, and he must respect it. Hank’s dedication to standing up for ladies turns him right into a pariah inside the group, regardless that he is the one one there who really has a spouse or girlfriend.
As a substitute of listening, G.H. lashes out, telling Hank he is “a weak sissy with a fats neck, a silly soy-boy,” It is an expression harking back to their father Cotton that scares him right into a full-on “BWAAAAAH!”
Serving to G.H. helps Hank heal his wounds from Cotton
“King of the Hill” has showcased some fairly reprehensible individuals all through its run, however you would be hard-pressed to discover a character that did extra harm to the Hill household than Hank’s father, Colonel Cotton Hill. A WWII veteran whose delight is his declare that he killed “fiddy males,” he misplaced his shins within the warfare and had his toes connected to his knees. A traditionalist to his core, Hank spent his complete life determined for the approval of his father, regardless that Cotton is the poster baby for why so many adults go no-contact with their mother and father.
Cotton was a racist, misogynist, bigoted, merciless previous coot who knew how a lot Hank was damage by his mistreatment of him and never solely did not care however took pleasure in making his “sissy” son undergo. Hell, it bought so unhealthy in season 6 that it took former president Jimmy Carter to place them on the trail to a civil reconciliation. Seeing Cotton’s hatred flowing via G.H. is sufficient for him to enlist Dale Gribble’s assist in studying the reality about Eli Selwick, a scammy loser who has been spewing vile lies which can be solely doable as a result of his mom invested in his enterprise with out absolutely understanding what he was as much as.
“No Hank Left Behind” shows how Hank’s understanding of his father has modified within the years since his passing. He now has sufficient distance to have the ability to acknowledge, in listening to G.H. parrot hateful rhetoric, that lots of his personal beliefs are regressive concepts in regards to the world that he inherited from his father. When “King of the Hill” went off the air, discussions about poisonous masculinity and the way males get radicalized weren’t almost as commonplace as they’re now, which makes this episode one of the best within the revival season from a personality standpoint. Hank’s continued growth, his relationship together with his youthful brother, and his emotions about his father are all explored in a means that they might not have been from 1997-2010.
That boy ain’t proper simply but, however by imparting respectful knowledge about what it means to “be a person” and instructing him that ladies are deserving of respect, Hank may give G.H. what their father was by no means prepared or capable of present both of them: a constructive male function mannequin.
The “King of the Hill” revival is now streaming on Hulu.
