TVSquad

(S11E09)

Peggy: I'll bet Minh likes foreign movies, she's a foreigner. To her, it's just a movie.

I've watched enough episodes of King of the Hill over the years to know that Dale Gribble sometimes uses the alias "Rusty Shackleford' to fly under the radar of all those conspiratorial entities that only exist in his head, but this is the first time I've heard the story behind it: "Rusty Shackleford" was the name of a kid from Dale's third grade class who passed away. At least, that's what Dale thought. It turns out that Rusty just moved away.

I'll ask the KOTH fans reading this: is this the first time we've heard the story of how Dale became Rusty? I wasn't certain.

One of many things I love about this series is that it doesn't always take the obvious route. Other series would have had Rusty showing up at Dale's doorstep angry and ready to wring Dale's neck, but all Rusty wanted to do was have Dale sign a few papers. The only "drama" comes from Dale, who, along with an equally melodramatic Peggy (who wants out of her "Cozy Kitchen" contract), tries to set up a fake "murder/suicide."

"Cozy Kitchen" is obviously a parody of "Pampered Chef," a line of kitchenware sold through parties, and apparently trying to get out of your "Cozy Kitchen" contract is worse than trying to leave the Mafia. I did a Google search to see if there were similar stories of people unable to get out of their "Pampered Chef" contracts, but couldn't find anything.

I really liked this episode. The dynamic between Peggy and Dale was really funny, as both of them were cranked up to eleven on their respective emotional scales, each grossly over-thinking their situation. Hank, the voice of reason, offers a simple solution for Peggy, but she and Dale decide to stage a fake fight anyway, which was definitely the highlight of the episode (I laughed loudest when the two stopped in mid-struggle so Peggy could open the patio door).

Did anyone else think the scene where Dale jumped through his own window to avoid Rusty was very Simpsonsesque? I'm not saying it was out of character, I actually thought it was very in character, it was just a moment of slapstick you don't see too often on King of the Hill. I think it worked, though.

7 out of 7.