That MAN Ain't Right

King of the Hill season 15's third episode continued its strong streak with a very solid story that pushes Hank to his limits after he is scammed. But, it also throws a bit of a Hank and Bobby conflict into the mix as Hank takes issue with Bobby's lack of motivation and I'll get to it attitude. Throw in some of the funniest Gribble moments in the entire revival from both Dale and Joseph, and you've got yourself a real quality episode here. So, let's dive into season 15 episode 3, Searching for Bobby Fischer. And like last year, I'll not only be covering every episode of this season, but I'll have my uncut reactions to each episode posted over on my Patreon as well. Check those out if it interests you. Thanks. This episode features some outstanding Joseph Gribble lines, and though this video is not a sponsored one, I did want to shout out Joseph's new voice actor Ty LaClair and draw some attention to his crowdfunding campaign for a short film Cheyenne. Cheyenne is a horror comedy that plays on and upends the never-ending barrage of native tropes found in the horror genre. It genuinely sounds like a really fun and inspired project, has been such a highlight of the King of the Hill revival. As of recording this, they're about 80% of the way to their goal with a couple of days to go. If even a tiny fraction of you donate, we can get them there pretty quickly. I hope you check it out. Let's get back to the breakdown. Searching for Bobby Fischer opens at Robotachaing with Bobby, Connie, and Ola having a conversation about modern television. I like that Ola wasn't a one-off character being Connie's roommate. There are a lot of side characters from Bobby's childhood that have disappeared in these revival seasons for valid reasons, of course. Bobby is in Dallas after all. But, I hope that the roster of friends continues to expand as they continue this revival. Bobby, Connie, and Joseph are a great trio, but I enjoy when characters like Ola, Willow, and Chain get a little more screen time to shake up the dynamic. And Joseph continues to be a real comedic highlight, in large part due to his outstanding new voice actor Ty LaClair. >> Who wants to help me GET LAID IN MEXICO this weekend? >> This culminates in Bobby taking a little time off to go to Mexico with Joseph. And as I was just saying in one of the earlier breakdowns, I'd love to see more of these kinds of stories that don't fully center around Bobby's work life or his relationship. In fact, more Bobby and Joseph friendship episodes in particular would be very welcomed. It's ultimately a smaller part of this episode, but I think their dynamic as young adults is pretty great and I'd love to see their friendship explored more. But before his trip to Mexico, Bobby goes back to Arlen to track down his passport and this sequence is just packed with Easter eggs from past episodes, as well as some hints of things to come. For one, Bobby's passport shows him sporting blue hair and an earring. And just in a side, back before the revival, fellow creator Hats Off Media did this aged up Bobby design for me to use in some of my speculation videos and boy did a lot of commenters hate Bobby's hipstery look and particularly hated his earring. Looks like we were actually just a few years off though. According to Hank, this was Bobby's K-pop phase, but still pretty funny look. But just beyond the passport here, you can actually see a science fair medal. Bobby participated in the science fair in the episode Bad Girls, Bad Girls, What You Going to Do? When Connie's cousin tricked him into cooking meth. Man, what a premise. Obviously, Bobby did not win that science fair, so I think this could suggest that Bobby did end up partnering with Connie in a later year like he intended to do that year and they actually won. Obviously, that's speculation, but he definitely wouldn't have managed to win a science fair on his own. Bobby also pulls out a bunch of other references from the box here. There's this ventriloquist dummy from the episode Now, Who's the Dummy? Not Chip, the one he most of that episode, but the one that Hank built for Bobby at the end of the episode that's designed to look like him. Next, we see the mirror from the episode Won't You Be My Neighbor? When Bobby was being tested to see if he was the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama. Bobby ended up choosing the mirror not because he thought it was the Dalai Lama's, but because he could see Connie in its reflection and he was choosing Connie. A cute episode and I guess they just let him keep this ancient artifact, even though they actually revealed that it did really belong to the Dalai Lama. That's kind of crazy that they let him keep it. We also see the tarot card deck that Bobby found and used in the episode The Witches of East Arlen. Same design and everything. And then I cannot figure out this bear, but it looks a lot like the bear that Dale sliced up in Soldier of Misfortune, just in a different color palette. Anyone recognize the pink bear from an older episode? I think these kinds of little nods are fun. They aren't drawing too much attention to themselves. They're really just there for diehards to catch and do the Leo pointing meme at. But Bobby waiting until the last minute to get his passport is what gives a little insight into one of the core conflicts of this episode. Hank judging Bobby for putting things off and not showing initiative in his responsibilities. Bobby didn't even know that he needs Mexican car insurance if he wants to drive in Mexico. This is some solid realistic parent-child tension, especially in young adulthood. And I think it sets up the ultimate conflict well, where Hank has to reconcile with his own shortcomings and blind spots in the modern digital age. While Bobby has to reconcile with the fact that he does need to adjust his priorities. Once Bobby gets to Mexico, they learn that Joseph forgot to finish their reservation transaction at the resort, so they literally do not have a place to stay. But I also like that Joseph's outgoing and maybe filterless nature probably also secured them the place they can stay, a bed and breakfast not too far away. I also really appreciated that Bobby was rightfully reluctant to just go to a second location with strangers until they told him they'll be making do it on out, a bone marrow dish. Bobby is always leading with his stomach, but he's graduated from fruit pies to something a little fancier here. But while this is happening, the primary conflict occurs. Hank and Peggy get a call alleging to be the Mexican police who say Bobby has been arrested. And then Bobby gets on the phone and asks for money to bail him out of jail. Yeah, they just get blatantly scammed here, which they quickly learn when they find Nancy actively FaceTiming with the boys. And I love this dilemma. For one, it's the exact kind of thing that would absolutely irritate Hank to no end. He is so responsible and so cautious, but his naivete when it comes to the technology here is what did him in. He just had no idea that cloning Bobby's voice was something that could even happen. And previously, his naivete has done him in in similar ways, like when we learned he had been paying sticker price for cars his entire life and thought this was the dealer doing him a solid. Peggy, on the other hand, is definitely someone who might fall for this kind of thing. We saw her pretty explicitly fall for a mental scam in the original run, though she did also dig herself out of that hole pretty effectively and satisfyingly. And while Peggy is along for the ride here comedically, it's really all about Hank and his struggles to accept his shortcomings. >> There's nobody more cautious than me. I wear my seat belt in the car wash. >> He didn't even seem to wrap his head around the stuff they tried to teach him at the scamming seminar, which was largely filled with older folks. I thought this was a pretty interesting look at Hank, cuz I think it gives a lot of insight into his brand of naivete. He is shocked and upset when it turns out the guy running the program tricked him into almost buying scam software through the program, but Hank can't wrap his head around the idea that the guy running the seminar would be someone to fear. Sort of the same way he didn't understand how that car salesman was taking advantage of him. The same way he didn't think that Bobby would be lying to him on the phone, even though it obviously wasn't Bobby. And I think the thing that really rattles Hank is there just seems to be absolutely no recourse. The police can't do anything. He was embarrassed at the seminar. He doesn't even know who scammed him, so he can't take matters into his own hands. He is just flailing and sitting in his own failure. And this leads to Hank trying to place the blame elsewhere. He basically pins it on Bobby. He claims that he only sent the money because he just expected that Bobby had been irresponsible again. Now, obviously, this is Hank avoiding personal blame because he's ashamed. And though Bobby does need to show a bit more initiative in his responsibilities, it is not his fault that Hank got scammed. And Bobby being blamed by his dad here causes him to question his dad's capabilities when it comes to protecting the family. A kind of a low blow, honestly. But I think what I love is that this dilemma, this feeling of helplessness and the fear that he really has let himself and his family down leads Hank down a path he otherwise would have never gone. >> Welcome to the Dale side, Hank. >> [laughter] >> This whole sequence is so funny. Just a great take on like a training montage. Hank goes to Dale, who not only teaches him about how easy AI cloning technology is to use, but also teaches him how to use aliases and scrub his entire internet presence from existence. Obviously, this is a great way to expand on the years-long Rusty Shackleford bit, which now seems to have extended into numerous other aliases that he swaps out regularly. And on top of that, earlier in the episode, we even see that Joseph uses an alias, Wellington Failfellow. I truly love how much they're showing that Joseph really has taken after his dad. Between this and the garbage bag jump, it's all top-tier stuff. Really hope we get a real Dale and Joseph focused episode in the future. Also, let's just take a quick aside to talk about Toby Huss's version of Dale here. Obviously, last season was a bit strange for the character as Johnny Hardwick sadly passed in the middle of recording the season. And even in the episodes that contain Hardwick, it seems like he was maybe struggling a bit to find that Dale voice again after so many years. And I think they may have even supplemented some lines with Toby Huss's performance within the same episodes. Combined with the fact that they jumbled up the broadcast order a bit, the Dale performance felt a little uneven, switching between Johnny and Toby and forcing Toby to match some of his performance to the existing Johnny deliveries. But I think that for season 15, Toby Huss has really come into his own as Dale. No, it isn't a perfect one-to-one and he still doesn't quite hit the bigger screaming Dale deliveries with the same chutzpah that Johnny did. But overall, this feels like Dale Gribble to me. And I think it's a believably older your of Dale. >> I don't pick up the phone. I don't open any mail, electronic or snail, or carrier pigeon. >> I think this is likely coming with more experience doing the character and the benefit of not needing to match performances with Johnny, but I really think it's a blessing that an existing King of the Hill voice actor, one who basically lost his previous parts, can do such a solid Dale performance given the circumstances. I am really coming to appreciate Huss's performance here, even if we'll always miss Johnny Hardwick, and I know that not everyone will agree with this. It is tough with voice performances, but I think he's doing a really solid job. But anyways, back to the episode. Yes, Hank goes full Dale and flies off the rails in terms of protecting his identity. And I did really appreciate how this resolves. I think this is actually a really good example of the show intertwining the Bobby and Hank stories effectively, despite the characters not being in the same place the entire episode, something I was just complaining about in the last breakdown. Bobby and Connie get back to his place to discover the power is out and Joseph has passed out from eating everything in the fridge before it went bad. I like that this is one of those King of the Hill stories where Hank and Bobby both learn from each other. They both have experience that the other lacks, and obviously it's spelled out pretty explicitly. But Bobby seeing Joseph's lack of responsibility here, not paying the power bill and in Mexico not booking their reservation, gives him that same perspective that Hank has about him. It's a simple solution, but an effective one. And I like that Bobby learned this not directly from Hank's intervention, but through his own experience. And it's nice to see Bobby's regret over the way he treated Hank, even if Hank was being a little unreasonable after the scam situation. The resolution is honestly pretty silly, but in a way that really works. Bobby basically uses AI to set up a scam phone call that his dad can call out. He basically wants to give Hank a win and feel like he does have the ability to protect his family. I sort of wish this whole slice Stallone thing had been set up a bit more, but it was really funny regardless. They use an AI clone of Sylvester Stallone who is trying to drum up money for a sequel to his film Over the Top. Even funnier, it reveals that Hank was very active on the message boards for the Over the Top fan club. Now, I have admittedly never seen Over the Top, but this is such a specific movie for Hank to have a fixation on. I had to look into it, and man, it kind of makes too much sense. Over the Top is a movie about a trucker named Lincoln Hawks, great character name by the way, who also does professional arm wrestle on the side. But it's also got a child custody angle as he attempts to reconnect with his son. Now, it's very funny because this film did not do well at the box office and wasn't critically well received, but does feel like a movie that fits a lot of Hank's character. For one, it seems to be about this father and son reconnecting while on the road in a big rig truck. I mean, living on Red's vitamin C and propane anyone? Hank basically recreated that scenario with Bobby. Furthermore, it's like this macho 80s action movie vibe surrounding this obscure but very manly sport, but at the same time seems to have this incredibly earnest story about a father and son wanting to be together. Hank's brand of masculinity definitely seems like it would be more connected to that kind of a story and aesthetic, but he's also such an earnest guy. I don't know, I thought this was such a funny choice of movie and honestly, good on the writers. It feels really perfect. I think I might need to watch that movie now, and I appreciated that Hank was able to trick the scammer into giving himself away with specific movie trivia about Over the Top. Hank is a real fan of that movie. The highlight of the episode is Hank delivering this line to the scammer though, not realizing that he's actually saying this directly to Bobby. >> Take my son. He seemed like a lost cause, but he ended up finding something he's damn good at. >> Perfect. Hank can be a little too proud and repressed to say these kinds of things to Bobby's face all the time, so Bobby getting to hear it regardless is such a great way to wrap this story up. And the final scene is Bobby helping Hank with his password manager, relating it back to the lessons Hank was teaching Bobby about keeping his valuables in a lock box towards the beginning of the episode. It's just really good full circle stuff. Overall, this is just a quality quality episode. A great modern dilemma that Hank struggles with, a really effective conflict for Hank and Bobby to quarrel over. It's got some outstanding gribble comedy between Joseph and Dale, and some really heartwarming moments. Truly, almost nothing to complain about with this one. And that is what I've got to say about season 15 episode 3, Searching for Bobby Fisher. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please stay tuned because I have breakdowns for every season 15 episode on the way. Maybe even subscribe if you're interested, and also consider checking out my Patreon where you can see my uncut reactions to the episodes. Hey, I also have plenty of other King of the Hill videos across the channel, if those interest you, including coverage for every single season 14 episode from last year, which I even threw into one big compilation for your convenience. Stay tuned for more. Peace. >> I stay mellow watching Johnny Two Cellos. He talks cartoons. Teaser really cool fellow. He keeps you posted on adult cartoons. If that's what you're into, then grab a spoon and a very big bowl [music] of your favorite cereal. Feels like Saturday morning cartoon material. Johnny Two Cellos, watch him on YouTube. Now, enjoy this groove and bust a move.