King of the Hill Talkback: "Death Picks Cotton"

Has there ever been a worse parent on television than Cotton? I think the only one that trumped him was the grandmother played by Cloris Leachman on Malcolm in the Middle.

He's given us some moments, both good and bad, over the series. I was wondering if they'd have the cojones to kill him, since even though the characters don't age they try to keep it in the current time frame, and less WWII vets are alive every year. Apparently, they did.

That doesn't mean he couldn't revisit next season a la Buckley's Angel.

.....Hey, when is Luanne's baby bump going to show?
 
I can't believe Cotton's really gone. I feel like a whole chapter of my life has ended. I've been watching this show since it premiered back in 1996, but this sure does change everything.

And yeah, Bobby sure does act like a turd sometimes. The writers never seem to decide whether he should be smart or not. I personally preffered him back when he and Connie were together, even though she was a real.
 
Would have been better if they actually let Bobby in on what was happening to Cotton. His relationship with Cotton has always been quite strong and could have been a growing experiance for Bobby. The Writers really need to deside how mature they want Bobby to be. It shifts every episode.

Outside that it was done really well. Cotton's death was not sad yet at the same time I will miss him. He was a good character who brought humor to the show. A realistic one to. A bitter hateful man who in his own way tried to patch up his relationship with Hank but never knew how and in turn made things worse.

This is how i expected Cotton to go out, the same way we always knew him. I did expect him to come back for a second to tell Hank Peggy is lying but well that did not happen.

Still solid episode.
 
King of the Hill Talkback: "Death Picks Cotton"

Random note but... I thought it wasn't recommended for pregnant women to eat seafood (or at least fish)? And no mention of Hank's japanese half-brother?

This was a nice episode...but I can't help but feel it lack some sort of emotional impact...

Then again it's fitting for a man who spent most of his life hating others and complaining about his son's emotion. It was a normal death for a despicable, yet heroic man... man I can't believe they kill him off like that... I guess they didn't want to go the tired clich? way of having him reconcile with Hank before dying.

We usually see the good side of Cotton when he is at his weakest and most fragile, but even in the face of death he didn't seem fragile...

I agree that his relationship with Dale has always been fun.

Fun lines for the episodes where the part where Cotton went "I respect you now!" or something, the part about kicking the Grim Reaper and the Doctor's mentionning he doesn't know how Cotton is even talking to them :p


GOD I hate Peggy >< even when she told all those truth. I totally agree with Cotton...she doesn't deserve Hank...they should have made more emphasis on this point, to show more that Cotton had respect for Hank.
 
Missed the last act due to being on the phone with Karl Olson (not complaining, we had a good conversation, I'm just sayin'. ;) ) so I'll have to catch this in repeats to see if it was well executed or not. The first two acts were pretty good, though. Hank really doesn't like his dad, and it came through here.
 
Much like the 2 part Family Guy, I wonder why this wasn't saved for the final episode.

But I would also like to ask, where were Didi and G.H. in this? Seems like they really should have been their on his death bed. Unless they have an ace up their sleeves next week, and we see his funeral. But it seemed like that part was missing.

The subplot with Luanne and Lucky wasn't annoying. it seemed pretty good. Though I get the joke already. They're both dumb and incapable of being parents. It seemed that Bobby should also have been with Cotton before he died.

We all know that Hank is incapable of emotions, except that one time where his truck gave out. So expressing them causes him extra stress. Plus, I just loved the touch where Cotton didn't like sympathy at his death bed. Which brings me to this. Peggy's last words to Cotton were the best lines of dialogue I've heard in a cartoon ever. That's the only way to finish that character off.

I will say, I though Cotton also forgave the Japanese several seasons back. But seeing him freak out at a Japanese restaruant was just so hillarious. Especially my other favorite exchange...

"A TOJO!!!!!"

"Que es un Tojo?"
 
I wanted to say something like "I wished there could have been more emotions", but I had to do a double take: After all, Hank Hill, while having cried before, isn't truly a deeply emotional man, even if today's disaster is the death of his father, not to mention this is Cotton Hill we're talking about; the toughest, rudest, "I-killed-fiddy-men" son of a gun. Suddenly it makes all the more sense that the last words he hears before his death bed isn't sweet "I love You's" or anything sentimental, but Peggy harshly declaring him that he'd live forever so he'd be forever tormented. She may be hated by many, but I can say that was an awesome moment (one wonders if she spouted this out of anger or as some bizarre reverse psychology for him to drop dead).

One of the best things about this episode was it's unpredictability because I kept half guessing whether Cotton would buy the harp farm. With so many cartoon characters having survived a huge disaster, it was a bit shocking to see Cotton passing on. Even for a rude man such as himself, he had a lot of character that at least made it entertaining whenever he popped up on screen, plus one can't deny he didn't care. Dale's final tribute to him was absolutely appropiate (and funny).

The only thing that irked me was the Hills treating Bobby as though he wouldn't understand how the concept of death works. He's thirteen, for pete's sake! Though seeing Lucky and Luanne acting as his pretend parents were hilarious. Bless their heart, they're trying (but when are they gonna show Luanne's baby bump?)
 
That irked me from an otherwise expectional episode. I mean, he's like what, 13, 14? Yet he basically acted like an 8-year-old throughout.

Now the ep itself was very KOTH-like, handling a grim topic like this without acting totally somber. Shame Cotton, my favorite character, had to die, but this pretty much was the best possible way for his charcter, and for once I applaud Peggy. As funny as he was, the last sentence he should ever hear should of involved his negligence towards his son. Plus, I love seeing Dale show respect for someone.

A *****1/2.
 
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