TV-Reviewed

Fox has some of the absolute worst timing ever. Why would you air an episode with a clear July 4th plot in the middle of April? I know King of the Hill will end before July, but you get my point. It just felt completely wrong to have this episode air right now.

“Born Again on the Fourth of July” showed a different side of Bobby, one that is lethargic. Okay, so it’s not exactly a new side of Bobby, but Bobby hasn’t been the lazy boy we used to see from time to time. He’s become more active as he’s grown up, no longer a slug, generally speaking.

Seeing Bobby sitting on the couch eating potato chips and having Hank ask him to stand up, just to see if he could, well, that was hysterical. I know there are days when I feel like Bobby did, but I don’t believe I would ever go to church to fix it.

Bobby’s behavior was in serious need or changing. He was not just lazy, but also rude and dismissive. Hank reluctantly allowed Bobby to go with Lucky to his church in hopes of seeing some changes. And it did work, but it wasn’t perfect. Bobby became a preaching machine, annoying just about everyone he tried to help.

While Bobby was being born again, Hank and the other residents of Rainy Street squared off against the residents of the next street over. Each year they have a Fourth of July celebration, complete with food and fireworks. Their celebration is also a competition and Hank doesn’t want to lose again, electing to go with the big (illegal) fireworks. Hank’s plan doesn’t work out quite so well when Bobby gets involved and destroys Hank’s paper mache Uncle Sam.

“Born Again on the Fourth of July” was a surprisingly funny episode of King of the Hill. I really wasn’t expecting to laugh through any of this, but the writers did a good job of coaxing an occasional laugh out of me. It was a good episode, but I just felt this was a poor time to air this episode.

Rating: 7