King of the Hill Talkback: "Death Picks Cotton"

[Classic Speedy]

http://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/fox.jpghttp://library.toonzone.net/talkbacks/koth.jpg
From fox.com:
COTTON GOES SIX FEET UNDER ON AN ALL-NEW “KING OF THE HILL” SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 11, ON FOX

Hank, Peggy, Luanne and Lucky decide to celebrate the first trimester of Luanne’s pregnancy at an upscale Japanese restaurant. Peggy and Hank plan to attend the celebration until Bobby’s sitter cancels at the last minute. Cotton stops by the house and volunteers to stay with Bobby, but Peggy is hesitant about the whole idea. After an evening of reckless babysitting, Cotton decides to crash the dinner party with Bobby and finds himself in a deathly situation with a chef who resembles an enemy from his WWII days. After Cotton’s many chances at cheating death, it finally catches up with him in the “Death Picks Cotton” episode of KING OF THE HILL airing Sunday, Nov. 11 (8:30-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. (KH-1114) (TV-PG; D, L ) CC

I gotta say, as long as we've known about Luanne being pregnant, she's really going at a snail's pace for this. It reminds me of Bonnie. Oh well, hopefully it's a good episode.

[Dudley]

Well, Hank's dad died.
Should we be sad?

I do like Peggy's speech to Hanks' dad. I haven't seen every episode but it is one of the best thing I ever saw her do.

[Omnionic]

How appropriate.

One of the most unlikable, loathsome, horrible characters on this show....is killed by the other most unlikable, loathsome, horrible character.

[tb4000]

So one of the funniest characters ever conceived has finally been killed off. RIP, Cotton.:crying:

[Don_East]

Well, Hank's dad died.
Should we be sad?
I don't know, he was a jerk. But that was the point of his character. I was actuallly doubting it and he would pop back just tell Peggy was lying. Oh well. Atleast he'll have his shins now.

[Juu-kuchi]

You call that a death episode?

[btv]

I felt bad for Hank through most of this episode -- this series constantly surprises me on how down-to-earth and emotional it can convey it's situations and characters. Sometimes I even identified with them - Cotton's last conversation with Peggy hit a bit close to something that happened with one of my grandparents.

And you can say what you want about Peggy, but she's a very caring person when considering this.

I had to re-think the cause of Cotton's death.. it seemed silly until I realized that's exactly how an older person would die, in a situation that could have been prevented had they have been younger and sharper.

A+

So far this season, like The Simpsons' and Family Guy's, have been very solid. I'm impressed, Fox.

[shany94a]

Thought I would have some emotion about Cotton finally kicking off, but wow, I felt nothing. He was a war hero, yes, but he was also a reprehensible human being.

I still think he'll be back to haunt Hank and Peggy from time to time as a ghost,with or without shins.

[Kury Wagner]

Crazy, man. I second-guessed him actually dying again, but...

I think this was a more realistic death than Buckley, so I approve it. I'll miss Cotton a lot. =\

[Zorak Masaki]

Is it just me, or were Didi and G.H. missing from this episode?

[Desensitized]

Didi left him with a while ago, she took GH, too.

I actually felt sad for Hank. Cotton may have been a jerk, but he was a good person underneath all the hatefulness.

Fantastic episode, the ending with the shed was perfect. Classic King Of The Hill.

[The Myst]

It was funny to watch this right after the Simpsons. It's the exact opposite. It's a show that's still as good as it ever was in its later years AND it's willing to change the status quo permanently.

[sdp]

Funny, i watched this episode and thought "man King of the Hill is still doing the same type of show it did when it started."

[Rud]

Im upset, Dale and Cotton are my favorite characters, they make everything funny, i cant believe one of them died.

Ok episode though

[Good Ol' Batmanuel!]

Didi left him with a while ago, she took GH, too.
I can't remember what happened with that. The whole time, I kept thinking "where are Didi and G.H?!"

Anyway, pretty good episode. The ending with the shed was a nice touch. :)

[Jyose]

I wish they'd figure out what they want to do with Bobby, one minute he's having girl troubles, the next, he's too young to know about death.

I'm kinda glad Didi didn't show up, as she's a very one-note character. Cotton's death was handled surprisingly well for all the jokes that were told here during rather somber scenes. The ending with the shed was classic KOTH, I didn't see it comming.

[Desensitized]

I can't remember what happened with that. The whole time, I kept thinking "where are Didi and G.H?!"

Anyway, pretty good episode. The ending with the shed was a nice touch. :)
It was a quick joke in one episode, a lot of people missed it the first time around. I only caught it in reruns. Didi drops him off at the Hill's house and drives off angrily. That's the last we see of Didi and GH, but now I hope we get to see them again.

The ending made me feel better when Dale blew the shed up, he really did respect Cotton.

[Kury Wagner]

I wish they'd figure out what they want to do with Bobby, one minute he's having girl troubles, the next, he's too young to know about death.While I agree that he was way too immature in this episode, it seemed more that Peggy was doing her normal thing about not wanting to tell him about a normal situation. =\

[Dee]

The ending made me feel better when Dale blew the shed up, he really did respect Cotton.

Ditto--- I was always amused by the relationship Dale and Cotton had, where Dale respected Cotton almost to annoy Hank.

[Cobblepot1982]

I really enjoyed this episode, and as hard as it is to believe, it made me love Cotton even more than when we found out he and Hank would sit audience to hippies getting sprayed.

Being the final season, I think his death was very appropriate, and I loved how he went out....always had to one-up the other guy- even in death.

Wow Luann and Lucky are braindead, regarding parenting...great, so basically they're up to par with the majority of the world- got it!

Again, excellent episode. RIP Cotton- you're the man. Here's to you :)

[Peter Paltridge]

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?

[GaryPotter]

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.

[creativerealms]

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.

[Undrave]

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 cliché 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.

[Classic Speedy]

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.

[DrTooth]

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?"

[Neo Yi]

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?)

[Darklordavaitor]

I wish they'd figure out what they want to do with Bobby, one minute he's having girl troubles, the next, he's too young to know about death.

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.

[90'sCartoonMan]

Throughout the entire episode I didn't think Cotton was actually going to die. Even when Hank's shack blew up, I somehow thought Cotton was going to be behind it.

I need to see the episode again, but I really liked what they had Hank go through. That's pretty much Hank all over. It says a lot about him and his relationship with Cotton.

Only negative being Bobby, as people have mentioned. He's one of the few people that Cotton loved. He'd probably miss his Ging-ging even more than Dale. I wonder if we'll ever see his reaction. That and I wonder if Peggy will dance on Cotton's grave, seeing as he did give her permission.

[DrTooth]

As I said, they really need to follow this up with a funeral episode. Doubt they will. But it would be just great to see Hank actually cry again. And to have Bobby deal with the loss of his grandfather, the only one he was ever tender with. I could really see them doing an episode with Didi and GH having to deal with the loss of the father of their relationship.

[Cartman]

Not a huge KOTH fan, but this episode was good. I never cared much for Cotton Hill so I can't say I feel too much sympathy for him dying.