I always liked this earlier version of Buck. The one who clearly had some skeletons in his closet, but was a believable business man and gave Hank his due diligence, compared to later on when Hank would just be his fall guy for when money couldn't save him.
That's called progression he obviously got worse when he got older not everyone gets better Hank just couldn't see it he saw Buck as a surrogate father
The saddest part is they had an easy way to fix this ending. Have Hank rally his coworkers by telling them that not only will they have their job back but they'll get paid for the time they worked & the time they walked out. Buck can absolutely mean it because he knows how important these people are. Then Hank can come in and say "no it's not. That's the power of putting people before pennies" when the drivers pull up.
Hank’s “You don’t need any hazmat license to drive a tow truck” is King of the Hill’s equivalent to "ain't no rule says a dog can't play basketball” from Air Bud. It’s basically the same joke, namely that it’s a hand wave.
Buck Strickland keeps letting Hank down consistently, yet Hank usually lets it slide since he replaced Cotton as his father figure. The fact Buck didn’t put Hank in charge while he was in the hospital should have told Hank everything he needed to know about Buck.
While I agree to an extent, that mostly seems plot-driven. Even if he hated the owners, he could easily get a job with any of the other propane dealership owners. They all know how skilled he is.
Hank loves propane because he takes immense pride in his labor; to the point it forms the basis of his identity. Had no-one ever offered him a different job while he was selling dungarees, he'd always be talking about how dungarees are superior to other forms of pants. That said, his character also heavily values tradition, so at this point, it seems unlikely that realistically he'd even consider another career unless he saw some kind of similarity between it and his propane-based one.
@@clinthineman7800 I'll tell ya what, that whole life insurance is what your family needs. You don't wanna be caught with that *term life* stuff, do ya?
My mother spent a good part of her childhood in El Paso, Texas, meanwhile both her parents were strictly New Englanders who had moved down for my grandpa's work. One day, my mom and her brother were sent home from school and my Nana was so confused why they had been sent home "because of snow" since there was barely a dusting on the ground. Texans don't know how to handle snow, and it's been causing chaos for decades.
It makes sense though. When a place can go years without snowfall it doesn't make sense to buy equipment to deal with it. When cars are virtually unusable so are busses.
Can confirm. I live in the midwest, and the southern military imports cannot handle even a dusting. If there's any thickness, or a bit of ice, they fly off the road like bowling pins during a strike. Meanwhile the locals are just moving along, slowly but surely.
Its so damn bad its hilarious since there was a massive storm where i live back in the 70’s snow multiple feet higher then any winter ever and my grandpa and his friend were going around dragging people out of the ditches on snow mobiles and sometimes when they got one person out as soon as they turned around they would watch another person crash and had to go save them too growing up hearing the stories then moving to texas and watching almost every single person fail to drive with 1/1000th of a centimeter of snow on the road absolutely blew my small child brain and caused me endless amounts of joy and laughter watching people crash off the road over nothing on the news
I could still see Hank as assistant manager at Strickland in the reboot. He probably even had to train the person who took over Bucks position when he likely retired or died of heart failure.
Honestly, Buck should have had Hank run things since he knows the business inside and out and knows how to handle both his co workers and the customers of Arlin rather than a new hire fresh out of college who only has the basic knowledge of how to run a business. It’s actually amazing that Hank is able put up with Buck and his questionable business acumen, not just this episode but throughout the entire series.
Nice, a PSA reference, one of the most unintentionally silly PSAs of all time. Hank’s “Shame on you” made me laugh. The one thing that would have made it funnier would be Bill yelling,” Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaame! SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME!”
I love how Pa is so pleasant with customers, but when Ma hits him with that insult, he has a comeback immediately, like he's always been a laid-back man and she's always been a fiery woman and Pa is used to these jabs but isn't particularly quick on his feet, so he's been holding onto it for decades and just waiting for the right moment, like "If she ever makes that specific comment, I'll have this ready to go"
I Think buck could redeem the way that he's treated Hank for all those years and it truly shows how much he appreciated Hank, is to give him everything when he dies. Maybe even before he dies. Pass everything down to Hank. As like one last final revelation To how much Hank was to his business.
@@cooltrainervaultboy-39he'd sooner be dead than be able to retire because of whatever lawsuits came out from women of his past. He probably would have left one of his girl Fridays as the head of Strickland north
@@cooltrainervaultboy-39guy literally had a heart attack this episode, and is older than hank so he’s at least 60’s. No way he’s living past 70 with the way he lives.
They could easily kill off Buck considering his age, lifestyle habits, and the bad karma he built up in the OG show. I'm less sure if they'd make Hank manager tho. I think they might like the joke of him always being an assistant.
Propane. His truck and glasses never failed him for most of his life like his parents extended family and even friends. When they do fail hank becomes a complete wreck
In all fairness, I live in Georgia and if the snow sticks infrastructure comes to a halt since we dont have many salt trucks and tire chains arent really sold outside of online orders Also Ive always viewed Hanks Propane devotion as like an Autistic Hyperfixation. Like it would line up with his other personality quirks imo
That works when you're experienced with driving in snow, but most people here have very minimal experience with driving in snow which is usually limited to once of twice in the past few years. I amazon order tire chains because I do not have regular experience with snow (I've only driven in snow once the whole time I've been licensed to drive, granted it has only snowed once since I got it).
It is refreshing to know that I'm not the only person that makes reference to the Ferengi Rules of Acquisition from time to time (in other words, obsessively). Good on you, R2D!
While of course the Ma and Pa scene is hilarious, the scene with Bobby saying "You gotta use both arms, Mr. Strickland. Like me." makes me laugh out loud every time! x) Also can't get enough of "I'm your daddy.". Legendary episode.
Well Drivers like Jo-Jack are independent contractors usually... I dont believe every location has a debby.. or any location after a certain episode. Every Location might just have two or three people, hank might be at the biggest store. I mean Strickland Propane that is just a fill-up station would only need two employees
Reminds me of the scene where Khan says he grills with wood, and how it makes meat taste like mesquite. To which Hank replies how he grills with propane, and how it makes meat taste like meat. Which, I don't know Hank. Have you ever huffed brisket fumes after it's been taken out of the smoker for several hours?
It was always kinda weird that Strickland was so pissed at Vickers after the drivers quit. They quit over the tattlers that Strickland (who had used them on and off for years) instructed Vickers to put into the trucks. I guess he was mad that they quit, and Vickers couldn't stop them, but still sorta weird. Did Buck not think this could happen? He obviously planned out hiring Vickers and either instructed him or okayed any of the plans he carried out. He was aware of the price increase and tattlers and defended them when Hank voiced his issues. But somehow, he didn't either have a plan himself or talk to Vickers about potential monkey wrenches thrown into things like the truck drivers quitting I know it isnt a big deal and suspending my disbelief is sorta just what I gotta do at a certain point but this was always just weird to me even when i first saw this episode as a kid
More then likely the tatters were the final straw from all the stupid decisions Vickers made Even if Strickland told him to put the tattlers in. It came off as Vickers being a little dictator and without Hank it meant no one could talk Strickland out of some of these decisions
Man the freeze of 21 suck! I was planning on going down to get some discount Valentine's Day candy, but all the stores were closed, and the steps to my apartment froze over! Luckily we have a fire place, and cooked what we could on it. Went weeks without running water because our apartment managers sucked, while the rest of the city was able to shower and flush their toilets! Didn't get my candy either.
You missed my favorite dumb adorable Luanne moment! When she writes down for Hank "Jack Kennedy called" lol I've been waiting for you to do this episode because I was looking forward to you touching on it.
Regarding Texans in the snow: Yes, some parts of the state get snow semi-regularly. And while I'm fairly sure every place in Texas is confident they're the inspiration for King of the Hill, that same vaguely-central-or-slightly-south amalgam absolutely goes years - decades, even! - without a snow day in winter. I've lived here my whole life and can recall exactly two times where there was snow on the ground, and the way people were driving is only slightly exaggerated in the two scenes (the early one leaving the picnic/event/whatever, and Hank 'driving recklessly'). That 'Great Texas Freeze' mentioned in your joke is a great example of how profoundly unprepared the State is (much to residents chagrin!) for weather that gets consistently below freezing for any length of time, and honestly better evidence for the folks in the show freaking out than for it being 'unrealistic' for them to freak out, especially back in the late 90's.
In the episode that Arlen Video charges Hank for not returning a video, when "The Beast" is printing mailing labels to send "adult" products to Hank, the zip code for Arlen is actually Austin.
@@SifGreyfang I experienced the great freeze too... power was out for a day, and since there were rolling blackouts it took until 8pm to get gas for the generator because the second we would get through the line at a gas station... power would be shutoff. Meanwhile at my finances mothers apartment 4 miles away, the whole street had power because they were on the same lines as a hospital.
@@SifGreyfang also... my job at the time had their electrical box a foot from the dishwashing sink. Pipes burst and the box caught fire... couldn't work until they finally fixed it and restocked the freezer three weeks later. Snowpocalypse frigging sucked.
Hank is so desperate for the positive attention from a father figure he's willing to let an awful lot slide from Buck Strickland, but that does NOT extend to mistreating customers. Even if it's mostly hot air, Buck's purported morals really left an impact on Hank, and he wants to live up to a code of ethics he may not even directly consider he has.
Being good to your customers is especially important in a small town area. A restaurant with bad prices, low quality food, and rude employees/owners tried moving into my small town and they were out of business in less than a year. Don't stick a knife in your customers in the back especially when they need you or your services. Hank know how things work in Arlen and what his customers need. After all they all called Hank's house and left messages reaching out to him for their propane needs. Buck should have put Hank in charge from the start, later in the series even Buck can see Hank is the "golden goose," that makes his business so successful.
I lived in Texas, and while it does get cold, we never got snow, instead we get these things called ice storms where it rains while its freezing causing everything to be covered with a thick layer of ice. These only happened like once every three years and only shut down things for like a day, now it's at least once every year.
And the rest of the country makes fun of Texas for not being prepared for major snowstormS. But during hurricane season we don’t bat an eye and get shit done.
Except for the one mentioned in the video. The Freeze of 21? Yeah, that sucked! Went without power for days, and without water for weeks! The later was more of an issue with the apartment management, but still!
@@GotTheBestLigma Even worse is wet snow than ice. Then you get the build up of the snow that then all turns to ice. Power lines,trees get taken down.
It seems like its always been inconsistent how many employees work for Hank's branch only other than Donna Enrique and Joe Jack. Even Donna wasnt always there. Debbie was there frequently before she died
9:00 Propane TANKS under pressure freeze at around -30C source: am a fork lift operator and have had to drag tanks inside the shop to thaw in order to start my forklift when it was -40C
Having Propane be first could also link back to Buck as Hank receives more care and support from him whereas Cotton almost never did. And a contributing reason as to why family is second could be because Cotton is a member of Hank’s.
27:16 yeah, that's a life time grounding experience. I would have expected Hank to get onto him about doing that when someone is driving and even more so with all of that propane in a residential area.
I’ve owned this season on dvd for half of my life and have just now noticed a phone number on the side of the Strickland Propane truck. Fun fact: the 409 area code is for Galveston, Texas and it’s surrounding areas.
I'm pretty sure the other branches of Strickland have been sold off. He mentioned "Gotta cut off a few fingers to save the hand!" or some such in an episode where he closed one or two of the other stores.
My Dad owned an HVAC business when I was a kid and even after we got an unlisted number we still had people call our house at times with Heating and AC issues. In a small town people find a way to figure these things out.
This episode along with "The Blizzard" from Arthur hit different after having gone through a tumultuous event like that. Except the texans in this episode didnt have their power go out.
Charcoal is superior. It give's a superior taste, and charcoal burns hotter, meaning you need less of it to grill. It's more versatile than a propane grill. Little info for those who don't know much about charcoal. Charcoal is what remains of wood (or anything else that can be burned) after all impurities have been removed, leaving only hot burning carbon behind. To make charcoal, you "cook" it. That is, you scorch it without fire touching it. Historically, charcoal burners would gather firewood into a large pile, cover the pile with dirt, then build a fire around and on top of the mound. After a period of time, the fire would be let to burn out, and what remains under the mound is unburned carbon. Modern processes, on a small scale atleast, involve a metal barrel that can be loaded with wood, and a fire lit under it. After it's been turned to charcoal, you can either leave it in it's natural state, having the appearance of the wood it once was, or crush it up, and press it into briquettes, what you guys commonly think of as charcoal. How do I know all this? It's been a hobby of mine lately to make my own fuel. I sometimes sell my access, as well as materials to make one's own charcoal. To put it bluntly, with all joking aside, I sell charcoal and charcoal accessories.
I will say, as someone that barely lives in the south, even here if we get news about a big storm (which really isn’t that bad) the grocery stores are packed and inventory there is low for weeks. Lol so the reaction from Arlen really isn’t that surprising to me.
This episode was ahead of its time. With Wendy's increasing their prices during peak hours and all (paving the way for other food establishments) Imagine (if and) when everything else does this. Soon we will be paying for air (lorax)
There isn't generally a "central" place for natural gas or propane. A lot of people, at least where i live in MN, have giant storage tanks that they get refilled every so often. Like 500 gallons+. So them towing the propane trucks does make sense.
When it comes to Lloyd Vickers. He's one of the definitions of college know-it-alls that claim to have experience but don't. I've met people like that guy. My boss and I were working on a walk-in cooler in pahrump. After we got done I showed him the skit where Lloyd Vickers gets fired by Buck Strickland. Which personally was hilarious because I mean yeah he doesn't know hazmat. Means hazardous materials along with having all those truckers he pissed off walk out. Costing Strickland propane to face a problem business-wise. Yeah I swear every co-worker friend family member I have shown that skit and they still laugh to this guy getting fired
As someone who owns a m65 army jacket with the additional cold weather hood with the fur liner on the edge, the pockets are a little off, but I can say confidently that is an interpretation of an old army jacket.
This episode has another deleted scene explanation. The ambulance that you see towed was the one Buck and Hank were in. A deleted scene shows them crashing.
I do like the taste of charcoal Burger or steak hell hell I even like it when you got wood chips But like if I just wanted to taste the meat i'd use propane as Hank says But if you want to add bit flavor you can use charcoal or wood chips
26:20 RE "Where are they going?" To people's houses. IDK if it's different in other places, but in a lot of places people have a propane tank outside that periodically needs filled by your supplier. I find it kind of weird we only see like one propane tank outside Hank's neighbors' homes in like the whole series. Pretty sure we only saw that one because it blew up.
In Vickers defense, if there's anyone that Buck should have blamed, it's himself. He told Vickers to put those tattlers on the trucks, which resulted the workers to quit.
I like the idea of Hank moving away from Strickland to realize the man introduce Hank to Propane and started a lifestyle choice that Hank believes...I just wish the Hank would stop giving Strickland the benefit of doubt, but Hank realizing opening/running a business is not all about being fair to customers and trying to keep a business thriving. There many negative things to say about Strickland, but he is capitalist/business man that trying to make most money he has in Propane and that is his success story because Buck has 5 branches of Propane business in Texas with competition, yet he still successful. 30:28
Also, Reviewed, you have given me a new appreciation for Peggy and I am grateful for that. She really does have a lot of her dislike overblown, especially when you see her in the early seasons being a supportive partner to Hank and a great maternal figure to both Bobby and Luanne.
@@MASTEROFEVIL more after the recovery episode which is probably her last good episode. Rehabilitating herself to spite Cotton was actually one of her best character moments.
"goin to the hospital with a tie on seems kinda ghoulish" got me good. I'm a body removal man. i go into hospitals with a black suit, tie, trench coat, and a cot with a fabric cover. All the doctors know what your business is. It is ghoulish lol.
Re: Strickland skirting the law by only having 14 employees Buck strikes me as the type of man to have incorporated all of his branches as their own companies, with the "assistant" managers being the owners on paper
As stupid as the “saved your life” joke is … when I rewatched that episode as an adult I remembered doing that as a kid and it was like a trend. No idea where it started but I think it was funny to me cause it was how teenagers (in my experience) really acted
I definitely think in the revival hank will still be working at strickland and instead of assisstant manager, he'll be the assisstant senior manager. Then if they want to retire they'll do it in the show itself, keeping the non-required radical changes to be episodes in the show when they can be
So, while it makes no sense for propane trucks to be in such high demand in an area that is very clearly near a large city or large enough to be on a pipeline such as Arlen is, propane trucks typically make individual residential stops to remote locations. For example, I lived 2/3rds of my life ten miles outside of the nearest town, and that town had a population of less than 5000. We had a large like 500 gallon propane tank on our property that was used for heating our house and running our water heater. We would typically get one of those types of trucks to come fill up the tank every now and then.
My girlfriend often tells me about how much Flex Time she’s accumulated at her job and how she’s never going to get to use any of it, because if she did, her coworkers would have to cover for her, as she would have to do the same for them, so they don’t bother reporting it because they all work the same amount of hours in the end. That’s where I always break out my Hank Hill voice and tell her that’s what they give pregnant women & other ‘disableds’.
@@claymathewselevator8121 He was a late addition but darned if Lucky wasn’t an endearing character who actually treated Luanne like a queen and was incredibly respectful towards Hank and Peggy. He had his code of honor in the right place.
