King of the Hill has reintroduced Bobby Hill as a now adult chef working in Dallas, TX with the debut of its new season, and the new episodes have also revealed the surprising challenges that Bobby never expected to deal with. When it was first revealed that King of the Hill’s new revival with Hulu would be aging up the characters nearly a decade from the events of the original series, fans immediately thought about what that would mean for Bobby. With so much of the show focusing on how he’s growing up, fans were curious to see what kind of adult he’d become.
So it was both a surprise, and not one at all to find out that Bobby has since decided to pursue a career as a chef. Showing an interest (and skill) in cooking in the original show, King of the Hill’s new season has introduced a whole new kind of dynamic for Bobby. Because while this new era of the show is no longer showing him going through troubles as a teen, these new episodes are now showing the troubles of a young adult pursuing a career in ethnic foods that he didn’t fully grow up making.
Bobby’s New Life as a Chef Mirrors One Classic Issue
The original King of the Hill run didn’t always tackle race relations, but it often resulted in some of the most memorable episodes as the series challenged its fairly conservative world head on. This is exactly the case for King of the Hill Season 14 Episode 3, “Bobby Gets Grilled.” The episode not only sees Bobby dealing with the fact that his father doesn’t approve of him using charcoal when cooking rather than propane, but the fact that there are those in the city who accuse him of appropriating Japanese and German cultures with his cooking.
Bobby decided to pursue a version of Japanese Robata cooking (a technique that mostly uses charcoal) that also blends flavors of the German influence of the Texas Hill Country. But it’s apparent that not only does the only Japanese charcoal vendor not approve of Bobby cooking Japanese cuisine, but the local German culture advocates are also disapproving of the fact that Bobby’s not German either. Which has Bobby facing off with a different kind of race issue than he famously met head on in episodes such as Season 12’s “Tears of an Inflatable Clown” or Season 5’s “Spin the Choice.”
What Happens to Bobby?
At the same time all of these issues pop up, it’s also clear that Bobby has the same kind of dynamic within Robata Chane that Hank used to have with Strickland Propane. The one who’s name is on the building, Chane, is reckless and often shifts the responsibility on Bobby, and even serves as a potential roadblock for success in some cases. Bobby was almost forced to back down on what he believed was the right way to cook, but ultimately shows everyone that he knows what he’s doing and can cook well in a way that’s authentic to himself.
Bobby’s life as a chef in Dallas forms the second half of King of the Hill’s stories for the new season. While much of it is focused on how Hank and Peggy are getting readjusted to life after spending so many years in Saudi Arabia, Bobby’s half of the show seems him navigating a whole new kind of world he never thought possible. It’s not the comedy career that he dreamed for himself, but he’s found a great level of success thus far as he gets started.
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