SUMMARY: Boomhauer exchanges houses for the summer with a Canadian family named the Hoskins (Gordon, Maureen and Ollie).Though the Hills try to get along with their new neighbors, Gordon and Maureen’s sense of superiority wears on the group.Friction between the Arlenites and the Hoskins intensifies, as Hank’s planned summer of long nights drinking freshly-tapped beer from his Keggerator while relaxing in his back yard run afoul of the quiet-loving Gordon and Maureen. The Hoskins report Hank and the rest of Rainey Street to the police for disturbing the peace; Hank responds by extending the party and turning up his music.As the rest of the citizens of Rainey Street slowly get drunk, Gordon grows angry over the disturbance they provide.This leads to an angry confrontation between Hank and Gordon, who battle each other, lawnmower y lawnmower.

Unfortunately, the police arrive and put both men behind bars on DUI charges.Hank’s bailed out by Mister Strickland’s attorney, J.J Womack.Gordon faces more serious charges due to his status as a foreign national, and Hank decides to let him stew in the tank.

Boomhauer, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the Hoskins’ neighbor, Suzette, who returns with him to America.Ollie and Maureen are left homeless until Peggy steps in and offers them a place to stay.

Hank, inspired by Maureen’s sacrifice and Peggy’s patriotism, bribes Womack into working for him.Taking the Keggerator in trade for his services, Womack greases the wheels of justice, and Gordon is released.The Hoskins remain ungrateful for the gang’s sacrifice,but Hank’s still glad he made it.“We were good neighbors, and that’s what matters,” he tells the gang, which results in a round of ‘yups’.

REVIEW: That closing line and scene, which plays out under the tune of Brooks and Dunn’s “Only in America”, would have been a perfectly apropos conclusion to the series.And isn’t it odd that it takes place in the alley, with the guys drinking beer, precisely the way Mike Judge wished it to end?

This wasn’t intended to be King of the Hill’s final episode, and it shows.

  The Hoskins were written as shallow, irritating caricatures, the typical unappreciative strangers in a strange land.  Their roles unleavened for the most part by any sense of humanity or sympathy; they were snotty and unlikable, and unworthy of a happy ending.  This is often the position which rivals of Hank take in the series, but the Hoskins were portayed with foccused shrillness that allowed them no depth.  Maureen nearly redeems the couple, but her inability to learn from the trauma she’s been through doesn’t say much for her.  Ollie barely has a personality

The Hoskins' flatness doesn't mesh well at all with Hank's rather extreme and selfish reaction to them (because the Hoskins don't join the rest of Rainey street in their street party, Hank declares that they're trying to ruin HIS summer and pushes his family to nearly drink themselves into a stupor to prove himself superior).  As a result, the show’s message comes off as strident and needlessly reactionary.“Sure, Canadians have clean air," it says, "but we Americans care about each other, and thus we HAVE IT ALL."  It's a surprisingly patronizing moral.  NONE of the sides here are appealing; Hank comes off as condescendingly as the Hoskins.  It’s frankly too easy of a point for a show as intelligent as this one to make.  The show could have done much more with the plot, and its overt simplicity causes the entire last act to collapse into a pile of mush.

That makes the (Jeff!) Boomhauer/Suzette romance the highlight of the show, and it’s good to see Arlen’s local ladies’ man settle down with a nice girl.The show did a great job bringing closure to his character arc.

A fair-to-middling conclusion to the show’s penultimate season.

((Thank you to those who have commented on the article; your words have helped me refine my opinion on the episode and pointed out nagging details that have bugged me.))

RATINGS: The show drew a 5.15, third in its timeslot and fourth highest rated program in the block.

NEXT EPISODE: As reported, there are six more episodes of King of the Hill on the shelf.There’s no word as to how, or when, these episodes will be released to the public.Keep an eyes on this website for further details.