Hank's Choice

Hank's Choice is the eleventh episode of King of the Hill Season 5, 96th episode overall.

Synopsis
It turns out that Bobby is allergic to Ladybird, and Hank must decide whether Bobby goes or Ladybird goes. When Hank chooses Bobby however, his neighbors get proud of him, until it turns out that they were mocking him. Hank wasted no time giving Bobby allergy pills!

During the ending credits, Bobby, Hank and Lady Bird are playing the Frisbee, but Peggy just keep disturbing them outside then she get inside the dog's house and meet Stuart Dooley then he said "a-guar-a" and Peggy gets a candy for Stuart.

The Whole Story
Bobby is taken to the doctor’s with what appears to be a cold but which turns out to be an allergic reaction to pet dander. Hank, who has owned Ladybird for 13 years, wonders if Peggy didn’t get “the dander” from one of her students. Hank prefers putting Bobby on medication to getting rid of Ladybird, which the doctor suggests.

Dale is all for killing off Ladybird, and Bill volunteers to take her in. Hank then decides to build her a doghouse, even though it was shown in “Pregnant Paws” that she already has a doghouse inside a chain-link fence enclosure. When Hank unveils a scale-model of the doghouse, Dale’s reaction is “It looks too small”.

The finished doghouse, dubbed “Barkingham Palace” by Hank, has windows, a skylight, exterior lighting, a picket fence, and radiant heating in the floor. Ladybird, however, won’t go inside. Hank blames himself for designing it for himself instead of for the dog. Yet he doesn’t show the same solicitude for Bobby, suggesting he double the dosage of his allergy meds. Hank then gets the idea to move Bobby into Barkingham Palace since it’s dander-free and would spare them the cost of steam-cleaning the house for Bobby’s sake. But with a cable TV hook-up, a mini-fridge and a cordless phone, Bobby agrees.

Peggy bridles at a joke Minh makes about Bobby living a dog’s life; “if Bobby were living in a plastic bubble,” she tells Minh, “I would be having lunch with Elton John.”

Connie visits with Bobby and observes that he’s resting on one of Ladybird’s old pillows. The penny drops: Bobby’s either not allergic anymore (a possibility the doctor spoke about) or the meds are doing the job. Bobby’s reaction: “I may be well, but I’m not stupid. I am not giving up this doghouse.”

At the Gun Club, where the Gribbles are celebrating their wedding anniversary, Dale makes a "doggy bag" joke about Bobby, which gets to Peggy. She pays to have the house steam-cleaned and orders Bobby to move back in. Ladybird, however, still refuses to live in the doghouse, so Hank is reduced to letting Bill take care of her.

At dinner, Bobby begins fake-sneezing and he’s sent back out to Barkingham Palace, where he trashes the dinner plate made for him and orders a pizza.

Hank and Peggy redouble their efforts at cleaning. Connie tells Bobby, who’s letting things go in terms of house-keeping, that he should move back into the house. She also tells him how miserable Hank is about Bill taking care of Ladybird. Bobby stands his ground: “As long as I keep sneezing, the lady next door can’t say ‘boo’.” Bobby then barks down a dog which pokes its head in the house.

The next time Connie comes to visit, Bobby is wearing only his tighty-whities and drinking out of a dog bowl. Bobby is called into the house where he discovers that the carpet has been taken up, the furniture is covered with plastic, and there’s visqueen in the doorways. Yet even a weak fake-sneeze causes Hank and Peggy to despair. Bobby finally realizes he’s pushed things too far. He brings Ladybird back into the house and tells his parents that he’s found a workable dosage. Under the closing credits, we see that Peggy has moved her office into Barkingham Palace and has repurposed the dog food dispenser to hold gummy candies.

Other Languages

 * Hank's Choice/Other Languages

Quotes

 * Hank's Choice/Quotes

Stinger Quote
Dale: "We all came to see the opening of another doghouse!"

Song
"Thank You for Loving Me" by Bon Jovi