Revenge of the Lutefisk

**Revenge of the Lutefisk** is the 56th episode of King of the Hill. It was first aired on April 21, 1998. The episode was written by

## Synopsis

The pastor of the Hills' church, Reverend Thomason is retiring, and is due to be replaced. Much of a surprise to the town, the new reverend is a woman, Amber Stroup. At an introductory potluck supper the next Saturday, Whyatt is surprised upon first meeting her, but soon he comes to accept Rev. Stroup when she holds services before the football games, herself being a Vikings fan from her native Reverend Stroup, meanwhile, attempts to get the congregation to try a homemade dish from her native called lutefisk, which most of the churchgoers politely avoid. Jack, however, absconds under the table with the dish and eats the lot, surreptitiously chucking the empty platter in the garbage when Reverend Stroup discovers the lutefisk's disappearance. Upon discovering the platter, a hurt Stroup along with everyone else assumes that someone was so disrespectful that they directly threw all the lutefisk into the trash, and Jack is too ashamed to admit to his gluttony.

The following day, Jack has such an upset stomach from all the lutefisk, that he quietly rushes off to the bathroom in the middle of Reverend Stroup's first sermon. Meanwhile, Gene arrives on scene from Tindo, having been informed of the new minister by Red. When Reverend Stroup asks the congregation to hug one another, Gene loudly voices his objection to a female having authority in the church, but ends when Pig defends Stroup, saying if Gene hurts her in anyway, he’ll strike Gene down. Gene concedes and then storms off to "the one part of this church that's still men's-only". Entering the restroom, where Jack is still holed up in a stall, Gene is overwhelmed by the stench; he lights a match in an attempt to mask the odor, but finds the gesture futile and leaves, dropping his matchbook as he goes.

Jack finally finishes shortly afterwards and, after locking the door, goes to wash up, but panics when someone else attempts to enter the bathroom. In a desperate attempt to get rid of the stench himself, he lights more matches to try and cover the smell, then throws the smoldering matches into the wastebasket and the matchbook into the toilet and then flees through the window out of embarrassment; unknown to him, the matches then cause a small fire in the wastebasket. When Jack returns to the sanctuary, Whyatt comments on an odd smell, but identifies it as smoke just as the fire alarms go off. The congregation evacuates the building, watching in horror as the church burns to the ground before their eyes.

As the ensuing police investigation goes on, details of a suspected arson emerge: the fire started in the men's bathroom wastebasket, with a book of matches from a strip club in Tindo. Given his Tindo residence, openly misogynistic character, and declaration of going to the location of where the fire started just beforehand, Gene becomes the obvious prime suspect in the apparent hate crime, which is compounded when he is caught by both Mrs & Mr and the police attempting to flee Tindo in the middle of the night after having realized that all of the evidence points to him; however, only he and Jack are certain of his innocence - even as the police arrest him on the Hills' front lawn, he still screams for them to look for "the man with the terrible smell" in the stall who must have set the fire after he left.

With the whole town out for Genes blood, and even Whyatt himself beginning to doubt his father's innocence, Jack feels incredibly guilty about letting his grandfather take the blame, but at the same time is too scared to come forward about inadvertently setting the fire. Both feelings become so overwhelming that he tries to flee to shame, but when a despondent arrives by bus, saying that Gene believes in owning up to one's mistakes and had hoped that the baby she's expecting would turn out as good as Jack, his guilt finally overcomes his fear.

Meanwhile, Whyatt, Mrs and Mr are at the police station with Gene, begging him to just admit to the arson, but Jack bursts in, confessing the truth at last. Whyatt demands that Jack confess to the police, but Gene decides to take the blame anyway, citing that he is already an old man, but Jack has his entire life ahead of him and doesn't deserve to go to jail or be vilified for his mistake. Whyatt, Mrs and Mr are touched by Gene's decision and agree to along with it. Gene ends up getting away with it by declaring that he had in fact lit the matches, but only to hide the smell of his own, age-related digestive issues, and that he made up the other "smelly man" to cover his embarrassment thereover. Reverend Stroup forgives Gene, and invites all the members of the church to show Gene their forgiveness with a hug, much to Gene's barely-concealed revulsion.

## Characters

* Whyatt Hill
* Mrs. Hill
* Mr. Hill
* Jack Hill
* Cora Dlatter
* Widget Dlatter
* Red Gribble
* Princess Pea
* Pig Dauterive
* Hahn Souphanousinphone
* Ninh Souphanousinphone
* Gene Hill
* Cecile Hill
* Reverend Thomason *(cameo)*
* Amber Stroup *(Debut)*
* Fire Chief *(cameo)*

## Goofs

* When Jack gets up to go to the bathroom, he is missing one shoe. However he has both shoes on in the next shot when he's walking down the hallway.
* After Jack locks the bathroom door, a slew of captions follow which doesn’t match.

Boy - Hello? Is someone in there or is the door accidentally locked? Hello? You’re being unreasonable. There’s a toilet and a urinal in there?

Boy 2 - Hey, is this the line?

Boy - No, There’s no— The door’s locked.

Boy 2 - Did You try pulling it?

Boy - Yes, I tried pulling it. You think I didn’t try?

Boy 2 - Hey, Look. I don’t want any trouble. I just want to use the washroom.

Boy - This is ridiculous.

## Quotes

* **Boy:** (as Whyatt's voice) Hello? Hello? Is anyone in there? Hello? Are You okay?

* **Whyatt:** (sniffs) What's that smell?
* **Jack:** Nothing!
* **Whyatt:** Wait a minute. I know that smell. (Jack gasps.) FIRE!!!!!

### Stinger Quote

* **Gene:** "But not in the face. That's how I make my livings."