King of the Hill returned with a whole new season of episodes earlier this Summer, but the new Hulu era could have been a lot stronger if it got to spend more time with one of its most intriguing new characters. King of the Hill returned with a new season set nearly a decade after the events of the original series, and with it saw Hank and the others age up in that time. Now that they are all in much different places in their lives, there are also different characters they come across in their new lives as well.
One of the biggest shits in the new King of the Hill era with Hulu was the reveal that Bobby Hill has since become a 21 year old chef working in a restaurant in Dallas. His life has changed the most significantly of all of the characters from the original series, and with it fans got to see him bouncing off of many of the show’s new additions to the recurring roster. But the series did not get to spend enough time with his girlfriend Willow before the two ended up breaking up. Time that could have been served to better flesh out her character.
King of the Hill’s Reboot Needed More Time With Bobby’s Girlfriend
King of the Hill Season 14 introduced a Bobby who had grown up a lot from the last time we had seen him. Choosing to avoid going to college and jumping straight into the workforce, he’s now chasing his dreams of being a chef in his own restaurant. It’s mostly owned by Ted and Chane Wassanasong, but Bobby is the one who keeps it running every day. It’s earned the respect of those who find it out, and through this he eventually meets Willow when she compliments the quality of the grease he had been throwing out.
This was a perfect meeting for the two of them as complimenting his grease is something that Bobby would really respond to (as he’s closely into his work), and Willow ends up becoming an important figure of his life for a short while. She has a dynamic that’s much different than the one Bobby had with Connie, and came at a time where Bobby needed some support the most. But within the grander scope of the season on a whole, she should have been in more episodes.
Willow, from her introduction to her final episode, was only seen in two episodes. The dialogue around her seemed to tease that she had a much bigger impact on Bobby’s romantic life than seen on screen, but this was definitely something that stood out as being a sticking point for how quickly Bobby’s life develops in the season overall. His endgame with Connie seemed like it came about very quickly by season’s end, and that meant that Willow’s role in it all seemed to be pretty much a footnote in the season despite how intriguing of a character she turned out to be.
How Can King of the Hill Fix Willow?
Unfortunately, the time to fix this issue has likely already passed. Even if King of the Hill returns for a new season, Bobby and Connie has since confirmed that they are now in a relationship. Willow’s function in the series was to give Bobby a romantic interest before he ended up with Connie, and it gave Connie someone to bounce off of when she saw her with Bobby. But these dynamics were unfortunately left unexplored due to how short of a run she gets in the season.
King of the Hill showrunner Saladin K. Patterson explained in interviews about how the new ten episode order for the revival meant that some character developments had to happen at a much faster rate than they would have in a 22 episode season, and Willow’s diminished role is likely a part of this. We didn’t get to see any of her dynamics with the rest of the characters, so it meant that the time she did have on screen had to have her at her most extreme. Enough to make Bobby’s break up with her make sense after only a single episode of seeing them together.
The last we see of Willow, she’s pooping on a photo of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and that’s a wild send off for a character that had a much quieter beginning just an episode before. She seemed to be very supportive of Bobby, and even had an emotional intelligence that hinted at her own growth. Even her final episode started to reveal more about her past, and it seemed like she would have played a much bigger part in the season. But as it stands, she’s gone before she really gets a chance to be a full character and not just a “crazy ex-girlfriend” type.
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