28 Years Ago Today, King of the Hill’s First Christmas Episode Crossed a Major Line (And Scared Hank Forever)

King of the Hill started its Christmas episode tradition with a bang 28 years ago today, and its very first Christmas episode ended up scarring Hank Hill forever when it crossed a line. King of the Hill had some very strong Christmas episodes during its original broadcast run with Fox all those decades ago, and each of them is memorable for one standout reason for another. This is especially true for the very first Christmas episode in the series that saw Hank go blind when he sees something so traumatic that going blind is the only way he can respond.

28 years ago today, on December 21, 1997, King of the Hill premiered its very first Christmas episode, “The Unbearable Blindness of Laying,” in its second season. The episode introduced fans to Hank’s mother Tilly for the first time in the series’ history, and with it also scarred Hank for life. When he mistakingly saw his mother and her boyfriend in an intimate physical embrace on the kitchen table, Hank ends up going blind as a psychological response to the trauma.

Hank Goes Blind in King of the Hill Christmas Episode

“The Unbearable Blindness of Laying,” carries a title inspired by Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being, but the two aren’t really related outside of the fact that sexual intimacy is at the center of both of its stories. The King of the Hill Season 2 episode was the first time that Hank’s mother Tilly was actually seen on screen following a brief mention of her in the first season. Voiced by late country musician Tammy Wynette, Hank’s mother was trying to now live her life much more freely than before in the wake of her terrible marriage to Hank’s father, Cotton Hill.

Hank was nervous to see his mother not because it’s been a while since they’ve crossed paths, but because she was also bringing around her new boyfriend Gary (voiced by Carl Reiner for this debut appearance). Gary was much different culturally than Hank was used to, and was also much more open about his feelings. But Hank couldn’t get comfortable with the fact that his mother was dating, but also sexually active despite her being at such a late stage of her life. Then he got a cold dose of reality when he saw the two of them fully naked on the kitchen table.

Seeing his mother and Gary in such an embrace shook Hank to the point where he lost his vision. This ended up being entirely psychological as there wasn’t anything medically wrong with his eyes, it was just like his eyes had shut down from the trauma. And using that blindness, Gary ends up getting much closer to Hank as the two of them bond on a new level. Taking Hank to a famous TV church, Gary helps Hank to get his vision back when Hank realizes that Gary is no one that he should really be worried about.

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Unfortunately in the 28 years since the debut of King of the Hill’s first Christmas episode, it doesn’t have as much of a built in legacy as some of the other standouts that have been released. Although it serves as an important moment in Hank’s life and changes his relationship with his mother forever, it ultimately does not have as much impact to the wider animated series’ universe as one would expect from such a big debut. Especially when it comes to Gary.

Though Gary plays a huge role in this episode, and has a few scattered appearances in the years to come, he’s unceremoniously written out of King of the Hill before the animated series ended its original run with Fox. In the final season of the series, it’s revealed that Tilly had been cheating on Gary and since broke up with him off screen. Ending up together with the gentleman she cheated on Gary with, Chuck, and marrying him ahead of her final appearance, Hank ended up being worried about his mother once more.

But like with Gary as seen in “The Unbearable Blindness of Laying,” Hank ends up forming a bond with Chuck as he realizes that Chuck is someone who can both handle and properly take care of his mother in her older age. Tilly went off to have a great future in the animated series (although she’s yet to appear in the new Hulu revival), but we never do see Gary again. And looking back on this episode 28 years later, that’s the one bitter pill that unfortunately undercuts its emotional resolution between Gary and Hank.

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