The Year of Washing Dangerously

"The Year of Washing Dangerously" is the 195th episode of the Fox animated TV series King of the Hill, broadcast as the 9th episode in season 10. The episode's title is a reference to the 1982 film The Year of Living Dangerously.

Plot

As Kahn struggles with his tedious job, he and Minh order a get-rich-quick video that they see advertised on television by "Dr. Money" (a parody of Tom Vu). After watching it, they search for a "turnkey operation" that will yield maximum profits with little effort on their part. Kahn ends up buying a popular car wash that often holds classic car events, mortgaging his house to pay for it. However, he soon drives the loyal customers away by yelling at them when they loiter around or use their own buckets and water. Worse, he sharply reduces how long the water-sprayers will spray for, and makes his change machines shortchange customers.

Buck Strckland becomes upset at these developments, as the now-depopulated car wash was his haunt for picking up younger women. He addresses the problem by purchasing a majority share of the business, with money that he had set aside to build a patio for customers to try out the grills (an idea Hank had suggested). Hank is reassigned to work at the car wash.

Kahn lords it over Hank, calling him his "work monkey" and ordering him around absurdly until Hank gets fed up and quits. Buck informs Hank that this would mean losing his propane job as well, but Hank refuses to back down. Realizing his mistake in taking Hank for granted, Buck admonishes Kahn for having mistreated both his customers and a hard worker like Hank. He then sells his majority ownership to a local classic car owner (who promptly starts ordering Kahn around), re-hires Hank, and allows him to go ahead with his test-grilling patio.