Bill gets depressed over his wife Lenore leaving him during Christmas and becomes suicidal, with Hank and the guys having to take turns watching him.
Tropes:
- Batman Grabs a Gun: Normally, Hank is uncomfortable with things that aren't traditionally "manly", but when his guests begin harassing Bill as "Lenore", Hank dons a dress himself as an attempt at easing tensions.
- Black Comedy: Being one of the darkest KOTH episodes, dealing with depression over having a loved one leave you and being driven to suicide (though, for some, it's more dark than comedy).
- Blind Date: Peggy sets one up with Bill and a female friend of hers, Shelia Loomis, who's naturally turned off by his desperate and sloppy personality.
- Brick Joke: When Hank comes to the party in one of Peggy's dresses (to try and save Bill's reputation), Dale starts worrying that everyone was supposed to show up in dresses and that he's making a fool of himself by standing out. At the end of the episode, after Hank helps Bill work through his issues, Dale enters the scene behind them while wearing a dress; when he sees that they're both back to normal, he panics and runs home.
- Bungled Suicide: Bill's attempts to kill himself all turn out badly, like him clumsily falling off his roof while hanging on to the gutter, putting his head in the oven (an electric oven), and putting his head in the drawer by slamming it shut back and forth.
- Character Development: This episode being one for Bill in the end, after he tells off "Lenore" and he stops obsessing over her afterwards.
- Christmas Episode: Perhaps one of the darkest in all of media.
- Cold Open: The episode's dark tone starts with this where Bill breaks down sobbing within the first minute before the opening credits begin.
- Crappy Holidays: For Bill and everybody in his life.
- Cruel to Be Kind: Zig-zagged. Hank tries to do this by trashing the gifts Bill bought for Lenore, but instead, this pushes Bill past his breaking point by believing he is Lenore himself. Later, Hank invokes Lenore's image himself and berates Bill to force him to stand up for himself, and this successfully snaps him out of his downturn.
- Darker and Edgier: Not just for a King of the Hill episode, but also for Christmas episodes in general.
- Driven to Suicide: Missing Lenore and Hank not having him over for dinner after the family gets tired of him, Bill is finally pushed to the brink of attempting suicide. His neighbors spend half of the episode intervening.
- The Eeyore: Bill is this during a dinner with the Hills, reminding them of their relationships that ended badly, such as Luanne's Buckley, Bobby's Marie and Peggy's old crush from high school before going out with Hank.
- Five Stages of Grief: Bill goes through these stages, albeit out of order:
- Depression: He starts out depressed about not having Lenore in his life.
- Denial: He denies that she's gone forever.
- Bargaining: He gets an iguana he calls Lenore and later starts believing he is Lenore herself.
- Anger: Hank, pretending he's Lenore, shames Bill in order to make him stand up for himself.
- Acceptance: After he tells off "Lenore", Bill accepts that she's gone.
- From Bad to Worse: Hank's attempt to snap Bill out of his depression only results in him having a mental breakdown and in his state, he decides the only way to be with Lenore is to become Lenore and he starts wearing women's clothes.
- Funny Background Event: The end after Bill gets over Lenore, with both he and Hank looking off into the night sky, with Dale in a dress and heels walking towards them, then running off when he sees them no longer wearing dresses.
- Heroic BSoD: Bill in the second half. He gets pushed to the point he pretends to be Lenore.
- Hope Spot: Peggy invites Lenore to the Christmas party and she happens to call back during the party with Bill already there and listening in on the call. Lenore tells Peggy she's not coming and Peggy asks to let Bill talk to her or at least send him her love, but she refuses, causing Bill to break down further.
- If You Die, I Call Your Stuff: Dale just helps himself to Bill's possessions, such as his TV, even though he hasn't died yet.
- Incredibly Conspicuous Drag: Bill dresses up in a dress and heels to convince himself he's Lenore.
- Indy Ploy: Just as the other party-goers get ready to beat up Bill (dressed as Lenore), Hank comes by to deescalate the situation by putting on one of Peggy's dresses and pretends it's a anything-goes party, which makes Bill run out.
- It's All Junk: Hank tries to snap Bill out of his downturn by trashing the gifts he bought for Lenore. Instead, it makes things worse.
- Lack of Empathy: The guys treat Bill being suicidal as more of a hindrance and a chore than anything else. While they really don't want him to kill himself, their response to his antics brings up general annoyance than actual concern for his well being. Hank especially is totally oblivious to how Bill appears to have died inside after wrecking Lenore's "gifts". It isn't until Bill starts thinking he's Lenore that the other guys start taking his situation seriously.
- Mood Dissonance: The opening of the episode has the guys in the alley drinking, with Bill breaking down crying over the anniversary of Lenore leaving him, all to the tune of cheery Christmas music playing in the background.
- My God, What Have I Done?: After Hank helps Bill break out of his Heroic BSoD, Bill realizes that he has hit rock bottom and made a mess of things.
- Pet the Dog: While Peggy's made her dislike for Bill known on several occasions, she explains to Hank how Bill's breakdown and "becoming Lenore" isn't being done to inconvenience Hank specifically.
- Rage Breaking Point: Hank has dealt with a lot of Bill's antics through the episode, dealing with his obsession with Lenore, his failed suicide attempts and pretty much babying him, even leaving him to be the only one to watch Bill after Dale and Boomhauer have had enough. He even took vacation time to watch over him. He finally reaches the point after the blind date gone wrong and he destroys Bill's gifts for Lenore. This unfortunately kicks off Bill's BSOD.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Hank and Bill have an exchange with Hank pretending to be Lenore to finally give him closure:Hank: Bill, I am Lenore and I don't love you.
Bill: No, Hank. I'm Lenore.
Hank: I've left you forever because you're lazy and no good.
Bill: Lenore...
Hank: We fight so loud, all the neighbors can hear. We fight during the day, we fight during the night.
Bill: What... Lenore. Wait, we can work stuff out. I'm a good husband.
Hank: Bill, if I wanted to work things out, I would have called. I don't love you anymore. That's it. I don't love you.
Bill: That's all? That's why you left? It's as simple as that? And you didn't even have the courtesy to send me a "Dear John" Letter? Well, I'll tell you what. I consider that rude. And I'll tell you something: I am worth a Dear John letter, I'll tell you that right now. And there are a lot of women who would agree with me. So, you know what? You go ahead! You get out! Get Out! You don't deserve William Fontaine de la Tour Dauterive!
Hank: OK, Bill. That's what I'm doing then. (Both take off their dresses) - Rocky Roll Call: During dinner with his blind date, after Bill's iguana pees on him:Shelia: You are a gross man.Peggy: Shelia!Bill: Marry me!Hank: Bill!Luanne: Oh, this is so exciting!
- Sanity Slippage: After Hank insists that Lenore is never coming back, Bill seemingly accepts. Then he starts acting as her.
- Simple-Minded Wisdom: Luanne is the one who sees why Bill is grieving: he's aware that Lenore's gone, but he needs closure before moving on with his life.
- Stating the Simple Solution: Peggy says they can help Bill quickly if they find him some kind of psychological help. But Hank being the narrow minded traditionalist he is, thinks that Bill simply needs to "snap out of it" and be watched around the clock. It isn't until Bill turns into Lenore that he realizes Bill needs some of closure, rather than be told to get over it.
- Take That!: One of the party-goers makes a crack at Bill in a dress that it's not the Democratic National Convention (naturally a cheap jab coming from conservative Texas).
- Trigger-Happy: Dale, who's idea of watching Bill is sitting across from him and keeping him seated while holding a rifle, something that cows the suicidal Bill into complying.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: When Bill as Lenore comes to the party, everyone reacts as expected, except for Bobby who serves him an Hors d'oeuvre as if it wasn't unusual.
- Urine Trouble: The iguana pees on Bill during the blind date, which is the point where his date has enough and leaves.
- Variations on a Theme Song: The theme song has Christmas jingles.
- We Named the Monkey "Jack": Bill adopts a pet iguana he names Lenore.
