Won't You Pimai Neighbor?

Infobox Television episode
Title = Won't You Pimai Neighbor
Series = King of the Hill


Caption =
Season = 4
Episode = 17
Airdate = March 9, 2000
Production = 4ABE17
Writer =
Director = Boohwan Lim
Kyounghee Lim
Guests =
Episode list = List of King of the Hill episodes
Prev = Bill of Sales
Next = Hank's Bad Hair Day

"Won't You Pimai Neighbor?" is the 78^th episode in the FOX animated situation comedy series" King of the Hill" and was the 18^th episode of the fourth season. The name of the episode alludes to the theme song to the public television series "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood", "Won't You Be My Neighbor?"

Plot

Hosting a neighborhood Pimai party to celebrate the beginning of the lunar year, Kahn soon learns that a group of Buddhist monks are searching for the reincarnated Lama Sanglug in the vicinity of Arlen. They are planning to attend the party and test the two most likely candidates, Chane Wassanasong and Connie Souphanousinphone. According to Kahn, Sanglug is a "lesser known spiritual leader, but still a big shot."

A number of objects, one of which belonged to Sanglug, are laid out on a rug; the monks believe that his spirit will be drawn to the object he possessed. In an attempt to distract Chane and give Connie first pick, Bobby picks up a cane from the rug and does an impromptu soft shoe dance. The cane had been Sanglug's, and the monks are awed by the fact that Bobby may be the reincarnated lama. As they make plans for a further test to confirm this possibility, he begins to read about the essentials of Buddhism.

Peggy revels in the attention Bobby is receiving, while he begins to offer pieces of transcendental advice that usually prove helpful to the situation at hand. However, he soon admits that he does not understand either Buddhism or Methodism, the faith in which he has been raised, very well. One monk, who has stayed in the neighborhood for the time between the first and second tests, notices that some of Bobby's mannerisms bear striking similarities to those exhibited by Sanglug, reinforcing the idea that he may indeed be the one.

As the date of the second test approaches, he and Connie are dismayed to learn that if he truly is the lama, he will have to take a vow of celibacy. Bobby is ready to refuse to take the test or deliberately fail it, but Connie says she will not feel right dating him unless he makes an honest effort, in case he really is Sanglug. Kahn, initially displeased that Bobby could be the new lama, is overjoyed by this fact and hopes that he passes.

When the day comes, a senior monk shows him a new group of items laid out on a rug and asks him to choose one. Among the objects is a mirror, and Bobby, seeing Connie's face reflected in it, chooses her. Despite Kahn's objections, the monk declares that the choice was a valid one and that Bobby is not the lama. After the others leave, however, a junior monk notes that the mirror "was" the correct item, and implies that Bobby probably "is" the real lama because he used it. "Tough call," the senior monk admits, "but it's mine and I made it."

Depiction of Buddhism

The monks depicted in this episode seem to belong to the Tibetan tradition; they are referred to as "lama", and the search for the reincarnation of the Lama Sanglung seems to be a reference to the Tibetan tulku tradition. By contrast, Laos (and presumably the Souphanousinphone family as Laotians) belongs to the Theravada Buddhist tradition, which makes use of neither the title of "lama" for monks nor of the practice of identifying reincarnated spiritual leaders.

Reception

The episode was shown at the "International Buddhist Film Festival", which praised its "good writing and fearless satire".cite web
url = http://www.ibff.org/index.cfm?pg=FLM2
title = International Buddhist Film Festival
accessdate = 2008-01-22
author =
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
date =
year = 2005
month = February
format =
work =
publisher = Buddhist Film Society, Inc.
archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20051228021427/http://www.ibff.org/index.cfm?pg=FLM2
archivedate = 2005-12-28
quote = We learn more about Buddhism in this 22 minute piece than we do in many a full length feature work.] It also was nominated for the Annie Awards for directing. [ [http://annieawards.org/28thwinners.html Annie Award's site] ]

Footnotes