Contains mild spoilers for “King of the Hill” Season 14

The tragic passing of Brittany Murphy in 2009 and Tom Petty’s death in 2017 were always bound to affect any attempt at a “King of the Hill” reboot, and Season 14 of the returning series managed to pay tribute to the characters in two separate ways. During Episode 2, “The Beer Story,” one of Petty’s songs, “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” plays as Hank and Bobby prepare for their beer brewing contest. And in a number of episodes — most prominently Episode 10 — you can spy a portrait of Lucky and Luanne hanging on the wall below the one of Hank, Peggy, and Bobby that has long graced the Hills’ living room.

There was no getting around both characters’ absences; Luanne Platter (voiced by Murphy) has always been a huge part of what makes the show special, adding extra conflict and creating a truly memorable space within the Hills’ staid home as Peggy and Hank’s college-aged niece. Lucky Kleinschmidt (Petty) eventually wins her heart, marries her, and becomes the father of their daughter, Gracie Margaret Kleinschmidt. Murphy and Petty were such a big part of the show that their loss is keenly felt in Season 14. The good news is, there’s a chance there might be even bigger tributes planned for them in Season 15.

For those hoping that the show will talk more directly about where Luanne, Gracie, and Lucky are, showrunner Saladin Patterson revealed to IGN that this was a big discussion amongst the season’s creatives as well. “The analogy I use as a sports fan is, sometimes the best way to honor someone’s work is to hang their jersey up in the rafters as a show of respect and what they meant to the organization,” he said. “It didn’t seem right to recast certain characters.” 

While Patterson was likely talking about what we’ve already seen in Season 14, namely hanging the family’s photo on the Hills’ wall much like a sports franchise would display a retired player’s jersey, he further stated that they “figured out other ways in the storytelling to honor those characters.” Since neither Luanne nor Lucky come up in conversation during Season 14, hopefully the already-greenlit Season 15 will deal with what’s going on in the Kleinschmidt household by way of some exposition from Peggy, Bobby — or perhaps an appearance from an older Gracie herself. Until then, viewers will have to wait, speculate, and hope that they’ll get the resolution they want.