Didi Hill, age 40,[1] is Cotton Hill's second wife and the mother of G.H. Hill. She is voiced by Ashley Gardner.
Personality[]
Though shown to be dim-witted, Didi is also shown to be non-energetic, exhausted, kind-hearted, timid and perhaps unsurprisingly, an obedient wife, suspected to be the result of psychological trauma. However, even when she first met Cotton at Arlen's Veterans Administration Hospital, she appeared to be tired, timid and hoping to find relief. In spite of years of Cotton's verbal abuse and demeaning nature, she remained with him until his death. Her true age is not known, as claims have varied throughout the show's run, but she according to Hank they were elementary school students with each other. Following the birth of son G.H., she is also revealed to suffer from Postpartum Depression, although her personality early into the show's run strongly suggests that she may have very well started suffering from depression long before her childbirth.
Relationship with Cotton[]
Didi met Cotton when she was a candy-striper at the hospital that Cotton attended to have his shins drained as a result of his war injuries. He immediately fell in love with the depressed and hopeless Didi, who playfully told him 'Oh, you look like a baby in that gown" and "ooh, coochie, coochie, coo" as she tickled him under his chin. When she knocked over a glass and bent down to pick up the tongue depressors inside of it while the Andrew Sisters version of the World War II-era song "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree" was heard playing in the room. The glass was turned in Cotton's direction, which made her butt look huge. He proposed to her a few months later. In "Shins of the Father", Cotton paid to give Didi breast implants to make her look more endowed, something she seemed to accept without hesitation.
As he had with his first wife, Cotton generally treated Didi like a maid: she performed all the household chores for him, and he often verbally abused her, which caused her to be very timid. Cotton briefly threw her out of his home in "The Final Shinsult" after he disapproved of her decision to not knit him new socks and also take up a job, which is revealed to be at a mall pharmacy. In the same episode, she agrees to become a full-time housewife after Cotton is legally obliged to remain under 24-hour supervision due to his declining mental state.
It was revealed in "Next of Shin" that Cotton had gotten her pregnant. Initially, Cotton decided that he didn't want another child, so he ran away to Las Vegas. Hank convinced Cotton to return to her. During Hank and Peggy's 20th Wedding Anniversary, Cotton and Didi agreed to babysit Bobby. Bobby believed it would be a fun trip, but Cotton explained that Didi was too heavily pregnant to do the chores, so Cotton made Bobby do them. Later, Didi's water broke while Cotton and his friend Topsy were at a strip club, so 12-year-old Bobby drove her to the hospital, and was then her lamas coach. Didi delivered a son, but didn't even bother to give him a name, even going as far as saying "what's the use?" after Cotton asked her if she thought of any names for the baby; she very well avoided giving the baby a name in order to avoid a spat . Cotton named their newborn son Good Hank, but she suffered postpartum depression and wanted nothing to do with him. After Didi and the baby were released from the hospital, Bobby was the only one willing to take care of "G.H.", as Peggy was in a full-body cast following a skydiving accident. When Bobby was starting to get tired of babysitting, he handed the baby to Didi. When Didi was unable to stop G. H.'s crying, the tired Didi put her baby down after only a few seconds and left him with the disabled Peggy, who calmed him by rocking his carrier with the only part of her body that she could move: her big toe. Didi took parenting classes and got better at taking care of her baby.
Whether Didi actually cared about Cotton is hard to know, when she became pregnant she made numerous comments that implied she did not want to be pregnant and considered the baby a mistake.
After Cotton's death[]
Cotton died in "Death Picks Cotton", Didi did not appear in the episode, and was not seen again until the Season 13 episode, "Serves Me Right for Giving General George S. Patton the Bathroom Key," where she revealed that she was getting married to a wealthy professional wrestler.
Relationship with Other Characters[]
Hank Hill[]
Hank mentioned in Shins of the Father that he and Didi went to Kindergarten together, to which Didi responds, "Hey, Hank. Do you still like finger-painting?"
Bobby Hill[]
She successfully talked Bobby out of running away, stating that she and Cotton believe very much that problems must be confronted instead of avoided. Later, when Hank was confronting Cotton to not abandon Good Hank, Bobby did the same to Didi.
Peggy Hill[]
Didi believed Peggy would be much more interested in raising Good Hank instead of her. Ironically, Peggy was able to calm the distraught G.H., wheras Didi had no idea whatsoever. While Peggy is not openly hostile towards Didi, in private she is quite open about her low opinion of her.
Trivia[]
- It is revealed that Didi's voice and character were modeled after actress Carol Wayne.[citation needed]
Episode appearances[]
- Season 1
- Season 2
- "The Unbearable Blindness of Laying" (non-speaking)
- "The Final Shinsult"
- Season 3
- Season 4
- Season 5
- "When Cotton Comes Marching Home"
- "Yankee Hankee" (mentioned)
- "Hank's Back Story"
- Season 6
- Season 7
- Season 8
- "DaleTech" (mentioned)
- Season 11
- "Lucky's Wedding Suit" (cameo)
- Season 13
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Returning Japanese"