"Peggy Hill: The Decline and Fall" is the sixty-first episode of King of the Hill. It resolves the cliffhanger in "As Old as the Hills".
Summary[]
Having survived her skydiving accident, Peggy feels indestructible and believes being in a body cast will not change her life but is quickly proven otherwise when it appears no one needs her help, and she begins to suffer the downfall of realizing her limitations.
Plot[]
Seeing Peggy land in a field, Hank runs out to find her. At the Arlen hospital Didi delivers the baby with Bobby. Hank finds Peggy who has miraculously survived her fall due to landing in soft mud. She's transported to the hospital and carried away on a stretcher, at which point her parachute finally does open. Hank is anxious about his wife's condition as Peggy is found to have broken her back and is placed in a full body cast. She however has a good attitude after the accident, saying it was a thrill having a near death experience but can only remember up to when she had decided not to jump and is perplexed as to why she actually did it. Hank feels guilty, believing it was his encouragement that made her do it.
Luanne is unable to come into the room, overcome with emotion at seeing her aunt in this state. While Hank buys a coffee from a vending machine he runs into Bobby wrestling with a candy machine. Bobby sees Peggy and tells them about his experiences, such as how he got to cut the umbilical cord. Cotton walks in asking where Didi is and comments on Peggy's condition of something Hank did to her, and it wasn't something he taught his son. Later, Cotton is introduced to his child and immediately begins baby talking to his son. He decides to name the boy 'Hank', only for the actual Hank to remind him he can't use that again and won't give up his own first name. Cotton then settles on G.H. which stands for Good Hank. Hank protests this too, saying it makes it sound like he's Bad Hank. To this Cotton replies "Well, you burnt my burger, didn't ya, B.H.?"
That night, Hank has a nightmare of his belief it was his influence that caused Peggy to jump from the plane. The dream has Hank continually saying "Jump," at Peggy at guilt tripping her to do so. Peggy invites Cotton, Didi, and the baby to stay with them. Cotton notices that G.H. is lactating, a result of female hormones from his mother, freaks out, and keeps his distance from the baby for most of the episode. Peggy is transported to see the baby whilst reminiscing of being in the Maternity Ward commenting that she will remind her again when their "next child will be born." Didi meanwhile has postpartum depression and Peggy wishes to help out. A nurse comes in holding GH saying that Cotton's insurance will stop funding further stays at the hospital within the next 2 hours.
Hank arrives with flowers as the leading doctor says he'll need to take them home as Peggy will be discharged the same day. The doctor mentions to Hank that her emotional state is more of a worry than her physical condition. The emotions and good feelings that Peggy is experiencing is common amongst those who survived near-death experiences and will then experience a major emotional crash when she realizes her limitations and inability to care for herself. He then mentions the scar on his head that he had received in such an accident. Hank vows to make sure it doesn't happen. In Peggy's hospital room, Peggy is excited to go home as she made her attempt to pack her own bag which is actually in a disorganized mess. Hank straightens it out as Peggy says she invited Cotton and Didi to stay with them until they are 100% ready to take care of GH on their own.
Peggy and Hank are brought home where, Dale, Boomhauer, and Bill help bring Peggy into the house with moments of difficulty navigating her inside. Stuck in the living room Peggy will make do as she can "run the whole house from her". Luanne is unable to maintain her composure as she continues to have breakdowns of Peggy's current state and Hank decides to get her out of the house and treats her to stay at a nice motel until then. Peggy's good attitude persists through Nancy and Minh's poor attempts (Minh refers to her as a "mummy for the '90s") to cheer her up. Bobby picks up the routine to take care of GH very quickly and Peggy still attempts to mention doing chores she is unable to perform.
Hank helps out Peggy to remove a plaster piece from inside her cast. Peggy admits it was unrealistic for her thinking she'd be helping out more around the house with GH. She feels stupid for jumping out of the plane but remains perplexed as to what caused her to jump. Hank tries to steer away from the conversation as Peggy has a breakthrough remembering they talked on the plane about something before the jump but cannot remember what it was. That night GH is crying relentlessly causing everyone to be unable to fall asleep. The crying is heard throughout the neighborhood with shots of Dale and Boomhauer being wide awake. Cotton then puts GH out in the hall where Bobby comes out and tries to rock GH to sleep.
In the morning, Hank and Bobby come out showing they had little to no sleep as they prepare breakfast for Peggy and GH. Peggy is upset that she has to be fed with a bottle instead of the eggs she requested. She is fed baby formula by accident as Bobby and Hank grabbed the wrong bottles. Peggy becomes distraught to the point she experiences the emotional crash the doctor had warned Hank about. Hank asks why Peggy is upset as she says their lives are ruined and that she blames herself for wanting to skydive for their anniversary. Hank comes out and says he's the reason Peggy jumped and that it was his fault because he emphasized how amazing it was. Peggy then remembers what she and Hank talked about on the plane and that it was about Didi giving birth at the exact moment. She admits the reason she jumped was because she was jealous of Didi becoming a mother. Eventually, her frustration boils over, and she vents about how useless she is and how "Cotton and Stupid" have a baby while she doesn't. Hank is relieved knowing that it wasn't his fault and leaves Peggy alone upon her request.
Bobby continues to take care of GH attempting to sing him to sleep by singing "Best That You Can Do" (aka "Arthur's Theme"). Cotton comes along and tells Bobby to do something, and Bobby's impatience starts to weaken. Didi asks Bobby if he can buy her lottery tickets and he snaps shouting that he is a 12-year-old boy, the child's nephew, and shouldn't have to deal with this. He leaves the crying baby with Didi, who freaks out and sets him by Peggy. Hank tries to soothe the child by using keys and a tape measure (the lack of success makes him question whether G.H. is really his brother). He then notices Cotton outside talking to the guys and goes to confront him, leaving a nervous Peggy alone with the crying baby. Hank yells at Cotton that G.H.'s lactation isn't black magic and that he needs to care for the child. G.H. is no longer heard crying, causing Hank and Cotton to run into the house, worried something is wrong. It's then revealed that Peggy, while being in a full body cast, managed to use her toes to rock G.H.'s carrier and calm him. They both are now at peace. Peggy states, "This is the greatest thrill of my life."
Characters[]
- Hank Hill
- Peggy Hill
- Bobby Hill
- Luanne Platter
- Dale Gribble
- Nancy Gribble
- Jeff Boomhauer
- Bill Dauterive
- Minh Souphanousinphone
- Didi Hill
- Cotton Hill
- G.H. Hill
- Obstetrician
- Obstetrics nurse
- Paramedic
- Tug (voice-only)
- Orthopedic doctor
- Maternity ward nurse
- Peggy's nurse
- Lady Bird
Stinger Quote[]
- Cotton: "A Nazzy, Nazzy, squazi?"
Goofs[]
- While telling Hank why she thinks she jumped, Peggy's mouth stops moving but she continues talking.
- Animation error: The blocks on the mobile rotating over G.H.'s crib transform and change color as they rotate.
- In the previous episode, Peggy was facing downward while plummeting. Afterwards, she is found to have landed on her back.
Gallery[]